Suakin Island’s lease to Turkey poses no threat for Arab countries’ security - Sudan

By  Trend

The lease of Suakin Island to Turkey poses no threat to the security of the Arab countries, the Sudanese Embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a message.

The embassy said that Khartoum has a legitimate right to develop relations with other countries, and in this regard, the decision to lease Suakin Island to Turkey cannot be considered violation of Sudan’s territorial integrity.

On December 27, a number of mass media outlets of Saudi Arabia and Egypt sharply criticized the decision by the Sudanese authorities to lease the Suakin Island to Turkey.

Earlier, the Sudanese media reported that Sudan’s Suakin Island was leased to Turkey for a period of 99 years. Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir on Dec. 27 night signed a decree on handing over the island to Turkey for rent, according to the report.

On Dec. 26, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Sudan said that Turkey is ready to carry out large-scale restoration work and restore infrastructure on the Suakin Island.

Erdogan added that presently, Suakin Island is an abandoned area.

"Turkey is ready to restore the mosques having historical significance on the island," Erdogan said.

For many centuries, Suakin Island, situated in north-eastern Sudan, has been an important trading port in the Red Sea and one of the centers of Islamic civilization on the coast of East Africa.