Perception of Turkey in the African Press-Media: The Example of the Somali Sofrası

Abstract

The visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2011 in the country, which is in severe crisis in terms of politics, economy and security, allows a great impetus to the relations between the two countries. As the relationship with Somalia has intensified, the number of Somalis who have come to Turkey to invest in Turkey has increased, as has the number of Turkish investments in Somalia. The restaurant, called Somali Sofrası in the Kızılay district of Ankara, is one of the establishments that started to function in this process. However, it has been observed that the security measures for the institutions opened by the Somalis such as Somali Sofrası have increased and as a result, these companies, which had to change their names, either entered the process of closure or transfer. In this study, the outcomes of the practices made since 2021 counter to the company called Somali Sofrası on the Somali press and Somalis will be examined. For this article, the Somali press has been examined for news related to this process, social media posts by Somalis on this topic have been scanned, and forum discussions have been researched.