2 yıl önce

Cavusoglu: Türkiye hopes its citizens can be evacuated from Ukraine mosque

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says a Turkish mosque in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine was intact after reports of rocket fire.

Türkiye has expressed the hope that progress could be made on evacuating Turkish nationals stuck in a mosque in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine.

In a news conference concluding the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Türkiye on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed that the mosque was intact after reports of a rocket landing 700 metres from the building.

"In my phone call with Mr Lavrov, I ... asked him for support in evacuating these citizens of ours in Mariupol," Cavusoglu said, referring to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

He added Türkiye had shared information with Russia about its citizens stuck in areas Russian forces had entered.

"For some days, we have been sending our buses there, but because clashes continue in the city the buses cannot enter," he said.

"The problem here is that since cell phones cannot be used and because clashes continue, even if we wait there, how will we get our citizens back? ... But we expect to make some headway on this today," he added.

Cavusoglu further informed that at least 14,480 Turkish citizens were evacuated from Ukraine since the start of conflict on February 24.

The Turkish foreign minister stressed the need for a humanitarian ceasefire and corridor, including in the city of Mariupol, noting that the issue was discussed at a trilateral meeting with Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Antalya on Wednesday.

Antalya Diplomacy Forum concludes

Cavusoglu said the "pulse of diplomacy" had beaten at the event over the past four days, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had held 11 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the forum, while Cavusoglu himself held 67.

He added: "600 members of press from 27 countries attended the second edition of forum."

Citing President Erdogan's opening remarks on Friday, Cavusoglu said the forum focused on "how to better utilise diplomacy with aims to eliminate global inequalities."

He also noted that Türkiye welcomes talks held at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum contributing to diplomacy and dialogue.

Commenting on talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, Cavusoglu said the Armenian minister voiced Yerevan's willingness to launch peace talks with Azerbaijan.

On relations with Afghanistan, Cavusoglu stated Türkiye was in no hurry to recognise the country's interim administration, and is waiting, like many other countries, for Kabul to take the necessary steps.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies