A total of 65 people, Turkish nationals and their relatives, were able to leave Mariupol, a port of strategic importance in southeastern Ukraine, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported on Thursday.
Earlier yesterday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu said that more than 100 Turkish citizens were still in Mariupol and expressed hope that a humanitarian truce would be declared there.
During a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba in Lviv, Mr. Tsavousoglu noted that he proposed a 24-hour ceasefire, the implementation of which will be supervised by humanitarian organizations.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused Russian forces of bombing a mosque in Mariupol, where more than 80 adults and children had taken refuge, including Turkish citizens.
The Turkish Foreign Minister said that he had asked his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for help in this matter. It is not yet clear whether the people who were evacuated from Mariupol are those who were in the mosque.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin yesterday to arrange a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey, according to his services.
In a statement issued by the Turkish presidency, Mr Erdogan told his Russian counterpart that certain issues could only be resolved at a meeting of leaders. He also noted that only if a lasting ceasefire is declared will a long-term solution be found.
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