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Türkiye's Ambassador to Khartoum, Fatih Yildiz, called on Friday for the international community to take concrete action against external actors supporting Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), describing recent RSF attacks on the city of El Obeid as alarming.
"The international community should not be content with statements alone. Concrete steps must be taken to prevent the activities of external actors supporting the RSF," Yildiz told Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
Yildiz said attacks carried out in recent weeks using drones and other military assets have negatively affected civilian life in El Obeid and warned that the RSF's past actions have deepened concerns over the current situation.
While international calls for action remain important, he said, they are insufficient on their own.
"What matters most is preventing the activities of external actors supporting the RSF. Unless this is achieved, risks will persist not only in El Obeid but in all areas where the RSF is present," Yildiz said.
He added that Türkiye supports the roadmap put forward by Sudan's government aimed at securing the RSF's withdrawal from territories under its control, saying a lasting solution is only possible once the RSF withdraws from occupied areas and that the international community must take a more active role toward that end.
Turning to reconstruction, Yildiz said returns to the capital Khartoum accelerated after the city came back under government control in March 2025, with economic activity beginning to revive.
He said both public institutions and civilians are returning to the city and that growing economic activity would further reinforce the return process.
Yildiz noted that Khartoum's infrastructure has not yet reached a level capable of supporting its pre-war population, calling reconstruction the country's most important priority in the coming period.
He emphasized the importance of Turkish investors familiar with Sudan re-engaging in the country, noting that some Turkish companies resumed operations in March 2025, including a Turkish factory producing cement and gypsum boards in southern Khartoum that has restarted.
"We need Turkish businesspeople who know Sudan well. We are encouraging them to resume operations," Yildiz said.
He noted that Sudan spans approximately 1.8 million square kilometers and, despite displacement and migration caused by the conflict, still has a population of roughly 35 million to 40 million.
"This population needs production, employment, and economic development," he said, adding that Türkiye's embassy in Khartoum and its commercial counselor's office stand ready to support investors.
The Turkish ambassador said Türkiye continues to maintain its presence in Sudan through various institutions.
"Türkiye continues to preserve its pre-war ties and share with the Sudanese people a vision for rebuilding the country together," he said, pointing to the Ziraat Bank's operations in Port Sudan, as well as the continued presence of Turkish Airlines and TIKA, Türkiye's development agency.
Although clashes continue in parts of Sudan, Yildiz said economic activity remains possible across much of the country, particularly in areas under army control, where he said there is no serious obstacle to investment.
Yildiz also addressed growing security cooperation between Türkiye and Sudan, describing it as a natural extension of the two countries' historic and friendly relations.
He said Türkiye's cooperation is with Sudan's legitimate government.
"It is entirely normal for Türkiye to deepen security relations with a friendly country like Sudan during difficult times," Yildiz said, adding that, "We hope these relations will not remain limited to the supply dimension in the future but will take on a more strategic character."
The Turkish ambassador's remarks came as the United States sanctioned eight individuals and entities linked to networks the Treasury Department said are fueling Sudan's civil war, while calling on both warring parties to accept an "immediate, unconditional" three-month humanitarian truce.
"The networks profiting from the conflict in Sudan jeopardize the prospects for the humanitarian truce that the Sudanese people desperately need," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The sanctions targeted a Sudan-based defense enterprise accused of supplying explosives and military equipment to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), an India-based explosives manufacturer and its CEO, and three individuals linked to a Panama-based company accused of recruiting Colombian fighters for the RSF.
The State Department separately announced measures under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, including opposing international financial institution loans to Sudan, additional Commerce Department export restrictions, and a ban on Sudanese state-owned air carriers operating in the U.S.
"These networks supply weapons, explosives, and foreign fighters to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
"Their support has prolonged a conflict that has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis and provided space for terrorist groups to operate," he noted.
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hannan Sulieman told the U.N. Security Council that nearly 80% of reported child casualties in the first four months of 2026 were linked to drone attacks, warning that roughly 500,000 civilians in El Obeid are currently at risk.
"Four years into this war, we have yet to see a single humanitarian truce. We have had none so far," Sulieman said, calling for immediate action to prevent military escalation in El Obeid, a halt to the flow of explosive weapons to warring parties, a formal truce, and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Sulieman said the war has left nearly 19.5 million people facing acute hunger, with 825,000 children under five expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition this year.
She said half of Sudan's school buildings are no longer functional, leaving at least 8 million children out of the classroom.
Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the military.
The war has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands and displacing nearly 13 million people.
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