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Turkish leader backs idea of humanitarian corridors for evacuation of wounded people

"This initiative should be viewed not only in the context of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, but also in regard to the developments in Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

ANKARA, January 11. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he supports the idea of organizing humanitarian corridors to evacuate wounded people from combat zones in Ukraine and other regions.

"[Turkey’s Chief Ombudsman] Seref [Malkoc] came up with an initiative to organize humanitarian corridors for evacuation of wounded people and we [Turkey] support this initiative," Erdogan said, speaking at the international conference ‘The Future of Human Rights in the 21st Century.’

"However, this initiative should be viewed not only in the context of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, but also in regard to the developments in Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan. We take wounded people from these areas, provide them with medical treatment and then send them back home," Erdogan added.

According to Erdogan, "this is a humanitarian obligation as well as a Turkish moral obligation" and Ankara "will continue to engage in this work."

The international conference of human rights commissioners ‘The Future of Human Rights in the 21st Century’ is being hosted by the Turkish capital of Ankara between January 11 and 12. The conference is being attended by representatives from 41 countries.

Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova is in attendance and she has already held a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets, and participated in a three-party meeting with Turkish colleague Seref Malkoc.

Malkoc stated his plans earlier to discuss the issue of organizing a humanitarian corridor with the aim of helping people affected by the Ukrainian crisis as well as for the reunification of families.

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