25 May 2017•Update: 25 May 2017
By Abdullah Uluyurt
KHARTOUM, Sudan
A Turkey-Sudan Friendship Association, which aims to strengthen ties between the two countries, was formally launched on Thursday in Sudanese capital Khartoum.
The association was inaugurated at a ceremony attended by Celalettin Gungenci, Khartoum coordinator for the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA); Feyzullah Bahci, Khartoum director of the Yunus Emre Institute; Friendship Association President Fatih Ali Hasaney; and a number of other prominent Turkish and Sudanese figures.
“Turkish-Sudanese relations have always been good,” Hasaney said in a speech delivered at the ceremony. “We look forward to consolidating our shared history and partnership.”
He added: “Our aim is to move our close bond into the economic sphere. Turkey and Sudan must act in unison with a view to extracting underground resources and promoting agriculture.”
Mehmet Cetinsoy, head of the Turkish-Sudanese Businessmen’s Association, noted that economic relations between the two countries had improved over the last half-decade, voicing hope that they would develop further in coming years.
Bahci, for his part, pointed out that the people of both countries were similar to one another -- both culturally and socially.
“Turkey and Sudan will cooperate. Our friendship, which has lasted for centuries, will grow incrementally," he said.
Following these remarks, Turkey’s Hagia Sophia Hafiz Choir performed a hymn for attendees.
The ceremony ended with a prayer delivered by Ishak Kizilaslan, the imam of Istanbul’s celebrated Sultan Ahmet Mosque and a specialist for Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate.
*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara
