Turkish President Abdullah Gul will tour African countries Tanzania, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo from February 26th to 29th to hold talks ahead of Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit to be organized in Istanbul in August.
President's Office released an information note on Friday regarding President Gul's trip.

The summit meeting is believed to be a new starting point concerning Turkey's relations with Africa and constitute an important step of Turkey's expansion policy towards this continent, the note said.

It said African countries constitute an important market for Turkish exports, and added that these countries could supply an important part of Turkey's need for raw materials.

Turkey's trade volume with African countries reached 12 billion USD in 2006. Turkey aims to bring it to 30 billion USD in a near future.

There has been a change in Turkey's policy on Africa since late 1990s, it said, underscoring that this policy was not a reflection of political and economic expectations, but a yield of a comprehensive historical process.

Following his tour to Tanzania, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo, which would be the first to these countries in highest level, President Gul will participate in Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit to be held in Senegal on March 13th and 14th, it added.

Gul will also attend the 12th meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) that will be held in Ghana between April 20th and 25th.

President's Office added that Turkey plans to open embassies in Angola, Chad, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Tanzania to further Turkey's influence in the continent.