Ukraine supports Türkiye’s humanitarian corridor proposal: Lawmaker

By Muhammet Tarhan

ANKARA (AA) - Ukraine supports Türkiye’s humanitarian corridor proposal, the Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights said Thursday.

“Last night, we talked about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's new initiative on a humanitarian corridor. I said this is a very good idea and Ukraine supports it,” said Dmytro Lubinets, speaking at an international conference on the future of human rights in the 21st century in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Lubinets said the initiative could serve as "a new platform where the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and Türkiye will try to find solutions to many humanitarian problems.”

Noting that they met with Russian High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova in two meetings, Lubinets said the first day's meeting was in a bilateral format with the Ukrainian and Russian ombudsmen and the second day's meeting was held in a tripartite format with the participation of Türkiye’s Chief Ombudsman Seref Malkoc.

Lubinets said their meetings with the Russian ombudsman are not over yet and they will hold a new meeting with Moskalkova and Malkoc this evening.

Saying there are several problems to be addressed in these meetings, Lubinets said “the main problem is to make the exchange of prisoners of war better. The second problem is the problem of the thousands of Ukrainian civilian prisoners that Russia has captured in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and are now holding on Russian territory.”

Asked whether any agreement has been reached on this issue, he said both countries are willing to resolve the issues, but no agreement has yet been reached.

Lubinets also thanked President Erdogan for his support on the grain corridor and prisoner exchange.

Noting that President Erdogan's formula is very suitable for them, Lubinets added that Erdogan is a strong leader like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Erdogan on Wednesday expressed support for the possible opening of a humanitarian corridor.

"(Chief Ombudsman of Türkiye) Seref (Malkoc) made a proposal about a corridor, especially for the injured. We are already ready for that,” he said.

"We bring the wounded not only from Russia and Ukraine, but also from Syria, Azerbaijan and Libya, to have their treatment in our hospitals and send them back."