Sudan's president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, whose visit to Turkey raised controversy, says his administration was not committing atrocities, adding that foreign powers had a role to play in the situation. As a response Turkish President Abdullah Gül says that if the problems were solved than there would not be any room left for provocations

BARÇIN YİNANÇ
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

  Sudan's president, who was charged last week with masterminding a campaign of rape and genocide in Darfur, denied yesterday his responsibility for the atrocities in a meeting with President Abdullah Gül.

  Omar Hassan al-Bashir came to Istanbul to attend the Turkey Africa Cooperation Summit that took place yesterday. He was one of the six heads of state to attend the meeting, where 50 countries were represented. Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held meetings with the representatives of the African countries on the sidelines of the summit. No doubt, one of the most important meetings took place between al-Bashir and Gül. The latter avoided using terms like “genocide” or “atrocities,” describing the situation in Darfur as “a tragedy.”

  “Whatever its race, language or religion, the pain suffered by anyone in the region makes us sad,” Gül told his Sudanese counterpart, according to sources close to the president's office. “The pain has to stop and everyone has to spend an effort for this,” he added. "Black or white, Muslim or Christian, it doesn't even matter. One single life is important. You cannot expect the whole world to remain indifferent to what happens in Africa."

  Al-Bashir said his administration was not committing atrocities, adding that the events upset him as well. He also told Gül that foreign powers had a role to play in the situation and that there were a lot of provocateurs stirring trouble in the country. Gül told al-Bashir that if the problems were solved than there would not be any room left for provocations.

  Al-Bashir's visit to Istanbul is his second to Turkey this year. His state visit to Ankara a couple of months ago had raised criticism from Turkey's Western allies, mainly the United States. To avoid criticism, Turkish officials often argue that some Western countries are holding behind the scenes talks with the al-Bashir administration.

  Meanwhile Gül has also asked al-Bashir to facilitate Turkish firms investments in the country. He asked the president to give priority to Turkish firms, which were showing increasing interest to oil investment in the country. Gül also pledged that Turkey would continue to send extra help for the health sector.

  Both Gül and Erdoğan, who held separate bilateral meetings with nearly all of the representatives of the countries that attended the summit, raised the issue of Turkey's candidacy for U.N. Security Council non-permanent membership. They both sought to re-affirm the pledge previously given by almost 90 percent of the countries on the African continent, according to Turkish officials.

  Erdoğan, during a lunch he hosted for the African leaders, restated Turkey's desire for a non-permanent Security Council seat, which will be up for election in October. "We attach a major significance to this candidacy as we have not served on the Security Council since 1961," said Erdoğan.

  "We are pleased that the great majority of our African friends have already pledged their support for our candidature," he told lunch guests promising, "If elected to the Security Council, Turkey will pay special attention to the priorities and problems of African countries."

  Widespread African support for a Turkish Security Council seat is no surprise, considering the rapid development of relations between Africa and Turkey. Ever since Turkey released its “Opening up to Africa Action Plan” in 1998, "the government has taken significant steps to further intensify and deepen our relations with Africa," said Erdoğan.

  "During my visit to Ethiopia, I marked the opening of the regional office of TIKA, the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency," said Erdoğan, adding, "This office has since been followed by regional offices in Sudan and Senegal."

  Erdoğan spoke of Turkey's new role as an “emerging donor country” due to its increasing assistance to developing and least developed countries, most of which are located in Africa. Over the course of the last three years, Turkey's official development assistance has ranged between $600 and $750 million per year, with the number rising to $1.1 billion to $1.7 billion if nongovernmental assistance is included, according to the prime minister.

  "In March 2008 we allocated a further $50 million for African countries to be utilized over the next five years," Erdoğan told guests, adding, "We have also encouraged our businessmen to do business with African countries."

  In 2003 the volume of Turkey's bilateral trade with Africa was $5 billion, a volume that now stands at over $12 billion. "The target before us is now $30 billion by 2010," he told the audience, adding that the amount was "modest" considering the rapid economic development of the past few years.

  President Abdullah Gül, in a later speech, emphasized Turkey's sympathy for Africa's many plights saying, "The importance of Turkish-African cooperation is seen with threats like the food crises and epidemics that gravely affect Africa and that we observe with great concern."

  "African nations are unfortunately also the victims of global climate change. Towards this, we need to cooperate on such fields as climate change and environment, desertification, wetlands, biological diversity and wildlife preservation."

  In a show of trans-continental solidarity, Gül offered "to share our experiences and technology as best we can with African nations.”