Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspect honor guard during arrival at Khartoum Airport, Sudan December 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
December 24, 2017
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Turkey and Sudan have agreed to set up a “strategic cooperation council” to strengthen economic ties, their presidents said at a news conference in Khartoum on Sunday after the first visit by a Turkish leader to the African nation.
The countries hope gradually to increase bilateral trade ties to $10 billion a year from the current $500 million, and signed 12 agreements on military, economic and agricultural cooperation.
Sudan’s economy has been struggling since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country’s oil output.
In recent years, Turkey has boosted investments in Sudan.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Omar Fahmy; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Dale Hudson)
