Sudan's vice president attends talks in Ankara amid Darfur controversy

Taha had talks with Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan and was scheduled for a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the evening after Today's Zaman went to print. Erdoğan was expected to host a dinner in honor of Taha.

Last week, the African Union (AU) urged the UN Security Council to suspend the expected decision by the ICC. AU leaders say indicting al-Bashir could worsen the conflict in Darfur and threaten the 2005 peace agreement that ended a two-decade war between Khartoum and South Sudan. In August, the government received criticism from the media and human rights activists for hosting al-Bashir on an official visit to Turkey. In December, Ashraf Qazi, the UN special envoy to Sudan, had talks in Ankara with President Abdullah Gül and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Following Qazi's visit, the Foreign Ministry in a written statement highlighted the importance Ankara attaches to the implementation of the 2005 peace agreement by all parties.