On Sunday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan leaves Turkey, still reeling from last week’s earthquake in Elazığ province, to visit Algeria where the shockwaves of his government’s Libya policy continue to reverberate. Algeria, like neighbouring Tunisia, has been suffering blowback from the conflict in Libya, with the increased border security believed to be costing Algiers $500 million per year. This figure could snowball even higher since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune decided to further boost security after Turkey announced its deployment. With Tebboune deeply opposed to any influx of Turkish troops, Erdoğan will have his work cut out on his two-day stop in Algeria if he wishes to sway him toward Turkey’s vision for a Libyan resolution. Erdoğan is set to follow his Algeria visit with trips to Gambia and Senegal, two more ECOWAS member states.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 26, 2020 06:11 UTC