Abdullah Gul, president of Turkey, accused the European Union yesterday of “interfering” by asking Ankara to withdraw an invitation for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan’s indicted president, to attend an Islamic summit in Istanbul.
The row threatens to stir fresh tensions between Turkey and its western allies after a month in which Turkish leaders have forged trade links with Iran and Syria and provoked a crisis in relations with Israel by ejecting it from joint military exercises.
Turkey’s hosting of next Monday’s meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s president, is likely to attend alongside Mr Bashir, will boost Ankara’s image as a key player in the region and wider Muslim world.
But it will raise fears that this more assertive foreign policy could set it at odds with its traditional allies.
“Why are they interfering? Who are they to deliver a note to us?” Mr Gul said, according to the Anatolian news agency.
It is not yet clear whether the EU lodged a formal protest. A spokesman for the Swedish presidency of the EU would not confirm or deny reports of a letter calling on Turkey to reconsider its invitation to Mr Bashir, who has travelled within Africa since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in March for alleged war crimes in Darfur. Turkey has not ratified the statute that established the ICC – although it is under pressure to do so – and is therefore not obliged to act on the arrest warrant.
“It’s not a bilateral meeting . . . These are multilateral visits – everyone visits as members of an international organisation,” said Mr Gul.
Turkey argues this active diplomacy is a boon to the west as it is one of few countries on good terms with all others in the region.
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية