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Turkish Deputy FM Visits Port Sudan to Discuss Mediation with UAE

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran (Turkish Foreign Ministry/X)
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran (Turkish Foreign Ministry/X)
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Turkish Deputy FM Visits Port Sudan to Discuss Mediation with UAE

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran (Turkish Foreign Ministry/X)
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran (Turkish Foreign Ministry/X)

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran is set to arrive in Port Sudan, the temporary Sudanese capital, on Saturday to hold talks with Sudanese officials.

The visit aims to present proposals from Türkiye for facilitating mediation between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a role Ankara had previously pledged to undertake.

Duran’s visit follows a December 13 phone call between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. During the call, Erdogan expressed Türkiye’s willingness to mediate between Sudan and the UAE to resolve tensions and halt the ongoing war.

A diplomatic source from the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that the Turkish official’s visit focuses on advancing Türkiye’s mediation initiative. The source noted that Duran is expected to deliver a document containing dialogue proposals to the Sudanese government, which will later be shared with the UAE.

The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously issued a statement welcoming Ankara’s initiative and expressed readiness to coordinate with Ankara to end the conflict in Sudan. However, the source emphasized Sudan’s clear stance on mediation, reaffirming its commitment to implementing the terms of the Jeddah Declaration agreed upon between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on May 11, 2023.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Yusuf described the Turkish diplomat’s visit as significant, highlighting the strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations. He emphasized that it reaffirms recent communications between their leadership and bolsters relations between the peoples of Sudan and Türkiye.

“The visit underscores Türkiye’s interest in developments in Sudan and expresses Turkish solidarity with the Sudanese people,” the official Sudanese news agency (SUNA) quoted Yusuf as saying.

In a speech marking Sudan’s Independence Day on Tuesday, Al-Burhan expressed readiness to engage in any “genuine initiative” that could end the conflict. At the same time, he reiterated his commitment to preparing for a decisive military victory in favor of the Sudanese people.

Al-Burhan firmly rejected any return to pre-April 15, 2023 conditions and dismissed the possibility of coexisting with the RSF and its backers.

“There is no place among the Sudanese people for these killers, criminals, and their supporters,” he stated.

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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group's leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

The moves deal a blow to the RSF's attempts to burnish its image and assert legitimacy - including by installing a civilian government- as the paramilitary group seeks to expand its territory beyond the roughly half of the country it currently controls.

The RSF rejected the measures.

"America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong. Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong," said an RSF spokesman when reached for comment.

The war in Sudan has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. It has also carried out mass looting campaigns across swathes of the country, arbitrarily killing and sexually assaulting civilians in the process.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors it says it is trying to control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities," Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, barring him and his family from travelling to the US and freezing any US assets he might hold. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain activity with him also risk being hit with sanctions themselves.

It had previously sanctioned other leaders, as well as army officials, but had not sanctioned Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as attempts to bring the two sides to talks continued.

Such attempts have stalled in recent months.

"As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces," the Treasury said.

Sudan's army and RSF have been fighting for almost two years, creating a humanitarian crisis in which UN agencies struggle to deliver relief. More than half of Sudan's population faces hunger, and famine has been declared in several areas.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

Blinken said in the statement that "both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan."

The US has sanctioned army leaders as well as individuals and entities linked to financing its weapons procurement. Last year, Blinken accused the RSF and the army, which has carried out numerous indiscriminate air strikes, of war crimes.