After facilitating an agreement initiating a thaw in relations between Somalia and Ethiopia in mid-December, Ankara is now offering its good offices to help Sudan resolve its differences with the United Arab Emirates. This weekend, the head of the Sudanese army, who accuses Abu Dhabi of arming the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), said he was in favor of the mediation it was proposing.
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“ The initiative » from Ankara could « lead to the achievement of peace in Sudan ” Who ” needs brothers and friends like Türkiye “, declared this weekend the head of Sudanese diplomacy, Ali Youssef, after a meeting between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, the head of the Sudanese army, and the Turkish deputy foreign minister in the city from Port Sudan.
At the end of this meeting, the latter was responsible for “ convey to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the favorable reception of the Sudanese leaders to [son] initiative » launched in mid-December to try “ to ease differences between the Sudan and the United Arab Emirates », accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – and thus prolonging the war and the suffering of the Sudanese people.
“ One of the problems is whether Turkey will be able to offer anything other than a channel for discussion »
After his meeting with General al-Burhane, the Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs estimated that “ concerted efforts » would be necessary to achieve peace in Sudan. In this regard, Turkish diplomacy, well established in the Horn of Africasaid he was ready to mobilize “ other regional actors to help [….] to end this conflict “.
Still, this mediation proposal from Turkey to end the war in Sudan raises a question: what is Ankara’s strategy to achieve this? “ Turkey is the only power that is present on the ground seriously enough for its voice to carry, deciphers the researcher and Turkey specialist Aurélien Denizeau. The Turks can offer the Emiratis their good knowledge, their experience of Sudan, its political sphere, the diplomatic networks they have established in this country, and assert to the Sudanese their status as a Middle Eastern actor to try to convince the Emirates. On this last point, however, things look complicated. One of the problems that will arise for Ankara is therefore to know whether it will be able to do anything other than offer a discussion channel », continues this one.
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