Sudan’s army chief welcomes Turkish offer to resolve conflict

Sudan’s army chief has welcomed a Turkish offer to resolve the brutal 20-month conflict between his forces and their paramilitary rivals, the Sudanese foreign minister said.

In early December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with Sudan’s Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that Ankara could help establish “peace and stability” in the war-torn 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”.

Erdogan said in his December call with Burhan that Turkey “could step in to resolve disputes” between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, and prevent Sudan from “becoming an area of external interventions”, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

Sudan’s army-backed government has repeatedly accused the UAE of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — claims echoed by outside analysts, which the UAE has consistently denied.

Last month, the Sudanese government accused the RSF of launching UAE-assembled drones from neighbouring Chad.

US lawmakers long critical of the Gulf power’s role quoted the White House as saying late last month that the UAE had told the United States it would not arm paramilitaries in Sudan’s war.

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 overcoming 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, which has pitted Burhan against his former deputy and RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 12 million more.

It has also pushed the country to the brink of famine, with analysts warning involvement from other countries will only prolong the suffering.

By Agencies