Turkey is expecting the evacuation of Turkish nationals from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol "today or tomorrow," the country's foreign minister said Tuesday.
Turkey has evacuated more than 14,800 of its citizens from Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, adding that some 300-350 Turkish citizens remain in the region.
Çavuşoğlu's remarks came during a joint press conference with his visiting counterpart from Ivory Coast, Kandia Camara.
He noted that the figures can vary from day to day.
"We'll continue and intensify our efforts to evacuate not only our citizens but also other civilians from the region," he said.
A bus will also leave the southwestern port city of Odessa "today" for evacuation, he said.
Sources at Turkey'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."
Following reports of a Russian rocket landing 700 meters (2,300 feet) from the mosque, Çavuşoğlu 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 President's Office 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 2.9 million people have fled to neighboring countries, according to UN estimates.
TURKEY-IVORY COAST TIES
Camara, who hailed Turkey's active role in Africa, said Ivory Coast wants to strengthen its ties with Turkey, 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 (Turkey's President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan 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 Turkey 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."
