Turkey will relocate its embassy in the capital Khartoum to Port Sudan after the ambassador’s car was hit by gunfire, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
“For the safety of our embassy and our colleagues, we decided to move our embassy to Port Sudan,” Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday.
No casualties were reported and the source of the gunfire that hit Ismail Cobanoglu’s vehicle was unclear, said Turkish diplomatic sources quoted by Anadolu Agency. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The warring sides blamed each for the attack on the Turkish ambassador’s car.
Turkish Ambassador Ismail Cobanoglu had discussed the issue with both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and informed them about the relocation plans, the Turkish minister added.
Fighting between two rival generals – army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo – broke out on April 15. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of others wounded in the conflict.
A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the two sides concerning the integration of the RSF into the armed forces — a key condition of Sudan’s transition agreement with political groups.