Turkey's Erdogan offers to mediate between Sudan and the UAE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Sudan’s military leader on Friday and offered to mediate to resolve tensions with the United Arab Emirates, according to the Turkish leader’s office.

The offer to Sudan’s military leader, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, comes just days after Erdogan brokered a deal between Ethiopia and Somalia. The deal initiates technical talks aimed at resolving a dispute that arose after Ethiopia signed a deal with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia.

Erdogan told Burhan that Turkey was willing to mediate toward resolving disputes between Sudan and the UAE. He said Turkey’s “core principles include establishing peace and stability in Sudan, preserving its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and preventing the country from becoming a zone of external interventions,” according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office.

The Sudanese government accuses the UAE of providing weapons to its rival paramilitary force and prolonging the conflict in Sudan. The UAE has rejected the allegations and accused the government of refusing to negotiate peace with its enemy.

Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to Darfur and other regions. More than 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes, the country is engulfed in a humanitarian crisis.

On Wednesday, President Erdogan met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Following the meetings, the sides issued a joint declaration recognizing Somalia’s territorial integrity while acknowledging the “potential benefits” of Ethiopia’s access to the sea, and also agreed to start talks toward resolving the dispute.

Tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia had been escalating since Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland in January. The agreement involved leasing land along Somaliland’s coastline to establish a marine force base, in exchange for Ethiopia recognizing Somaliland’s independence — a move Somalia insists infringes on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.