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A Vision for the Future of Turkish-Algerian Relations: Convergence, Cooperation and Coordination | Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
As one of the key actors of the African continent in terms of its demography, geopolitical location and size, Algeria could be a key partner for Turkey in political, economic and military areas. There is a number of areas where both countries can be interested in long-term cooperation. With...
A Vision for the Future of Turkish-Algerian Relations: Convergence, Cooperation and Coordination (PART 2)
Military Cooperation
The most important area of cooperation for shaping a vision for the future shared by Turkey and Algeria and increasing their regional influence is partnership in defence and military. Algeria has one of the strongest armies in North Africa after Egypt and the most striking security establishment in the region with its institutional structure, equipment, armament data and trained soldiers. Regional instability, competition with Morocco, and the country's civil war experience shaped the approach of the Algerian army that prioritises security. In this context, Algeria has had the highest military spending in North Africa countries in the last decade.Military Spending of North African Countries (2009-2019)
At the same time, Algeria aims to take steps in the area of defence industry in line with its evolving military doctrine and is in search of new suppliers in addition to actors such as Russia, China and Germany, from whom it supplies the majority of its armament. Algeria, which has an annual average of $ 10 billion in military expenditure, imports approximately 67% of its arms from Russia. For Algeria, which signed a deal with Russia for SU-35 and SU-57 aircrafts, air force equipment makes up the largest share in the arms imports in the last ten years. (11) In addition to making agreements with China for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), frigates and corvettes, Algeria also conducts arms trade with Germany in areas such as special military equipment and military land vehicles. (12) Looking at the weapon categories in the weapons import data of Algeria, it is seen that aircrafts, ships, armoured vehicles and missiles have a large volume. Against the increasing armament efforts of Morocco, Algeria imports more weapons due to national security concerns and pays special attention to equipping its army with modern weapons.
Arms Exporters to Algeria (2009-2019)
Weapon Categories Imported by Algeria per year (2009-2019)
At this point, it is critical for Algeria to expand its inventory, especially in terms of UAVs, which are important game changers in modern battle fields and will be of great importance for Algeria's national security. Turkey has made significant progress in this technological field in recent years, and could be one of the potential suppliers for Algeria. As in the case of Turkey’s similar trade with other friendly nations, Ankara would be willing to make technology transfers to Algeria, which in the future can develop its own aerial defence equipment systems.
Weapon Categories Imported by Algeria per year (2009-2019)
Algeria attaches importance not only to armament, but also to having a dynamic military force and an active army. In this context, the Algerian army, having restructured its special forces in 2015, organises and oversees trainings in countries such as Russia, Germany and Turkey within the framework of military cooperation agreements. The military training cooperation agreement between Turkey and Algeria, outlined in 2003 and signed in 2009, covers issues such as officer training, joint exercises and exchange of intelligence between the two countries. (13)
On the other hand, the announcement by the Turkish and Algerian authorities of the joint action aimed at establishing stability by combating armed organisations and warlords in the Libyan crisis and the objectives of increasing cooperation in the defence industry, show that the two countries consider military and security cooperation to be strategic and critical. (14) Especially in North Africa, where France has lost its previous influence in the region and the environment of instability is widespread, the cooperation between Turkey and Algeria has the potential to change the regional balances thanks to their strong militaries and defence industries. It can be maintained that the success of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish defence industry in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh will make Algeria's military rapprochement to Turkey easier. Also, the common concerns of the two countries about the policies of similar actors and about the regional crises make military cooperation even more strategic.
Economic Cooperation
Algeria has important economic potential in North Africa with its large surface area stretching from the Mediterranean to the Sahara Desert, its hydrocarbon resources and mines, and its young population of 44 million. Algeria's economy is heavily dependent on the energy sector. Hydrocarbon products constitute 97% of the country's export revenues, 45% of the gross national product (GNP) and two-thirds of the budget revenues. (15) This dependency results in a fragile economic structure that is easily affected by fluctuations in oil prices. Algeria, which has to buy many products from abroad due to insufficient agricultural production and industrial infrastructure, has been importing more and more over the years to meet its needs. However, although its traditional trade partners are France and EU countries, there has been an increase of trade with and investment from China and Turkey in recent years. (16)Currently, the trade volume between Turkey and Algeria is around $2.5-3 billion. Turkey has a %5 share in Algeria's imports and approximately %2 in exports. In 2018, although Algeria was Turkey's second largest trading partner in the African continent, Turkey's share in Algerian foreign trade was not at the targeted level. The authorities of the two countries stated that they aim to increase the trade volume to $5 billion in the short term, (17) and underlined the necessity of an increasing impetus in economic relations. In this context, President Erdogan made a speech to Algerian businesspeople as part of his visit to Algeria, which he visited twice in the last three years, and said that necessary steps should be taken for a free trade agreement and the enhancement of economic relations in line with "the desire to produce and move forward together". (18)
One of the latest examples of these developments was the ratification of Algerian government of the maritime agreement, which was signed by the two countries 23 years ago, on 25 May 1998. While the agreement was approved by Turkey years ago, the Algerian leadership did not approve it until the recent decision of President Tebboune who signed the agreement and sent it for publication at the official gazette on 5 May 2021. This move could be a turning point in the trade between the two countries as they will be able to allow the transportation of passengers and commercial goods. The agreement also includes ports investment activities which Turkey has a good record of abroad. (19) After this development, it is expected that the commercial relations between the two countries will develop in a way that includes different dimensions and will reach the targeted level of $5 billion in a short time.
