Turkey said Sunday it will welcome Sudan's leader even though he has been indicted for orchestrating crimes against humanity in Darfur.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is free to join an Istanbul summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The 57-nation group holds its main meetings Monday.
Erdogan said Turkey respects human rights and would not hesitate to challenge al-Bashir if it believed he had committed atrocities. But Erdogan said he doesn't believe that Sudanese paramilitary forces committed acts of genocide against African residents of Darfur.
"It is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide," Erdogan told ruling party members.
Turkey does not recognize the International Criminal Court, the Netherlands-based body that in March issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir. The court accused Sudan's leaders of orchestrating a campaign of murder, torture, rape and forced expulsions in Darfur.
"If there were such a thing in Darfur, we would be chasing this to the end," Erdogan said.
Erdogan accused Israel of committing much greater crimes versus Palestinians during Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip in January. He said it would be easier to discuss state killings of civilians with al-Bashir than with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I cannot discuss this with Netanyahu but I can easily discuss such issues with Omar al-Bashir. I can say to his face: What you are doing is wrong," Erdogan said.