France hands over military base it has under its control in Ivory Coast for half a century

France handed over, Thursday, the large military base it had occupied in Ivory Coast for about 50 years, during a ceremony held at the base building in Port Bouet and attended by the defense ministers of the two countries.

On this occasion, it was announced that the name of this military base, which housed the French 43rd Infantry and Marine Battalion, would be changed to Touma Dakin Ouattara, the first Chief of Staff of the Army in Ivory Coast.

Ivorian Defense Minister Tene Berahima Ouattara said in a speech that the handover of the base constitutes a new step in the relations of friendship and strategic cooperation between his country and France.

For his part, French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, said, “France is changing its presence, but it’s not disappearing,” adding that French-Ivorian relations “must develop, because the world has changed”.

In a speech during the handover of the military base, the French minister praised what he described as a “historic moment” and the “relations based on friendship and high professionalism between the two countries”.

President Alassane Ouattara had announced in a New Year’s speech that France would withdraw militarily from his country in a coordinated and organized manner.

France is expected to withdraw its forces from Senegal this year as well, as it had previously withdrawn from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic.