KRISENHERD DER ZUKUNFT ¦ Suakin im Roten Meer. Ägypten und Saudi-Arabien durch Türkischen Pachtvertrag auf 99 Jahre alarmiert.- Ein Bericht von MOHAMMED AMIN

Suakin: ‚Forgotten‘ Sudanese island becomes focus for Red Sea rivalries

SUAKIN, Sudan – It is an historic yet long-neglected island whose proposed redevelopment has become the unlikely focus of a battle for influence in the Red Sea region.

A deal, announced in December and which saw the Ottoman-era port of Suakin leased to Turkey for 99 years to be revived as a tourism hub for Hajj-bound pilgrims, has set off alarm bells in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Riyadh and its allies have scrambled to counter what they see as a move by Ankara to extend its influence amid increasingly bitter regional rivalries, with the Sudanese government seeking to play each side off against the other in a bid to attract investment in its ailing economy.

While local officials have welcomed the deal with Turkey, some of Suakin’s residents have vowed to resist a regeneration plan which they say was agreed without any consultation and threatens their „historical rights“ to the island.

Others spoken to by Middle East Eye this month remained largely unaware of Turkey’s plans for Suakin island and pleaded instead for investment in basic infrastructure in neighbouring mainland communities still lacking paved roads, reliable supplies of electricity and clean water, and adequate public facilities.

The town’s only public hospital predates Sudan’s independence in 1956 and many among Suakin’s 50,000 residents complain that Suakin has been deliberately neglected for decades by central governments in Khartoum, which have favoured investment in Port Sudan, the capital of Red Sea State 50 kilometres to the north and which is now home to about half a million people.  Zum Weiterlesen

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