Turkish president talks Russia-Ukraine war with Dutch, Austrian leaders

By Mumin Altas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the Russian attack on Ukraine with his Austrian counterpart and Dutch prime minister over the phone on Tuesday.

Erdogan and Dutch premier Mark Rutte discussed regional developments and Turkey-Netherlands relations, Turkiye's Communications Directorate said in a statement.

The Turkish leader said they continued to work towards an immediate cease-fire between the two sides and that they would continue supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

After the phone call, Rutte said on Twitter: "As NATO Allies, our countries stand shoulder to shoulder in strongly condemning the Russian invasion and in supporting Ukraine."

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

So far, at least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

Around 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday.

In his separate phone call with Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen, Erdogan told his counterpart that Turkiye is doing its best to achieve a cease-fire between Kyiv and Moscow, re-establish peace, and improve the humanitarian situation in the region.

Stressing that Turkiye and Austria have the capacity to advance relations at all levels, Erdogan underlined the contributions of Turks living in Austria in developing the bond between the two communities.

He emphasized that recent developments once again pointed to Turkiye's importance for European security, voicing expectations for "concrete and meaningful steps" in relations with the EU, including towards starting talks on updating their Customs Union, as well as visa liberalization.

Turkiye, a candidate for EU membership since 1999, began its accession talks with the bloc in 2005.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar