End Suffering in Darfur, Turkey Urges
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey’s president urged the Sudanese leader, Omar al-Bashir, during talks yesterday to act responsibly and to end the suffering in the devasted Darfur region.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court accuse Mr. Bashir of genocide by unleashing militias on ethnic African groups in Darfur that rebelled against his government. Some 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced since 2003.
“Human suffering agitates all, no matter which religion, ethnicity, or language those who suffer belong to,” President Gul of Turkey said he told Mr. Bashir during their closed-door meeting.
“I told the president [al-Bashir] that the Sudanese government should work hard” to end the violence, Mr. Gul said after the talks.
Mr. Bashir is in Turkey for a summit of African leaders, his first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court indicted him in July on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The Sudanese leader has said Khartoum does not recognize the court in The Hague, Netherlands, and will never cooperate with it.
Neither Sudan nor Turkey signed the treaty that founded the court, meaning Turkish authorities are unlikely to arrest Mr. Bashir even if the court’s international prosecutor is able to issue a warrant.
A panel of judges was reviewing evidence submitted by the prosecutor for a warrant.
However, Turkey — which aspires to join the European Union — is under pressure to take a critical stance on Sudan.
New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Turkey to express to the Sudanese delegation that it supports the court’s move.
Mr. Bashir’s regime is accused of directing the janjaweed militia campaign against black African groups that say the government discriminates against ethnic Africans. The janjaweed militias also are blamed for extreme violence against civilians.
Mr. Bashir was among heads of state attending the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit, aimed at expanding Turkey’s diplomatic and trade ties with the African continent. President Mugabe of Zimbabwe was not expected to attend.
