Turkiye's airspace must remain open: Foreign minister

By Burak Dag

ANKARA (AA) - It is imperative that Turkiye's airspace remains open, the country's foreign minister said on Friday amid numerous airspace bans on Russia by Western countries over the war in Ukraine.

"It is important not only for Turkiye, but also for the countries that impose these sanctions (on Russia) and their citizens, that this airspace is open ... both in strategic and humanitarian terms," Mevlut Cavusoglu said following a meeting of top NATO diplomats.

Underlining that Ankara has been taking all possible measures to safely evacuate Turkish nationals from Ukraine, Cavusoglu said that a meeting between the two warring sides' foreign ministers could be arranged 'if conditions allow' in southern Turkiye next week at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

The Antalya Diplomacy Forum will be held on March 11-13 in Turkiye's Mediterranean resort city Antalya.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

Moscow has been further isolated with its planes barred from flying in European, US and Canadian airspace.

More than a million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

In the second round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv on Thursday, the two sides agreed on creating humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.

Turkiye has good ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has called for a peaceful resolution to the military conflict.