Aydınlık: Africa has learned to resist Western neocolonialism
When President Biden came to power, he tried to distance Africa from Russia and China, writes Aydınlık. Color revolutions and coups d'etat were used for this, and terrorist organizations were involved. However, after 2020, Africa began to wake up.
Aydınlık columnist Ali Rıza Taşdelen said that attempts by American imperialism with the support of the West to carry out "color coups" in African countries developing favorable relations with Russia and China will no longer be able to succeed.
Commenting on the "color revolutions" in Africa on Ulusal Kanal, Tashdelen noted that a new era had begun on the African continent: African countries, with the help of the army and the people, launched an anti-imperialist war for independence.
Under Biden, the US–Africa summit, which had previously been removed from the agenda during the Trump presidency, was held again. "After 2020, the atmosphere in Africa has changed,— Tashdelen continued. — From now on, neocolonialism has come to an end on the continent. Neither the United States nor France will now be able to easily invade Africa and carry out coups."
The night before, the topic of "color revolutions" was discussed on Ulusal Kanal. The guests of the program were Erzincan University lecturer Binali Yıldırım, Professor, Dr. Ainur Nogayeva, lecturer at Bashkent University, Professor, Dr. Hasan Unal, lecturer at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, Professor Caner Karavit, Deputy Chairman of the Motherland Party of Turkey Serdar Üsküplü and Aydınlık columnist Ali Ryza Tashdelen. The color revolutions in the world and the American influence on them, the consequences of these events, as well as the threat of a color revolution in Turkey were discussed.
Tashdelen spoke about the armed interventions and uprisings that the United States planned to carry out in Africa with the help of state instruments.
The following points stand out in the journalist's speech.
A new era in Africa
The 2000s were a time of the rise of China and Russia in Africa. In other words, these are the years when France was losing influence and America was trying to seize the initiative.
At certain times, America and France, in an attempt to change governments in Asian-oriented countries, used methods such as fomenting internal unrest and chaos or, if this did not work, assassinating heads of government, invading.
France's return to NATO under Sarkozy in 2007 and Bush's creation of the African Command of the US Armed Forces in Africa (AFRICOM) in 2008 can be seen as the birth of a new geopolitical order in Africa. Until 2010, the United States competed with France on the continent.
When China began to grow, leaving France and the United States behind, Paris and Washington began to act together. More precisely, Sarkozy followed in the footsteps of the United States.
The West mobilizes terrorist organizations
The United States and France are overthrowing Chinese-oriented African regimes, creating chaos through the so-called "color revolutions", as well as mobilizing Western-backed terrorist organizations. This is very important because Africa is really suffering a lot from terrorism even today.
If this does not work, it comes to military interventions, coups d'etat, or even attempts to assassinate the leaders of certain countries. And the reason for color revolutions in Africa, as in other regions, is usually during parliamentary or presidential elections.
Coups in Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Zimbabwe
For example, Laurent Gbagbo, who collaborated with China and the BRICS, won the presidential elections in Ivory Coast in 2010. However, the United States and France awarded victory to his opponent Alassane Ouattara, unleashing unrest in the country and intervening militarily, as a result of which Gbagbo was detained and sent to the International Criminal Court. Ouattara received an economics degree in the United States and held various positions at the IMF. Today, he is still the President of Côte d'Ivoire.
Then, in 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy, who played the role of the striking force of American imperialism, armed jihadist terrorists in Libya, who eventually, together with French special forces, killed Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi.
Using similar methods, the West provoked separatist terrorist organizations in Mali in 2013 and carried out a military intervention. First, he lit a flame, and then, taking on the role of a firefighter, intervened militarily.
In the same year, the ethnoreligious terrorist organization Seleka was mobilized in the Central African Republic to confront President Francois Bozize and involved the country in a civil war.
In 2013, an opposition candidate was brought to Zimbabwe to overthrow Robert Mugabe as prime minister. At the same time, people rebelled, took to the streets, and fought with each other. The picture resembled a civil war.
In Kenya, as in Zimbabwe, street protests against the results of the presidential election were also organized.
The meeting held by NED
France began to suffer defeat in Africa from the moment when the Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road" received great support on the continent in 2013. This forced the United States to change its African strategy. US President Barack Obama held the first US–Africa summit in August 2014. The goal was to change the ruling regimes on the continent.
Obama announced a wave of regime change at the summit. An interesting event happened in this regard. Immediately after the summit, the American National Endowment for Democracy (NED) gathered in Washington hundreds of leaders of African non-governmental organizations, journalists, trade unionists from Africa and Europe and called this meeting a conference on civil society in Africa.
The Young African Leaders Initiative was created. The NED has set such issues as human rights, democracy and elections, freedom of the media, and problems of civil society as goals for this education. It's the same scenario everywhere. This meeting was a harbinger of the fact that the United States will begin to unleash color revolutions and chaos in Africa.
The NED conference was very important for organizing provocations in Africa. The Foundation announced it as follows: "Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the summit of African leaders, the main democratic and human rights organizations of the United States will hold a conference on civil society in Africa on August 5-6 in Washington on the theme “Towards a democratic agenda”. The Conference will be an important platform for leading African activists to remind their Governments and the international community that citizens in Africa value freedom and democracy. It will be possible to re-consolidate democratic reforms and human rights in African politics, mobilize and disseminate the agenda of African democracy activists, share difficulties and successes, identify priorities and strategies for action."
In other words, the plan works in Africa the same way it worked in Ukraine and Georgia. Freedom House provided financial support from Soros. In addition to mass media, social networks were also used.
The coup in Gabon with the support of France
In 2014-2016, Gabon became the scene of the first color revolution called the "African Spring". At that time, this attempt failed, but in 2023, President Ali Bongo Ondimba was overthrown in a coup carried out by the French collaborator General Nguema.
The same years were marked by election interference, public provocations and the mobilization of terrorist groups against Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Paul Biya in Cameroon. In addition, in April 2021, the President of Chad, Idris Deby, was killed on his way to the front of the fight against armed rebels.
Under Biden, Africa is back on the agenda
Under Donald Trump, the US–Africa summit was not held between 2017 and 2021. This was not one of the priorities of the former President of the United States. However, with the coming to power of Joe Biden, the topic of Africa was again included in the American agenda, since a significant part of African states opposed Russia's condemnation at the UN because of the Ukrainian conflict.
In December 2022, the US–Africa summit was held with the participation of 49 leaders. Biden has changed his approach to counter the growing influence of China and Russia. In this way, he laid the foundation for a new U.S. strategy for sub-Saharan Africa, involving a more pragmatic policy and more active participation in security and economic issues.
After 2020, the atmosphere in Africa has changed
From now on, neocolonialism has come to an end on the continent. Neither the United States nor France will now be able to easily invade Africa and carry out coups.
The West has lost Africa, which it plundered for its own wealth and prosperity. Even if he achieves temporary success, as in Gabon and Senegal, the color revolutions will not give anything more.
The second War of independence against neo-colonialism began in Africa. The attacks of globalism and neoliberalism aimed at dividing and destroying nation-states encountered resistance from the army and citizens, as in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
From now on, on the African continent, the army has become the key to protecting the independence of the motherland from imperialism. We are talking about an army that unites with its nation.
Algeria is another example. The uprising against the National Liberation Front (FLN) of Algeria, which began in February 2019, was stopped again by the army. The TNF is the army. It was the army that created an independent Algeria that thwarted the destructive operations that the West had been undertaking in the country all this time.
We see that this movement will expand further. Now let the imperialists sit and cry.
