Turkey's Erdogan calls for national reconciliation in Sudan

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on Thursday for national reconciliation in Sudan after President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a military coup.

Erdogan, who has deepened Turkey's investments in Sudan recently, said the two countries had deep relations that Ankara wanted to maintain.

"My wish is that Sudan should succeed in this calmly ... and I believe it should start operating the normal democratic process," he told a news conference in Ankara.

"It is my most important wish that Sudan gets over this process on the basis of national reconciliation and in peace."

Erdogan became the first Turkish president to visit Khartoum in 2017, when Turkey signed several deals worth $650 million with Sudan as it emerged from two decades of U.S. sanctions.

Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and faces an arrest warrant over allegations of genocide in Sudan's Darfur region, attended an Islamic summit in Istanbul shortly before Erdogan's trip to Sudan.