Russia-Ukraine war: Dozens of Turks evacuated from Mariupol
Sixty-five people, including Turkish citizens and their non-Turkish relatives, were evacuated from the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency has reported.
Mariupol is a key target for Russia, potentially linking its forces in Crimea to the west and the separatist Donbas region to the east, while cutting off Ukrainian access to the Sea of Azov.
According to Ukrainian officials, more than 2,400 civilians who have been killed in the city since the war began on 24 February have been identified, but the real number of deaths is likely far higher.
On Wednesday, Middle East Eye reported that at least 300 Turks, and hundreds more of their non-Turkish family members, were trapped in Mariupol.
In a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Lviv, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that he had proposed a 24-hour ceasefire in the city to be monitored by humanitarian groups.
At least 150 people were reported to be sheltering in Mariupol’s Sultan Suleiman Mosque on Wednesday, which was built by a Turkish businessman in 2005 and is run by Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs.
A report last week claimed that Russia had targeted the building after the city’s mayor shared a post on Facebook.
But Ismail Hacioglu, head of the Sultan Suleiman Mosque Foundation in Mariupol, has denied the claims, saying that the mosque had not been hit and that people were safe.
'Kept overnight by Russians'
On Thursday, Hacioglu told the AFP that around 30 Turkish citizens were still sheltering in the mosque, while 50 had managed to flee the city.
It was not immediately clear whether the evacuees referred to by Anadolu were those who had initially sought refuge in the mosque.
Speaking by phone from the city of Odessa, Hacioglu added that another 70 Turkish citizens living in Mariupol were currently unaccounted for.
Hacioglu said the convoy of those who had fled had been stopped by Russian soldiers in the town of Tokmak, around 170km to the west.
"They were kept overnight by Russians and had to turn the engines off to conserve fuel, but they were freezing cold. They weren't allowed to get out of the car," Hacioglu said.
He said the aim was to allow them to travel to Uman, a city around 600km northwest of Mariupol.
'I'm praying'
Earlier this week, MEE spoke to Turks who had relatives trapped in Mariupol as Russia continued its shelling of the area.
Ugur Sahin, who said he had not heard from his wife, son, and daughter since 5 March, said he did not know whether his family had managed to reach the Sultan Suleiman Mosque, whose officials have told him that food is scarce.
“My son Zulkarneyn Danyal is four-and-a-half years old, his birthday is so close,” Sahin told MEE.
"My daughter, Eva Umay, is two-and-a-half years old. I’m praying, reciting the Quran all the time. What else can I do?
"Can you imagine that my babies are living for three weeks under bombardment with no clean water? They have to collect snow and boil it to drink.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday to host him and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for talks, according to his office.
The statement said Erdogan told Putin that agreement on certain issues could require a meeting between the leaders.
Erdogan also said a lasting ceasefire could lead the way to a long-term solution, it said.
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