Turkey has called on Russia to help evacuate its citizens trapped in besieged Mariupol, in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said today, without confirming whether the city's mosque was hit by Russian bombing.
"We called yesterday (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov) and asked him for his help in evacuating our citizens," he said.
Ukrainian authorities denounced yesterday that the Mariupol mosque, where some 80 civilians, including dozens of Turks, had taken refuge, was targeted by Russian forces who have surrounded the city.
This is the first official reaction from the Turkish government since the announcement. Cavusoglu said that "the imam of the mosque did not confirm the bombing" of the building. A member of the city's Turkish community also denied yesterday that the mosque was hit by the Russian military.
"He said rockets and missiles hit the area," the Turkish foreign minister said, acknowledging that he had "lost contact" with the community because of the "collapse of the infrastructure." "We shared this information with Russia," he added."
"We sent a bus to the area, but it failed to enter the city," he added. This is the first time the Turkish government has confirmed the presence of its nationals in this mosque, without specifying their number.
"We support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but we need to work with both parties for humanitarian purposes," Cavusoglu noted.
Source: RES
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