UPDATE - Türkiye evacuates over 1,830 people from Sudan: Foreign minister

UPDATES WITH TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER’S PHONE CALL WITH RSF COMMANDER

By Diyar Guldogan and Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye evacuated a total of 1,834 people, 249 of whom are citizens of 19 different countries, from conflict-torn Sudan, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday.

"We are in contact with each of our citizens who want to return," Mevlut Cavusoglu told TRT Haber.

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Cavusoglu also spoke over the phone with Mohammed Hamdan Dagalu, the commander of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and discussed the evacuation of Turkish citizens.

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

Earlier Friday, the Turkish National 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.

Regarding efforts to end the conflict in Sudan, Cavusoglu said: "Our deputy minister (Burak Akcapar) will go to Sudan for mediation next week."

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.