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UN Ends Political Mission in Sudan Where Conflict Continues

The United Nations headquarters building is seen from inside the General Assembly hall, on Sept. 21, 2021. (AP)
The United Nations headquarters building is seen from inside the General Assembly hall, on Sept. 21, 2021. (AP)
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UN Ends Political Mission in Sudan Where Conflict Continues

The United Nations headquarters building is seen from inside the General Assembly hall, on Sept. 21, 2021. (AP)
The United Nations headquarters building is seen from inside the General Assembly hall, on Sept. 21, 2021. (AP)

The United Nations Security Council voted Friday to end its political mission of a few hundred people dedicated to ending the civil war in Sudan.

Russia abstained from the unanimous vote to end UNITAMS, the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan. The United States' and United Kingdom's ambassadors expressed dismay over the decision to pull out from Sudan but said the move was inevitable, given the Sudanese government's desire to end the mission's presence.

While the United States voted in favor of this resolution in order to enable a safe and orderly drawdown, US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said, “we are gravely concerned that a reduced international presence in the Sudan will only serve to embolden the perpetrators of atrocities.”

A paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces has been at war against the Sudanese military since mid-April, when months of tension exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas.

The conflict has wrecked the country and forced more than 6 million people out of their homes, either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries.

United Nations officials say that the UN will keep trying to help Sudanese people with the continuing presence of various humanitarian agencies.

“What is clear and what should be clear to everyone is that the United Nations is not leaving Sudan,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.

But the end of UNITAMS removes a tool, albeit a flawed one, for trying to bring a measure of stability to Sudan, said Cameron Hudson, a former US official specializing in Africa and now a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“What we are looking at now is potentially an extended period of time when there is no overarching UN presence in the country,” Hudson said Friday.

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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Türkiye had the power and ability to "crush" all terrorists in Syria, including ISIS and Kurdish militants, while urging all countries to "take their hands off" Syria.

Since last month's fall of Bashar al-Assad, Türkiye has said repeatedly it was time for the Kurdish YPG militia to disband. Ankara considers the group, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization.

Ankara has said the new Syrian administration must be given an opportunity to address the YPG presence, but also threatened to mount a new cross-border operation against the militia based in northeast Syria if its demands are not met.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said the YPG was the biggest problem in Syria now, and added that the group would not be able to escape its inevitable end unless it lays down its arms.

"Regarding fabricated excuses like ISIS, these have no convincing side anymore," Erdogan said, referring to the US position that the YPG was a key partner against ISIS in Syria and that it plays a vital role guarding prison camps where the extremist militants are kept.

"If there is really a fear of the ISIS threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Türkiye," he said.

"Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian siblings, will crush the heads of ISIS, the YPG and other terrorist organizations in a short time."

Türkiye has repeatedly asked its NATO ally the United States to halt support for the SDF, and has said the new administration in Syria had offered to take over the management of the prisons. 

Later on Wednesday , Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara is ready to provide support to the new Syrian administration for the management of ISIS camps in the country.

"As we have always said, we are also ready to provide the necessary assistance to the new administration in the management of ISIS camps and prisons," Fidan said.

Speaking in Ankara following his meeting with his Syrian counterpart Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, Fidan also said diplomatic efforts will continue to ensure the removal of sanctions against Syria.