PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Sudan’s army chief has welcomed a Turkish offer to resolve the 20-month conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese foreign minister said.
In early December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with Sudan’s Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that Ankara could help establish “peace and stability” in the African state.
At a meeting in Port Sudan on Saturday, Burhan asked Turkey’s deputy foreign minister Burhanettin Duran to “deliver the Sudanese leadership’s welcoming of the initiative” to Erdogan, Sudanese foreign minister Ali Youssef said in a briefing after the meeting.
“Sudan needs brothers and friends like Turkey,” Youssef said, adding that “the initiative can lead to… realising peace in Sudan”.
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Erdogan said in his December call with Burhan that Turkey could step in to resolve disputes and prevent Sudan from external interventions, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.
Following his meeting with Burhan on Saturday, Turkey’s Duran said that the peace process “entails concerted efforts”, and that his country was ready to play a “role in mobilising other regional actors to help overcome the difficulties in ending this conflict”.
In a statement last week, the UAE welcomed “diplomatic efforts” by Turkey to “resolve the ongoing crisis in Sudan”.
“The UAE is fully prepared to cooperate and coordinate with the Turkish efforts and all diplomatic initiatives to end the conflict in Sudan and find a comprehensive solution to the crisis,” its foreign ministry said.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 12 million more. It has also pushed the country to the brink of famine.
