Erdoğan calls for more Turkish investment in Sudan

KHARTOUM - Anadolu Agency

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Dec. 24 called for more Turkish investment in Sudan, as businesspeople from the two sides signed deals in the capital Khartoum.

Nine agreements ranging from cotton production to airport construction were signed in Khartoum during the Sudan-Turkey Business Forum.

They follow the signing of 13 agreements by the two countries on Dec. 24 regarding defense cooperation, mining, agriculture, increasing forest reserves and forest preservation, science, education, tourism, the environment, support for small businesses and the establishment of a strategic council to strengthen economic ties.

No financial information was provided on the deals.

The signing of the latest deals came on the final day of a two-day official visit by Erdoğan to the country.

Erdoğan also said his country remains committed to support Sudan.

Speaking at Khartoum University after being awarded an honorary doctorate, Erdoğan said Turkey would continue to be with the Sudanese people through its institutions and organizations.

Erdoğan further stated the future will be the African continent before the end of this century.

“As long as we stand together, we make effort and do not bow down as we did not bow down on [the issue of] Jerusalem,” he added.

Tension has mounted in the Palestinian territories since Dec. 6, when U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, drawing protest and condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world.

Erdoğan and other top Turkish officials have remained at the forefront of international opposition to the U.S. move.

On Dec. 21, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution - by a vote of 128 to 9 - calling on Trump to reverse the decision.

Erdoğan said the Islamic world is once again at the center of dirty plots as sectarian differences are fueled, ethnic separations are deepened and people who have been sharing the same land for centuries are pitted against each other as in some countries of Africa.

“They are using terrorist organizations as subcontractors, like ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant], the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and the PYD [Democratic Union Party], in order to achieve their goals,” Erdoğan said, citing an Irish author who said: “Imperialists sniffing out oil are more dangerous than sharks sniffing out blood.”

Erdoğan also said that around 800 students were learning Turkish at the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in Khartoum, and a Turkish language department will open in Khartoum University.

Erdoğan said Turkey and Sudan were also working on another project to establish a Sudan-Turkey University.

Erdoğan’s visit, the first by a Turkish president, was welcomed by his Sudanese counterpart who said it would boost relations between the two countries.