It is observed that investments and foreign trade largely shape the economic cooperation between Turkey and Algeria. While Turkey mainly imports hydrocarbon resources such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria, exports consist of automotive sub-industry products, piston engines, construction materials, iron and steel products, petrochemical products, textiles and food products.
Lastly, it is necessary to mention the increasing role of energy in the trade cooperation between Turkey and Algeria. In recent years, there have been new partnerships between the two countries in the field of energy and the trade of industrial products. At this point, Turkey wants to diversify its LNG supply and, in this context, attaches great importance to Algeria. Turkey imported the most natural gas from Algeria with 2 billion and 991 million cubic metres between January and June 2020. (20) Increasing the share of LNG in natural gas imports will advance the Turkish-Algerian partnership in the field of energy. Additionally, in the energy sector, an agreement was made in 2018 between Algeria's national energy company, SONATRACH, and Turkish companies Rönesans and Bayegan for an investment of $1 billion in petrochemicals in the Yumurtalık Free-Trade Zone in Adana. (21) With the raw materials from Algeria, the objective is the annual production of 450 thousand tons of polypropylene in the free-trade zone. Polypropylene is a thermo-plastic polymer used in various industries such as automotive spare parts, textile and food packaging (22).
On the other hand, another area that stands out regarding the trade between the two countries is the iron and steel industry. Tosyalı Holding, one of the leading companies in Turkey in the iron and steel industry, has made and is still making investments in Algeria since 2013 through the "Mega Project" of $500 million in the first stage, $250 million in the second stage and $1.6 billion in the third stage, and meets the various needs of Turkey and Algeria in the steel industry, especially in the construction sector. (23) Likewise, ÖZMERT, a Turkish-Algerian company, has been investing in the Tammazoura industrial zone in Ain Temouchent since 2017 in the iron and steel sector. (24)
Turkey also has significant investments in Algeria’s textile industry. In this context, the investments of Taypa company draw attention. With the initiative, Tayal Spa, founded in partnership with Algeria, a textile production facility worth approximately $1.5 billion was established in the industrial zone of Sidi Khettab in the Relizane province of Algeria. (25) The facility, which is the largest textile production centre in Europe and the Mediterranean, aims at providing employment to 10 thousand people in the first stage, and 25 thousand people in ten years. (26)
Lastly, one of the areas that can act as an important catalyst in the trade cooperation of the two countries is the construction sector. At this point, Turkey, with its world's leading contracting companies, desires to share its experience with Algeria. (27) For Algeria, cooperation with Turkey is important due to its developing economy and young population, and the subsequent need for housing which is increasing and diversifying. In this context, more than 30 Turkish construction companies in Algeria have undertaken various superstructure and infrastructure projects and made investments in the housing projects that Algeria needs. (28)
In addition to this, Algeria is an important actor together with Tunisia for the Europe-Africa sea routes to be established between Italy and Turkey. With the route defined as the Turkey-Italy-Tunisia trade corridor, Algerian products will reach different markets via these countries and Turkish and Italian products will reach Sub-Saharan African countries via Algeria. (29) This sea route, which has great geopolitical and geostrategic potential, will allow the development of trade in the Mediterranean and the enrichment of riparian countries. The strategic location of Turkey and Algeria with regards to the Europe-Africa-Asia transport routes should be considered as another factor that will present opportunities for economic cooperation.
Conclusion
Issues such as the Libyan crisis, the power struggle in the Eastern Mediterranean, China's growing influence in Africa, the wave of immigrants to EU countries, France's gradual loss of influence in Africa, as well as the instability and the fight against armed organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa called into question Algeria's regional position. Algeria's geopolitical position between the Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa, its natural resources, its young and large population and its strong army in the region make its position strategic in the regional context.The growing importance of Algeria during the past decade has been changing the regional power structure. This is also in parallel to the Turkey’s rise as a regional power while France’s influence in the region diminishes. In this equation, it can be observed that Turkey and Algeria have common regional interests and the two countries’ foreign policies have been overlapping in many respects. Turkey's involvement in the Libyan crisis for energy security reasons in the Eastern Mediterranean and its support for the GNA in line with the "Blue Homeland" doctrine, and Algeria's perception of the instability in neighbouring Libya as a threat to its national security bring the two countries together in the context of security.
As a result, Turkish-Algerian relations play a regionally critical role for the future thanks to their common perspectives and security concerns, as well as the opportunities of military and economic cooperation of great potential. Thus, the utilisation of cooperation opportunities on common ground and the construction of a vision for the future by decision-makers will both end regional instability and change the balance of regional power. Enhancing cooperation and customising their regional policies will serve the interests of both Turkey and Algeria in the face of growing uncertainty in the wider MENA region as well as the Mediterranean.
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