Turkey renovating historic Ottoman-era sites on Suakin island in Sudan

KHARTOUM – Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s state-run aid agency has started to renovate historic sites on the island of Suakin in northeastern Sudan, the agency stated on Jan. 23.

Thirty architects and experts in ground drilling, urban planning, geology and geophysical exploration, maps, and restoration recently started work, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) said in a statement.

With the joint project Sudan and Turkey aim to turn the island, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited in December, into a center of culture and tourism.

The island’s Ottoman-era Hanafi and Shafi’i mosques, as well as an old customs building, will be restored by the agency, according to the statement.

Suakin, one of the oldest seaports in Africa, used to be used by African Muslims on pilgrimages to the holy sites of Saudi Arabia.

The Ottomans used the port city to secure the Hejaz province, in present-day western Saudi Arabia, from attackers using the Red Sea front.