Restored by TİKA, the House Museum of Sultan Ali Dinar Was Delivered to the Sudanese Government

Restored by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), the House Museum of Sultan Ali Dinar was delivered to the Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan.

The delivery ceremony held at the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, was attended by Sultan Ahmed Hussein Eyyub, the grandson of Sultan Ali Dinar; Bilal Özden, TİKA’s Khartoum Coordinator; and Galia Gar El Nabi, Deputy General Director of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan.

In his statement after the ceremony, Sultan Eyyub, the grandson of Sultan Ali Dinar, said, “We would like to express our gratitude to TİKA for caring for and restoring this historical building.” Eyyub thanked especially Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkey, for the importance he attaches to relations between Sudan and Turkey. He added that this project was implemented in memory of Sultan Ali Dinar, who had an important place during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire. Stating that the covering of the Kaaba was sent from Darfur 100 years ago during the reign of Ali Dinar, Sultan of Darfur, Sultan Eyyub urged the Sudanese government and the Sudanese people to show more interest in this building.

Bilal Özden, TİKA’s Khartoum Coordinator, said that Turkey and Sudan had deep-rooted relations and that Ali Dinar, Sultan of Darfur, was one of the symbols of these relations. Özden remarked that the restoration of the house of Sultan Ali Dinar, which was used as a museum, started in 2016 in order to preserve the memory and legacy of Sultan Ali Dinar and improve the relations between the two countries, and that they delivered this house museum to the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan on that day. Özden stressed that this delivery was a beginning for new projects.

Galia Gar El Nabi, Deputy General Director of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan, said that she was happy that the house museum of Sultan Ali Dinar was delivered, and thanked especially TİKA and the government of Turkey for their efforts in the restoration work. Gar El Nabi asked the Sudanese government to preserve the museum to prevent it from returning to its previous state, and stated that she hoped everyone would visit the museum, which they would open as soon as possible.