Turkey on Wednesday officially opened a joint coordination center for Ukrainian grain exports under a United Nations-backed deal aimed at resuming supplies for the first time since Russia invaded its neighbor in February.
Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar unveiled the center at a ceremony five days after Moscow and Kyiv put their names on an agreement to ship wheat and other grains across the Black Sea from three designated Ukrainian ports.
But a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa on Saturday threatened to immediately sever the first deal signed by the warring parties since the war began.
“The staff at this center are aware that the eyes of the world are on them,” Akar told reporters in his opening statement.
“We hope that the center will make the greatest possible contribution to humanitarian needs and peace.”
The center will be manned by civilian and military representatives of the two warring factions, as well as delegates from Turkey and the UN.
Their main task is to oversee the safe passage of Ukrainian grain ships along established routes and oversee their inspection for prohibited weapons en route to and from the Black Sea.
Akar said ships would be inspected by “joint teams” and monitored by satellite from the center of an Istanbul military academy.
Ukraine announced the resumption of operations in the three Black Sea ports designated by the deal, while Akar also officially unveiled the Istanbul center.
Officials in Kyiv said they hoped to send the first grain ships to world markets later this week.
– ‘We were worried’ –
The blocking of shipments from two of the world’s largest grain exporters has contributed to price increases that have made food imports unaffordable for some of the world’s poorest countries.
According to UN estimates, nearly 50 million people around the world suffered from “severe hunger” as a direct result of the war.
NATO member Turkey prides itself on maintaining open diplomatic relations with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the conflict.
The deal came just days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed Ukraine with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Tehran.
Erdogan will meet Putin again on August 5 at the Russian leader’s Black Sea retreat in Sochi.
But Ankara has also voiced measured criticism of Russia’s attack on Odessa last Saturday.
“The attack in Odessa worried everyone. We were concerned too,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an online interview on Wednesday.
“Ultimately, this was not an attack that could have blocked the operations of the port. But this type of attack should not be repeated. We hope that the agreement will work smoothly.”
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