Turkey has evacuated 316 of its nationals from Ukraine, the Turkish foreign minister said Wednesday.
"Today, 316 more of our brothers and sisters have departed from Sumy, Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Poltava, Kremenchuk, Chernivtsi, Odesa, Lviv, and Kyiv," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.
He said the number of Turks evacuated has reached 13,491.
"Our plans are underway for the safe evacuation of our citizens," he said.
Russia's war on Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.
At least 516 civilians have been killed and 908 others injured in Ukraine since Russia launched a war against its neighbor on Feb. 24, according to United Nations figures, with the real toll feared to be higher.
More than 2.1 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Maintaining its neutral and balanced stance, Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing the Turkish Straits.
NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. 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. Having recently called Russia’s invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which it has close energy, defense and tourism ties.
