Erdogan: Our relations with the Democratic Republic of the Congo will gain great momentum

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his confidence that the existing relations between his country and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will gain great momentum in the coming period.

This came in a press conference held on Sunday with his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, which he is visiting as part of his African tour.

Erdogan stated that he met his counterpart Tshisekedi 3 times during the last 6 months, the last of which was in December 2021 on the sidelines of the Turkish-African Partnership Summit in Istanbul.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey is determined to continue strengthening its relations with African countries, noting that his talks with Tshisekedi focused on how to strengthen bilateral relations between Turkey and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He continued, "We continue our solidarity with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the field of security and the fight against terrorism, and President Tshisekedi supports our fight against the Gulen terrorist organization, and we also stand by Kinshasa in the fight against terrorism."

Erdogan pointed out that the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) continues to contribute to the renaissance and development of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through many vital projects in different sectors.

And he added, "Our commercial relations are increasing day by day. The trade exchange between the two parties amounted to $36.5 million in 2018, and now we are seeking to raise this number to $250 million."

Earlier today, Erdogan arrived in Kinshasa, at the start of an African tour that will also include Senegal and Guinea Bissau.

Erdogan is accompanied on his visit by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, Defense Hulusi Akar, Trade Mehmet Muş, Transport and Infrastructure Adil Kara Ismailoglu, and Youth and Sports Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu.

He is also accompanied by the Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, the head of the Defense Industries Corporation, Ismail Demir, and the head of the communications department in the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun.

One dead after Sudanese security confronted demonstrations in Khartoum calling for civilian rule and the release of political detainees

Protest for civil administration in Sudan

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors announced - in a statement - the death of a patient in Khartoum Bahri Hospital, as a result of being shot by a live bullet fired by security forces inside the hospital, during their dispersal of demonstrations today in Khartoum North, according to the committee's statement.

The Doctors Committee indicated that the number of victims of the demonstrations rejecting the decisions of the President of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has risen to 82 since last October 25.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the Sudanese security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators at the "Sharoni" station in the vicinity of the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum, demanding full civilian rule and the release of political detainees.

The demonstrators - who raised slogans rejecting the decisions of the President of the Sovereign Council, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan - responded by throwing stones at the security forces, and hit-and-run operations took place between the two parties on Al-Qasr Street and the sub-streets, opposite the Sharoni transportation stop and Khartoum Teaching Hospital.

And earlier today, Sunday, thousands of protesters demonstrated in the neighborhoods of Khartoum and Bahri (north of the capital) and Omdurman (west of the capital), at the invitation of the coordination of the resistance committees (activists) responsible for organizing the demonstrations.

On Sunday, hundreds of Sudanese women staged a protest in front of the women's prison in Omdurman; To demand the release of all detainees in the country, without security interference towards them, according to Anatolia.

Opposition forces and human rights organizations accuse the Sudanese authorities of arresting political leaders and dozens of activists in the resistance committees.

On the other hand, Al-Burhan said last Thursday that the complaints against some people (intended to be arrested) were made by the judicial authorities, stressing the independence of these authorities.

Since last October 25, Sudan has witnessed protests, rejecting the exceptional measures taken by Al-Burhan; Most notably, the imposition of a state of emergency and the dissolution of the Sovereignty Council and the Transitional Ministers.

Those who reject these measures say that they represent a coup against a transitional period that began on August 21, 2019, and is supposed to end with elections in early 2024, during which power is shared by the army, civil forces and armed movements that signed a peace agreement with the government in 2020.

However, Al-Burhan denied the occurrence of a military coup, and considered that its measures aimed at correcting the course of the transitional period, and said that power would only be handed over to those who came through elections or through political consensus.

Burkina: Death of Kassoum Kambou, President of the Constitutional Council

The president of the Constitutional Council of Burkina Faso, Kassoum Kambou, aged 66, died on Saturday in Paris years where he had been evacuated for medical treatment, announced the presidency of Faso in a press release.

The President of Burkina Faso, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba , "deeply regrets to inform the public of the death this Saturday in Paris, France, of Mr. Kassoum Kambou, President of the Constitutional Council, as a result of illness" , indicates this release.

Hospitalized for several days in Ouagadougou, he had "been evacuated on Friday night to France for better care" .

President of the Constitutional Council since February 2015, Kassoum Kambou was unable to preside over the swearing-in ceremony of President Damiba on Wednesday, who took power on January 24 in a coup that overthrew elected President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré .

Fourth character of the State, Kassoum Kambou was the third president of this jurisdiction of the State, born from the bursting of the Supreme Court in 2000.