The South African government has joined the global community in pressing for answers on what happened to Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, even as new details provided by Turkey added information about the suffering in Khashoggi’s final moments. South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), issued…
Twelve days after the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there are still no definitive answers about what happened to the widely respected critic of Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdom. What is clear is that what began as an incident involving Riyadh and Ankara after Khashoggi’s fateful visit to an…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Turkey is set to welcome ministers and business representatives from 49 African countries as the two-day Turkey-Africa Economy and Business Forum begins in Istanbul on Wednesday. This year’s forum is jointly organized by the African Union Commission, the Turkish Ministry of Commerce and Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK). Participants…
The last week of June saw a close to bidding from five specialist canal-digging companies for a project to establish a 38 mile-long, 200 metre-wide canal between Saudi Arabia and its neighbour. After the Saudis, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with the emirate last June, the proposed…
I am a London-based researcher specialized in security issues and environmental protection. He is currently writing a book about the role lobbying plays in keeping African leaders in power.
Election officials in Turkey say President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has an absolute-majority win in Sunday’s presidential election with 99 percent of the votes counted. The Supreme Election Council announcement, reported by Turkey’s state-aligned Anadolu news agency, countered claims by the opposition that Erdoğan would need to compete in a runoff…
Global human rights organization Amnesty International is again pressuring European Union nations to change its policies on migration from Libya, where thousands of refugees and migrants are trapped in shocking conditions. That message comes as EU officials said Wednesday that the central Mediterranean transit numbers remain much lower, but the…
Qatar’s ambassador to Sudan said Tuesday that work to restore the port at Suakin Island will begin this month, following the USD$4 billion deal between the two countries to develop the Red Sea site. Rashid Abdul Rahman Al-Nuaimi said the work will begin in the first of three stages, the…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey began a tour of four African nations on Monday in Algeria, where he met with Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia to discuss cooperation on counterterrorism, energy, and economic development and trade. It is Erdoğan’s second visit to Algeria since becoming president in 2014 and he…
A Russian diplomat says the ship that’s being held in Tunisia, reportedly with 24 unregistered containers full of military equipment on board, belongs to a Turkish company and has no Russian citizens among its crew members. “This ship belongs to the Turkish company Akdeniz Ro Ro, and on February 15…
The deputy prime minister of Turkey began a two-day visit to Sudan on Tuesday, with a stop in Darfur to check on humanitarian aid before his plans take him to the contentious Suakin Island. In Khartoum, Hakan Çavuşoğlu met with Sudanese Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh to discuss bilateral relations, and…
President Isaias Afwerki denied the presence of any Egyptian troops in Eritrea on Sunday, amid heightened regional tensions that have led Sudan to deploy additional troops on its side of the border. Afwerki’s remarks came during a broadcast interview with state media Eri-TV and Radio Dimtsi Hafash. He called the…
Tensions in the Horn of Africa are drawing attention to the border between Sudan and Eritrea, raising new concerns – and not a little complexity – about regional instability, and the diplomatic and security touchpoints that have implications extending across the Middle East. Sudan announced a border closure in Kassala…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
A Qatari media outlet is reporting that Egyptian troops have arrived in Eritrea, in what is believed to be a response to Sudan’s decision last month to permit Turkey’s access to the Red Sea island of Suakin. Although there is no evidence of military confrontation, the al-Sharq report comes amid…
The death toll in Somalia has now reached more than 300 people following the worst bomb attack to ever happen in the Horn of Africa nation. The massive truck bomb that exploded Sunday at the KM5 junction in Soobe, one of the busiest areas of Mogadishu, also left hundreds of…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind began a state visit to Djibouti on Tuesday, his first such trip since taking office in July and the first such high-level meeting since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries. Kovind was welcomed on his arrival by Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, before making…