Eritrea Accuses Turkey, Qatar and Sudan of Supporting Armed Militants

In a press statement released on Thursday, April 3rd, the Eritrean Ministry of Information accused Turkey of conducting “acts of subversion” against Eritrea. In addition, it accused Qatar of collaboration by providing “funding and operational services … in collusion with the Sudanese regime which allowed its territories to be used for the nefarious aims.”

The statement explained that “these subversive acts have been ratcheted up” over the last year with the aim of “obstructing the peace process and positive development in the ties between Eritrea and Ethiopia… and the whole of the Horn of Africa.” It added, that at the beginning of this year, Turkey has opened an office for the Chairman of the obscure “Eritrean Muslim League.”

The Eritrean Government has been accusing Qatar and its allies since Isaias Afwerki distanced himself from Qatar, and stood with the Saudi-UAE alliance in the war they are waging in Yemen. Turkey is a major ally of Qatar.

On March 19, PM Abiy made a visit to Qatar but details of his talks with the Amir of Qatar are still unknown. Last year Saudi Arabia and the UAE sponsored the agreement reached between PM Abiy and Isaias Afwerki; both were hosted by the leaders of the two countries to sign the agreement.

Observers believe that “PM Abiy’s attempts to normalize relations between the countries of the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Gulf countries will not bear fruit as long as Isaias Afwerki is involved in it.” Isaias has been either at war, or on a diplomatic rift with almost all the countries of the region.

Until two years ago, Qatar was the major patron of Isaias Afwerki but then he joined the Saudi-UAE alliance at the expense of his long relationship with Qatar. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been  boycotting Qatar since June 2017.

In 2018, the UAE provided training for a number of Eritrean ruling party cadres on Internet trolling techniques to fight the media and activists opposed to the Eritrean ruling party. It’s worth noting that the trolling cooperation’s first target was the Eritrean League of Ulema.

In response to that, Turkey, Qatar and Sudan denied the Eritrean allegations that came in a press statement it issued on Thursday.

Turkey

Turkey expressed disappointment of Asmara accusing it of obstructing the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

“We are saddened to note the baseless allegations about Turkey in a press statement dated April 3, 2019 by Eritrea’s Ministry of Information,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We believe this statement arose out of misinformation.”

The ministry said that as a strategic partner of Africa, Turkey maintains multi-dimensional cooperation with African countries and attributes “great importance” to the security and stability of the continent.

The ministry also emphasized that Turkey’s appreciation of the normalization process between Ethiopia and Eritrea and developments towards the stability of the Horn of Africa has been made public on many occasions.

QATAR

This morning, the Qatari government handed a memo of protest against the press release of Eritrea that accused alleged the three countries are engaged in “futile acts … perpetrated through the funding and operational services of Qatar, as well as the collusion of the Sudanese regime which has allowed its territory to be used for the nefarious aims.”

In the memo it handed to Ali Ibrahim Ahmed Al Eqqud, the Eritrean Ambassador to Qatar stated that it “deplores and totally rejects the [Eritrean] accusation.”

The Eritrean ambassador to Qatar was recalled to Eritrea about three years ago but refused to return. Several diplomats recalled to Eritrea for meetings were arrested, while others have abandoned their posts and sought asylum in other countries fearing repercussion if they returned to Eritrea.

Sources close to the Eritrean government said, “The Eritrean government does not trust ambassador Ali Ibrahim and it didn’t fire him when he refused to return to avoid embarrassment.”

The ambassador is also the most senior ambassador in Qatar and he is the dean of the diplomatic corps in Qatar, but he has little ambassadorial activity since the communications between him and his government are minimal.

Like many other posts, the major activity of the Eritrean embassy is focused on collecting fees and taxes from Eritreans living in Qatar most of whom hold Eritrean passports. A resident in Qatar said, “we are held hostage by the cadres of the embassy to stay quiet, otherwise, they deny us general consular services including attestation of documents and passports.

Eritreans in Qatar enjoy higher privileges compared to other countries in the region. Unlike in other countries, they work freely, they can send their children to school, and get medical attention without discrimination.

SUDAN

Also, this morning the Sudanese Ministry of foreign affairs issues a statement in response to the Eritrean accusation. Sudan expressed its surprise at the allegation of  “conspiracies being waged against Eritrea from the Sudanese territories” to disrupt the development in the Horn of Africa particularly the Eritrean-Ethiopian relations.

Sudan denied that “there was no meeting in Khartoum of the Eritrean group mentioned by the press release or any other Eritrean group.” It added, “that Sudan has long sought Ethiopian-Eritrean reconciliation and was one of the first countries to congratulate the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments on the restoration of their relations.”

the Eritrean press release had alleged that a few days ago an Eritrean civil association “subversive outfit”, called the Eritrean Muslim Ulema held a meeting in Khartoum and made, “inflammatory public pronouncements … against Eritrea and Ethiopia.”