The first batch of Turkish civilians evacuated from Sudan arrived by plane at Istanbul Airport early Wednesday.
Some 189 people came from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where they had arrived overland from the Sudanese capital Khartoum on a Turkish Airlines flight.
Several other flights scheduled later on Wednesday bumped the number of evacuees up to 684, local media reported early in the morning.
A total of 738 Turkish citizens crossed the border to Ethiopia as of Wednesday, Turkish authorities informed. More flights are expected throughout the rest of the day.
Türkiye began a large-scale evacuation of its citizens on Sunday, following other nations in pulling people out of Sudan where violent clashes between the army and a paramilitary group called Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have killed hundreds of people and stranded foreigners since April 15.
Fighting flared anew in the country late on Tuesday despite a cease-fire declaration by the warring factions as more people fled Khartoum and former officials, including one facing international war crimes charges, left prison.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on both sides in Sudan to end the conflict and return to negotiations.
A U.N. envoy said the truce was partially holding even though there was no sign that the two sides were ready for serious talks.
Naci Akgün, one of the Turkish evacuees, told reporters he was forced to “drop everything,” including his furniture business, and return to Türkiye after the fighting broke out.
Thanking government officials who facilitated the evacuations, Akgün said: “The conditions were serious. All nations wanted to pull their citizens out at the same time. Thankfully, Türkiye has done everything it can. We are the first group to return and we’re very happy. We are grateful to the embassies of Türkiye, Sudan and Ethiopia.”
It took the group 12 hours to reach the Ethiopian border where they were stalled for four hours while officials processed their crossing, Akgün recalled. Then, the group was driven to a military compound four hours away but wasn’t allowed to continue farther after 6 p.m.
“They kept us there until 9 a.m. They offered us tea, coffee, water and food. Then they transferred us to the nearest airport from there and we took a plane from Addis Ababa,” he explained.
Another evacuee, Mehmet Kazan, too expressed gratitude to the embassy officials for their rescue efforts. “It was a tough period; we came out of a war that we literally lived through,” he said. “We took shelter in homes. Our evacuation process was a bit difficult but thankfully, it went smoothly. The Turkish Embassy in Khartoum did its best to help us and get us out of there.”
After being tended to by airport officials, all evacuees left in vehicles provided for them.
In separate remarks later in the day, Türkiye’s presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın too expressed similar sentiments, saying the latest developments were “a cause of concern” for Türkiye.
“In phone calls with the sides in Sudan, we called for a cease-fire in a way that would especially cover Ramadan Bayram,” Kalın told reporters, noting that Ankara maintained a close watch on the situation and contact with both sides.
“Both sides have complete faith in Türkiye and Erdoğan,” Kalın said and assured Ankara would continue providing “every kind of support” for restoring peace and stability in Sudan.
“If there is a role we must undertake, whatever it may be, we are prepared to do it,” he stressed.
