Sudan’s Chairman of the Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said on Sunday that relations between Sudan and Turkey “have today become deeper and stronger than ever before,” stressing that ties between the two countries are historically rooted.
His remarks came during a meeting with a delegation of Turkish media outlets, including TRT Arabic. At the outset, al-Burhan expressed his appreciation for the efforts of Turkish television channels, saying: “I invited you here to convey my gratitude for the work you have done, which has contributed to correcting perceptions about Sudan. I have reviewed your coverage and I value this role.”
Al-Burhan added that Turkish media enjoy a strong international reputation, noting that the Turkish leadership has taken clear positions in support of Sudan during the war and has provided what he described as genuine support in confronting “the aggression faced by the Sudanese people.”
He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a positive relationship with the Sudanese people, and that the Turkish public as a whole sympathizes with Sudanese suffering and hopes for an end to their ordeal, noting that “some countries have taken a different stance.”
Al-Burhan stressed that the world recognizes the Sudanese army as the legitimate authority and that it cannot be placed on equal footing with militias.
He said the Sudanese government has put forward a vision for achieving a truce, emphasizing that a sustainable solution to end what he described as the “rebellion of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)” does not necessarily rely solely on fighting, but could also involve the surrender of weapons, restricting RSF armaments, or regrouping their forces in designated areas.
Al-Burhan referred to calls for a halt to military operations, including a proposal to form a four-party committee comprising Turkey and Qatar alongside Saudi Arabia and Egypt as Sudan’s neighboring states, while explicitly excluding the United Arab Emirates from the initiative.
He said Sudan has withstood the war thanks to support from brotherly countries, foremost among them Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Eritrea, while pointing to a limited number of states that he said were obstructing stability in Sudan.
Al-Burhan accused some countries of inciting insecurity, singling out the UAE as what he described as “the main supporter of the rebellion.”
He added that despite its harshness, the war has contributed to strengthening and developing the Sudanese army and enhancing its ability to protect the state, noting that Sudan and Turkey have the capacity to cooperate in military development.
Al-Burhan said Turkey is a major country with advanced capabilities that qualify it to support Sudan in this area, expressing readiness for joint cooperation not only militarily but also in economic and investment fields, stressing that bilateral cooperation should not be limited to military support alone.
In a related context, al-Burhan said the RSF has consistently evaded repeated calls for declaring a truce. He explained that the Sudanese army had put forward several initiatives to halt military operations, but that the RSF had adopted what he called a “different approach” in dealing with them.
He noted that during the siege of El Fasher, the army agreed to more than one truce, while no similar initiatives were presented at that time. He added that calls for a truce only emerged after the city fell, enabling the RSF to take control of it.
Al-Burhan said the same pattern was repeated in other areas, including Babanusa, expressing the army’s belief that the RSF waits for the fall of cities such as El Obeid and Kadugli before declaring readiness to stop fighting.
He argued that this approach reveals collusion by certain parties and compliance with dictates from the UAE, stating that the RSF “moves according to what the UAE requests and directs.”
He concluded by reaffirming Sudan’s categorical rejection of any future UAE participation in mediation efforts.
