By Orhan Coskun, Jonathan Spicer and Can Sezer
May 14, 20229:45 PM GMT+7
Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman and
chief foreign policy adviser, speaks during an interview with Reuters in
Istanbul, Turkey May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
ISTANBUL, May 14 (Reuters) - NATO member Turkey has proposed
carrying out a sea evacuation of wounded fighters holed up in a steel works in
the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman
said on Saturday.
Ibrahim Kalin told Reuters in an interview that he had
personally discussed the proposal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
in Kyiv two weeks ago and that it remains "on the table" although
Moscow has not agreed to it.
Under the plan, people evacuated from the vast Azovstal steel
plant would be taken by land to the port of Berdyansk, which like Mariupol is
on the Sea of Azov, and a Turkish vessel would take them across the Black Sea
to Istanbul, he said.
"If it can be done that way, we are happy to do it. We are
ready. In fact our ship is ready to go and bring the injured soldiers and other
civilians to Turkey," said Kalin, who is also Erdogan's top foreign policy
adviser.
Ukraine and Russia did not immediately comment on the
possibility of an evacuation by sea.
After weeks of Russian siege and bombardment, Mariupol is in
Russian hands, but hundreds of Ukrainian fighters are holding out under heavy
fire at the steel works.
A number of civilians who were sheltering in the plant were
evacuated this month with the help of the International Committee of the Red
Cross and the United Nations. Turkey's proposal included evacuating the
civilians who were still there.
COMPLEX TALKS
Zelenskiy has said complex talks are under way to evacuate a
large number of wounded soldiers from the steel works in return for the release
of Russian prisoners of war. read more
Russia, which initially said the fighters should surrender, has
said little publicly about the talks.
Kalin said the Russian position "changes day to day".
"They look at the security situation on the ground and
other dynamics, their negotiations, their own internal coordination," he
said. "So sometimes it is hard to get a firm response (or) commitment from
either side."
Turkey neighbours Russia and Ukraine, has good ties with both
and has tried to facilitate peace talks. It objected to Russia's invasion and
has supplied Kyiv with armed drones though it also opposes Western sanctions on
Moscow. read more
Kalin said the naval evacuation from Berdyansk was one of a
number of proposals to reach a ceasefire and carry out an evacuation.
"It may happen, yes. I believe it may happen," he
said.
"The boat is still in Istanbul. It is ready to sail but we
are waiting for final clearance from Russian and Ukrainian side for it to go to
Berdyansk and bring those injured soldiers to Turkey."
Writing by Jonathan Spicer, Editing by Timothy Heritage
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