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Ukraine Expects Solidarity From Turkey, Says Envoy

A woman with her daughter waits for a train as they try to leave at the Kyiv train station, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. AP
A woman with her daughter waits for a train as they try to leave at the Kyiv train station, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. AP
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Ukraine Expects Solidarity From Turkey, Says Envoy

A woman with her daughter waits for a train as they try to leave at the Kyiv train station, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. AP
A woman with her daughter waits for a train as they try to leave at the Kyiv train station, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. AP

Ukraine's ambassador to Ankara said on Thursday that his country expected solidarity from NATO member Turkey and that the latter should not remain impartial after Russia launched air and ground assaults on its neighbor.

Speaking to reporters after holding talks at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said Turkey would evaluate a Ukrainian request to provide aid and to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships.

"Turkey will evaluate the requests and respond as soon as possible," Bodnar said after his talks with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.

"We expect solidarity to be shown."

Ukraine's request that Turkey shut off access to the Black Sea puts Turkey in a difficult position as it shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good
relations with both countries, Reuters reported.

Under a 1936 pact, Ankara has control over the straits and can limit the passage of warships during wartime or if threatened.

Bodnar said it was important for Ukraine that Turkish messages of support are expressed openly to the public and that they are heard by the international community.

"Turkey should not remain impartial," he said. "We are calling on Turkey to be active and proactive and to help Ukraine."

In a news conference in Ankara earlier, Bodnar had said Ukraine wanted sanctions imposed on the Russian side as well as calling for the straits and air space to be closed.

Turkey has opposed sanctions on Russia. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara would try to manage the crisis without abandoning ties with either Moscow or Kyiv, but also said Russian steps against Ukraine were unacceptable.

While building close cooperation with Russia on defense and energy, Ankara has also sold sophisticated drones to Ukraine and signed a deal to co-produce more, angering Moscow.

Turkey opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its 2008 recognition of two Georgian regions.

Earlier this month, six Russian warships and a submarine transited the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to the Black Sea for what Moscow called naval drills near Ukraine waters.

On Thursday, Turkey advised its citizens in Ukraine to stay at home or in a safe place and avoid traveling, after airlines cancelled flights due to the closure of Ukraine's air space.

Erdogan convened a summit of top security officials on Thursday to discuss the Russian offensive, his office said.

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Hurricane Milton Marches Across Central Florida, Destroying Homes

A motorist drives past broken utility poles downed by strong wind gusts as Hurricane Milton approaches Fort Myers, Florida, US October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
A motorist drives past broken utility poles downed by strong wind gusts as Hurricane Milton approaches Fort Myers, Florida, US October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
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Hurricane Milton Marches Across Central Florida, Destroying Homes

A motorist drives past broken utility poles downed by strong wind gusts as Hurricane Milton approaches Fort Myers, Florida, US October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
A motorist drives past broken utility poles downed by strong wind gusts as Hurricane Milton approaches Fort Myers, Florida, US October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo

Hurricane Milton marched across central Florida on Thursday after making landfall on the state's west coast hours earlier, whipping up deadly tornadoes, destroying homes and knocking out power to nearly 2 million customers.
The storm made landfall around 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT) on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 kph) near Siesta Key, the US National Hurricane Center said.
By 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), wind speeds had reduced to 105 mph (165 kph), dropping Milton to a Category 2 hurricane, nonetheless still considered extremely dangerous. The eye of the storm was 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Orlando in the center of the state.
A flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa Bay area including the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the hurricane center said, with St. Petersburg already receiving 16.6 inches (422 mm) of rain on Wednesday.
The eye of the storm landed in Siesta Key, a barrier island town of some 5,400 off Sarasota about 60 miles (100 km) south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, which is home to more than 3 million people.
Governor Ron DeSantis said he hoped Tampa Bay, once seen as the potential bull's eye, could dodge major damage and that the worst of the predicted storm surge could be avoided thanks to the landfall coming before the high tide. Forecasters said seawater could still rise as high as 13 feet (4 meters).
DeSantis reported Milton had also spawned at least 19 tornadoes caused damage in numerous counties, destroying around 125 homes, most of them mobile homes.
"At this point, it's too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down," DeSantis said upon announcing the landfall.
At least two deaths were reported at a retirement community following a suspected tornado in Fort Pierce on the eastern coast of Florida, NBC News reported, citing St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson. His department did not immediately respond to a request for details.
Pearson estimated 100 homes were destroyed in the county where some 17 tornadoes touched down, NBC said.
More than 1.8 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
The storm was expected to cross the Florida peninsula overnight and emerge into the Atlantic, still with hurricane force, on Thursday.
Once past Florida, it should weaken over the western Atlantic, possibly dropping below hurricane strength but still posing a storm-surge danger on the state's Atlantic Coast.
In a state already battered by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people were ordered to evacuate, and millions more live in the projected path of the storm.
Much of the southern US experienced the deadly force of Hurricane Helene as it cut a swath of devastation through Florida and several other states. Both storms are expected to cause billions of dollars in damage.
ZOO ANIMALS PROTECTED
While human evacuees jammed the highways and created gasoline shortages, animals including African elephants, Caribbean flamingos and pygmy hippos were riding out the storm at Tampa's zoo.
Nearly a quarter of Florida's gasoline stations were out of fuel on Wednesday afternoon.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had moved millions of liters (gallons) of water, millions of meals and other supplies and personnel into the area. None of the additional aid will detract from recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, the agency's administrator, Deanne Criswell, said earlier on Wednesday.
Trucks have been running 24 hours a day to clear mounds of debris left behind by Helene before Milton potentially turned them into dangerous projectiles, DeSantis said.
About 9,000 National Guard personnel were deployed in Florida, ready to assist recovery efforts, as were 50,000 electricity grid workers in anticipating of widespread power outages, DeSantis said.
Search-and-rescue teams were prepared to head out as soon as the storm passes, working through the night if needed, DeSantis said.
"It's going to mean pretty much all the rescues are going to be done in the dark, in the middle of the night, but that's fine. They're going to do that," DeSantis said.