TURKISH-NIGERIAN RELATIONS WITH A VIEW TO TURKEY’S POLICY TOWARDS BLACK AFRICA FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM , Hasan ULUSOY

Abstract

Although located on different continents, the peoples of Nigeria and Turkey seem to have much in common. Each of them consists of a great mosaic of different ethnic origins that assemble under one flag in the form of nation-state. Throughout history the territory of modern Turkey has been the cradle of several civilisations embracing various cultures. Thanks to this geographical location and her historical background, Turkey is today endowed with the cultural richness of her people.l A similar richness manifests itself in Nigerian society even more remarkably as the people of Nigeria is composed of over 250 ethnic groups.2 Naturally, this is not the only thing both countries have in common. Trade between these two peoples goes back centuries, long before the foundations of the present states of the Republic of Turkey and of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As early as the sixteenth century Turkish goods were traded on the streets of Kano, one of the northern states of modern Nigeria. However, it was not only trade that brought the two peoples together but also a political-military alliance that was formed in the sixteenth century against third parties.3 These centuries-old relationships and contacts between the peoples of Turkey and Nigeria have been upheld and maintained by modern Turkey and Nigeria from the latter’s independence from the British colonial rule in 1960.