Foreign Ministry arranges evacuation of Turkish nationals by land through Romania and Bulgaria
Turkish nationals evacuated from Ukraine due to Russia’s military intervention continued to arrive in Turkiye by land on Sunday.
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry arranged the evacuation of Turkish nationals by land through Romania and Bulgaria due to the closure of the Ukrainian air space.
The Turkish convoy, which left Kyiv by bus on Friday, entered Turkiye through the Kapikule Border Gate in northwestern Edirne province.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Burak Tanis, one of the evacuated Turkish nationals, said they returned to their homeland after around 55 hours of difficult journey.
“We had a lot of difficulties at the Ukrainian border. When we left Ukraine, we breathed a sigh of relief,” he said.
Evacuated Turkish national Ibrahim Gun expressed his happiness to be back in Turkiye, saying; “It was a long journey, but we had full confidence in our state.While the European nationals did not know what to expect, I had a self-confidence that ‘my state’ would save me.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Thursday, days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its neighbor, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
At least 368,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since the beginning of the attack, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Western powers imposed financial sanctions on Moscow, and resolved to supply Ukraine with weapons. The EU has also decided to close its airspace to Russian airlines, and ban Russian state media.