Turkey called to keep communications channels open at a special U.N. Human Rights Council session for Ukraine on Thursday, as Russia continues its military invasion of the country.
In a statement made by Turkey’s permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva, Ankara reiterated its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea.
“We believe that channels of dialogue must remain open for finding a peaceful solution and fixing the humanitarian situation,” the statement said, adding that Turkey will continue to work to ensure peace in Ukraine.
“We are concerned about the long-term impacts of the conflict on Ukraine and the world,” the statement said, adding that images from the capital Kyiv, Bucha and Mariupol displaying the humanitarian situation are terrifying and that it was unacceptable for Russia to target innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure. Ankara also called for an independent investigation to hold perpetrators responsible for targeting civilians.
Last month, U.N. humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths said Turkey “comes closest” among other countries to fulfilling the role as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia on humanitarian issues.
Turkey is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.
In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month with casualties piling up on both sides.
During the talks, Ukrainian officials signaled readiness to negotiate a “neutral status,” a key Russian demand, but demanded security guarantees for their country. Ukraine wants to see countries, including Turkey, as guarantors in a deal with Russia, a Ukrainian negotiator said after the talks. Russia, meanwhile, pledged to significantly decrease its military activities focusing on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv to build trust for future negotiations.
Turkey also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya in March. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met in the Turkish resort town of Antalya for talks, which Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara views the fact that the talks took place at all as a success. Ankara has offered to host future peace talks.
