Turkey Coordinating Evacuation of Its Citizens From Mariupol
Turkey has been coordinating the evacuation of its citizens from Ukraine’s besieged southern port city of Mariupol with the Russian Defense Ministry. They are expected to be evacuated on Tuesday or Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday following a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Mariupol remains under a blockade by Russian troops.
There are 86 Turkish nationals in the city waiting to be evacuated, including 30 that are sheltering in a local mosque, the Daily Sabah reported. A rocket fell about 700 meters, or 2,297 feet, from the Sultan Suleiman mosque on Friday, and the mosque has also been shelled, according to reports.
Some 14,800 Turkish citizens have been evacuated from Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than two weeks ago.