UPDATE - Türkiye ready to host talks for Sudan: President Erdogan

ADDS REMARKS OF TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AND BACKGROUND

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye is ready to host comprehensive talks for peace in Sudan if the stakeholders agree, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Sudan's army chief on Tuesday.

In a phone call with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Erdogan said Türkiye will continue its efforts in coordination with the UN to ensure that the urgent humanitarian needs of the Sudanese people are met, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement.

Erdogan also expressed his sadness and concern over rising casualties from the "fratricidal fight" in Sudan.

The evacuation and security of Turkish citizens in Sudan were also discussed, according to the statement.

Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that Türkiye had moved all its employees, ​​especially security guards, from the embassy in Sudan with the support of al-Burhan.

"May Allah not put any country in this situation. If we had not changed the balance in Libya, the streets of Tripoli would still be like this today. We are also trying to stop this war (in Sudan)," Cavusoglu said at an event in Türkiye’s southern Antalya province.

Over the weekend the official vehicle of Turkish Ambassador to Sudan Ismail Cobanoglu was hit by gunfire in the capital Khartoum.

No casualties were reported, and the source of the gunfire is not yet clear.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries over RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."

Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.