The United States refrained from describing what happened in Sudan as a "historic moment," while other international parties called for a speedy transfer of power to civilians.

State Department spokesman Robert Paladino said the United States strongly supports a peaceful and democratic Sudan, commends the Sudanese people for its peaceful movement and urges the transitional authorities to exercise restraint and give space for civilian participation in the government.

"The Sudanese people have been clear that they are demanding a transitional process led by civilians," he said. "This should be allowed in less than two years from now."

Washington also announced - in parallel - the suspension of talks with Khartoum on the normalization of relations between the two countries, in the first action taken after the overthrow of the regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

The so-called second phase talks between the United States and Sudan began after the administration of former President Barack Obama moved to lift a 20-year trade embargo on Khartoum, in recognition of Washington's support of Sudan in fighting the Islamic state organization and improving the country's human rights record.

The United States imposed sanctions on Sudan in 1997, including a trade embargo and a freeze on government assets for human rights abuses and terrorism concerns. More sanctions were imposed in 2006 because of what it said was complicity in violence in the Darfur region.

Fast transfer of power
For its part, the European Union called on the Sudanese army to transfer power "quickly" to civilians, and noted the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mujerini the desire of the Sudanese people to change.

"Only a credible and comprehensive political process can meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people and lead to the political and economic reforms that the country needs," Mugirini said in a statement.

"This can be achieved only through the rapid handover of power to a civilian transitional government. In this process, everyone must exercise calm and maximum restraint."

The French embassy in Khartoum also expressed the hope that the Sudanese voice would be heard and that current developments would proceed without violence.

This came in a statement followed by the Embassy of Paris Thursday through its account on Twitter, commenting on the announcement by Sudanese Defense Minister Awad bin Auf dismissal and arrest of President Omar al-Bashir.

Comprehensive and fast transmission
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said his country wanted to see a swift and comprehensive transition towards civilian rule in Sudan, and that the two-year rule of the junta was not the solution.

"Change must be real in Sudan," Hunt said in a tweet on Twitter. "We must ensure that there is no further violence."

For his part, said Jonathan Allen, deputy British delegate to the United Nations that his country called with the United States, France, Germany, Poland and Belgium to hold a closed session of the United Nations Security Council on Friday on the situation in Sudan, warning against the use of violence against demonstrators.

Appropriate transition process
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterich, issued a statement calling for calm and restraint in Sudan.

He also called for an appropriate and comprehensive transition process that would meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people for democracy.

Not the right solution
"The army's control of power is not the right solution to the challenges facing Sudan and the aspirations of its people," AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Fakie said in a statement. He added that the Union's Peace and Security Council would meet "quickly to discuss the situation and make appropriate decisions".

He called on all concerned parties to calm and to exercise the utmost restraint and respect for the rights of citizens and foreign nationals and private property to the benefit of the country and its people.

Back to quiet
The Kremlin expressed hope for a quick return to calm and "constitutional order" in Sudan. "We are following the situation closely, and we hope there will be no escalation of the situation that could lead to (civilian) deaths," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We hope that the situation will return very quickly to constitutional order," he said, describing the events as "an internal matter for the Sudan that the Sudanese themselves must address."

National reconciliation
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for national reconciliation in Sudan. "I hope that Sudan will succeed in this matter calmly and I think it should begin to activate a normal democratic process," he told a news conference in Ankara.

"My most important wish is for Sudan to achieve this process in peace and on the basis of national reconciliation," he said.