'Sudan in solidarity with Turkey at all occasions'

By Meryem Goktas and Sena Guler

ANKARA

The Turkish foreign minister on Wednesday said Sudan stood in solidarity with Turkey "at every occasion".

"Sudan demonstrated its solidarity at every occasion, in particular in our fight against FETO [Fetullah Terrorist Organization]," Mevlut Cavusoglu said during his address at the 10th Ambassadors Conference in capital Ankara.

Speaking about Turkey’s Africa outreach policy, Cavusoglu said: "Sudan is a very important partner for Turkey".

Cavusoglu also recalled that Turkey was a strategic partner of the African Union.

Praising the bilateral relations between the two countries, Cavusoglu said the national flag carrier Turkish Airlines would launch flights to Port Sudan.

The Turkish foreign minister said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Sudan was very successful especially on the issue of the Suakin island.

The Turkish president had visited the Suakin island on the west coast of the Red Sea on Dec. 25, 2017, as part of his two-day official visit in the northern African nation.

The city was under Ottoman rule between 1555 and 1865. During Erdogan’s visit to the country, Sudan agreed to hand over the northeastern Suakin island temporarily to Turkey for rebuilding.

Turkey’s goal is to turn Suakin island into a center of attraction as the island is being restored by a Turkish-state-run agency.

"The renovation of the Suakin island has been going smoothly," he said.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed also praised the relations between the two countries.

"Sudan and Turkey are witnessing a time of very special relations," he said.

Speaking about investing into African countries, the Sudanese foreign minister said countries that wanted to invest and trade with African countries "need to be adventurous and conventional".

"If Turkey wants inroads to Africa, Turkey needs to build on that legacy," he said recalling the Ottoman influence in the African country.