The large southeastern port city, besieged by Russian forces, is still awaiting the arrival of a humanitarian aid convoy, which has been blocked at a Russian checkpoint. The Turkish authorities, who have maintained a close dialogue with Moscow since the beginning of the war and even offer their mediation, are particularly worried about the fate of their nationals who have remained in Mariupol, some of whom have gathered in a mosque in the city.
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
Contrary to what the Ukrainian government had declared the day before, the head of Turkish diplomacy affirms this Sunday, March 13 that the mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent in Mariupol has not yet been affected by the Russian bombardments.
He confirms, on the other hand, that Turkish citizens are refugees inside and communicate with Turkey by satellite telephone. If Mevlut Cavusoglu does not specify their number, he adds to have communicated it to the Russian authorities, who had asked him.
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The Turkish Foreign Minister says he spoke directly to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and asked for his ” support for the evacuation of Turkish citizens and, more broadly, civilians from Mariupol.
” VSwe have been sending buses there for several days, but they cannot enter the city “, regretted Mevlut Cavusoglu, insisting on the” need to open a humanitarian corridor “. To date, Turkey claims to have been able to evacuate 14,480 of its nationals since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The head of Turkish diplomacy assures “ talk constantly on this subject with his Russian interlocutors, but deplores the lack of agreement between Kiev and Moscow on the route of this corridor.
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