UPDATE - Turkiye expects evacuation of its nationals from Ukrainian port city 'today or tomorrow'

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY TURKISH, IVORIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) – Turkiye is expecting the evacuation of its nationals from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol "today or tomorrow," the country's foreign minister said Tuesday.

Turkiye has evacuated more than 14,800 of its citizens from Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, said Mevlut Cavusoglu, adding that some 300-350 Turkish citizens remain in the region.

Cavusoglu's remarks came during a joint news conference with his visiting counterpart from Ivory Coast, Kandia Camara.

He said the numbers may vary from day to day since the communication with Mariupol is "not healthy," but according to the figures Cavusoglu has there are 100 Turkish citizens in the city.

"We'll continue and intensify our efforts to evacuate not only our citizens but also other civilians from the region," he said.

Turkiye is planning to evacuate its citizens from Kyiv and two buses are set to depart Lviv, Cavusoglu said. Another bus will leave the southwestern port city of Odessa "today" for evacuation.

"One bus will be carrying the Crimean Tatars based on the request coming from the region. Another bus will depart Odessa for Crimean Tatars and Ahiska Turks," he said, adding that Turkiye will extend help to citizens of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

Sources at Turkiye’s National Defense Ministry said earlier Tuesday that as a result of coordination with the Russian Defense Ministry on the evacuation of Turks from Mariupol, Russia cleared mines from roads leading out of the city.

The sources said that efforts continue to open up humanitarian corridors and allow for the entrance of buses and trucks to the city.

On a Turkish mosque in Mariupol where Russian shelling was recently seen nearby, he said the Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Mosque "has no shortage of food or drink."

"We have understood that our citizens have no problem whatsoever in terms of reaching out food and water, but we will continue and intensify our best effort in order to evacuate not only the Turkish citizens but also the other civilians from the region," he said.

Following reports of a Russian rocket landing 700 meters (2,300 feet) from the mosque, Cavusoglu said Sunday that the mosque remains intact.

Over 2,500 civilians have been killed in Russian army attacks on Mariupol, a senior official from the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement on Monday.

But Russian forces have been unable to capture the city, said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the presidency.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to severe financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 636 civilians have been killed and 1,125 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and over 3 million people have fled to neighboring countries, according to UN estimates.

- Turkiye-Ivory Coast ties

Camara, who hailed Turkiye's active role in Africa, said Ivory Coast wants to strengthen its ties with Turkiye, not only in bilateral trade but also in other areas such as education and health.

"Turkey is very active on the African continent. That's why I really would like to congratulate the vision of (Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan because he clearly stated that he would like to help Africa, that is the partner we want," she said.

"We want partners whom we can work with hand in hand on an understanding and basis of a win-win policy, that's how Turkey is acting."

The leaders of Ivory Coast and Turkiye have set a target of $1 billion in bilateral trade, she said, and continued: "We have already accomplished more than $800 million of bilateral trade so we are not far away from the target set."