Sudanese president to fly to Turkey next week

August 14, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — President Omer al-Bashir will participate in a Turkey-African summit that will take place next week in Istanbul. This will be the first time he flies overseas since his indictment by the International Criminal Court prosecutor.

Last July the Turkish foreign ministry stated that Bashir would take part in the Turkey-African Union Cooperation Summit scheduled to begin on August 18. He is one of the 20 head of state and government who confirmed the invitation addressed by Ankara.

A source at the presidential palace confirmed today that he will travel to Turkey to attend the summit. He also excluded the possibility of his arrest there saying it was unlikely, Reuters reported on Thursday.

On July 14, the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested the pre-trial Chamber to issue an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. However the judges are expected to make their decision in October or November.

NATO-member Turkey is not party to the Rome Statute of the ICC at present. But, Ankara is a member of the unofficial group “Friends of the ICC” since 2004.

ICC judges could take weeks or months to issue a warrant, but they have never failed to issue one after it was requested by the prosecutor. The court is in recess until August 18.

Al-Bashir’s state visit to Ankara last January had been the focus of rights groups, who criticized the visit and called on Turkish leaders to press the Sudanese president to end ongoing bloodshed and abuses in Darfur region.

However during the recent years, Turkey has increasingly developed its commercial and military cooperation with Sudan.

Last year bilateral trade volume reached 225 million USD. Moreover, Turkish direct investments in Sudan have amounted to nearly 50 million USD (disregarding the Turkish firms operating in contracting and consulting), according to the Turkish foreign ministry website.

(ST)