Mariupol Mosque Not Shelled, Cavusoglu Denies Reports

The imam of the Mariupol mosque (the spiritual leader of Muslims) has denied claims that it has come under shelling. This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a diplomatic conference held in Antalya today.

“Yes, our citizens are at the Mariupol mosque, and we are in contact with them. Yesterday, reports emerged that the mosque had been bombed, but the imam did not confirm this. According to him, no damage has been inflicted on the mosque. I have requested Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to assist in the evacuation of Turkish citizens from Mariupol,” the Turkish minister stated.

“Russia asked us how many Turks are in that region; we shared our information with them. Today we plan to carry out significant work in this regard (concerning the evacuation of Turkish citizens),” TASS reports. According to Cavusoglu, Turkey has already evacuated more than 15,000 of its citizens from Ukraine.