‘Türkiye, Ethiopia try to act as mediators in Sudan conflict’

BY DAILY SABAH WITH AGENCIES

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Türkiye and Ethiopia would launch work to act as mediators to find a solution to the conflict in Sudan upon the initiative of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Praising Ahmed’s efforts to address the issue, Çavuşoğlu told a live interview on TRT Haber that Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akçapar would travel to Sudan next week to seek a permanent solution to the ongoing crisis in the country.

Çavuşoğlu also said that the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Syria and Türkiye may hold a meeting in Moscow next month, as part of the efforts to revive Türkiye-Syria ties after.

NATO member Türkiye has backed the moderate opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad during the 12-year civil war, and sent its own troops into the country’s north to fight Daesh and the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG terrorists.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister also said Türkiye evacuated 1,834 people, including 249 citizens from 19 different countries, from conflict-torn Sudan.

“We are in contact with each of our citizens who want to return,” Çavuşoğlu said.

Türkiye on Thursday deployed five military transport planes, including two A400M aircraft, to evacuate its remaining citizens from Sudan.

Earlier Friday, the Defense Ministry announced that a Turkish C-130 evacuation plane, which was headed to Wadi Seidna Air Base for the evacuation, came under small-arms fire.

A cease-fire that came into force at Tuesday midnight was the latest attempt to stop the fighting in Sudan that first erupted on April 15.

At least 460 people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured in clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the conflict began, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and paramilitaries concerning military security reform.

The reform envisages full RSF participation in the military – one of the main issues in negotiations with international and regional parties for a transition to civilian, democratic rule.