ISTANBUL, Turkey - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir attended a summit of African leaders in Turkey on Tuesday in his first trip abroad since an international court indicted him on genocide charges last month.
Al-Bashir was among heads of state at the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit, aimed at expanding diplomatic and trade ties with the African continent. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was not expected to attend.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Monday asked his African counterparts to support Turkey's candidacy for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council.
"We assure you that we will do our best to be the voice of Africa along with African nations on the Security Council," Babacan said.
Turkey is also trying to finalize its membership process in the African Development Bank Group, which will help Turkish companies bid for development projects in Africa. The trade volume between Turkey and African nations stood around US$13 billion (8.8 billion euros) last year, and the sides are hoping to triple the amount by the end of 2010.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has accused al-Bashir of directing genocide in Darfur, Sudan's troubled region where up to 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced since 2003.
A panel of judges was reviewing evidence submitted by the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, to decide whether there are reasonable grounds to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir.
Even if an arrest warrant is issued while he is in Turkey, authorities there are unlikely to arrest him, as Turkey has not signed the court's treaty and is not bound by its provisions.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Turkey to tell the Sudanese delegation that it supports the court's move.
Al-Bashir has said Sudan does not recognize the court in The Hague, Netherlands, and will never cooperate with it. Neither Turkey nor Sudan signed the treaty that founded the court.
Al-Bashir's regime is accused of unleashing janjaweed militias against ethnic African groups that rebelled against his government, accusing it of discrimination against ethnic Africans. The janjaweed militias are also blamed for extreme violence against civilians in troubled areas.
The summit started Monday with talks among high-level officials from around 50 countries. Al-Bashir and some other heads of state arrived Monday for meetings on Tuesday. It is al-Bashir's second visit to Turkey this year.
