Sudan accepts Turkey's mediation over border disputes with Ethiopia

KHARTOUM

Sudan accepted a mediation offer from Turkey to solve the border disputes with Ethiopia, a Sudanese official announced on Sept. 18.

“During the visit of Sudan’s head of Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to Turkey last month, he accepted an initiative from the Turkish leadership to solve the border disputes with Ethiopia,” Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi told a news conference in Khartoum.

She further stressed that the North African country is keen to improve its ties with Turkey in different areas, including the political and economic fronts.

Al-Burhan paid a visit to Turkey in August and signed several economic agreements with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

She also said that Sudan asked the U.N. Security Council to drop international sanctions regarding the situation in the western Darfur region.

“The situation in Sudan, particularly in Darfur, has changed since the Sudanese revolution, the formation of the transitional government, and the signing of the peace deal in the region, so Sudan is in need of support of the international community regarding the implementation of the Juba peace agreement instead of the continuation of sanctions imposed because of the policies and practices of the old regime.”

She also said that Sudan has accepted to open offices for the U.N. Human Rights Council as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Last month, Erdoğan backed a peaceful resolution for the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia - that has displaced tens of thousands and left millions hungry. He also said Turkey was willing to mediate between Ethiopia and Sudan to resolve a separate border dispute. Erdoğan's remarks came during a joint news conference with visiting Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. 

Tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia have been running high due to a spillover of the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region and Ethiopia's construction of a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile. 

The Tigray conflict has sent tens of thousands of refugees into eastern Sudan and triggered military skirmishes in an area of contested farmland along the border between the two countries.