Alwaght- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Khartoum on Sunday and held talks with Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir resulting in military and economic agreements between the two countries.
Twelve accords were signed at the outset of his two-day visit to Khartoum, including economic and military deals as well as on the creation of a strategic cooperation council, Erdogan told a news conference.
He said the two Muslim countries aimed to boost two-way trade from the current level of $500m a year to $1bn in an initial stage and then $10bn.
Bashir hailed the trip by Erdogan, who is to travel on to Chad and Tunisia, as an "historic" first visit to Sudan by a Turkish president.
Sudan's leader, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes in the strife-torn Darfur region, earlier this month attended a summit in Istanbul of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The OIC summit was called to deliberate on US President's decision to recognize al-Quds as the capital city of the usurper Israeli regime.
Erdogan on Monday visited former Ottoman port city Suakin in eastern Sudan. During his two-day official visit to the country, he visited several Ottoman sites including Al-Hanafi Mosque, Al-Shafei Mosque and an old customs building. Ottomans used Suakin port city to secure the Hejaz province -- present-day western Saudi Arabia -- from attackers using the Red Sea front.
After Sudan, Erdogan will fly to Chad's capital N'Djamena on Tuesday. On the last day of the three-day visit, the president is scheduled to fly to Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia.
A statement released by the Turkish presidency said the visit demonstrates Turkey's resolve to strengthen ties with the three countries under its Africa partnership policy.
