By TODAY’S ZAMAN

ANKARA — Foreign minister of the tribalist dictatorship in Ethiopia has urged the International Criminal Court to postpone a decision on issuing an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for his alleged role in atrocities in Darfur, calling for a political solution instead.

“I certainly believe that this decision should be postponed,” said Seyoum Mesfin in Ankara after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, late on Monday, when asked about the court’s expected ruling. “The Darfur crisis is a political one. Therefore, it requires a political solution,” said Mesfin, calling for the decision to be postponed for at least one year.

The world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal is expected to announce its decision soon on the warrant requested last year by the court’s chief prosecutor. The announcement comes as talks between the Sudanese government and one of the two main rebel groups in Darfur got under way Tuesday.

“Such a postponement would help Sudan achieve peace. A possible arrest warrant would benefit no one,” said the Ethiopian Woyanne foreign minister.

Babacan, for his part, did not touch on the expected decision from the court, but said Turkey backed the territorial integrity and political unity of Sudan, a veiled statement of support for al-Bashir. “We support the international community’s efforts in Darfur,” he said.

The government has received criticism for supporting the al-Bashir administration despite widespread accusations regarding genocide and war crimes perpetrated against the population of Darfur. The criticism surfaced again recently when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan walked out of a Davos panel after a heated exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres over a deadly Israeli operation in Gaza, which left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead. Hailing his courageous criticism of Israel, critics said, however, Erdoğan would have seemed more consistent had he leveled similar criticism against Sudan as well.

The al-Bashir government has been accused of encouraging Muslim militias to commit atrocities against ethnic Africans in Darfur since a rebellion broke out there early in 2003. UN officials say up to 300,000 people have died in the conflict and 2.7 million have fled their homes.

The African Union is expected to start talks with the United Nations to get the Security Council’s support for a resolution that would delay action on a warrant for a year. Turkey has been a nonpermanent member of the 15-seat UN Security Council since January. Mesfin said African leaders hoped that the UN Security Council would hear their call for a delay on a warrant.