By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL-On Wednesday, Turkish President Erdogan offered to mediate between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia after the destruction of the Khakhovka Dam near Kherson in Ukraine. The Turkish leader’s office said that Erdogan laid out his concept of an international commission that could investigate how the dam was destroyed. He called both Zelensky and Putin to discuss his proposal as an ongoing war of words between Russia and Ukraine trades blame for an explosion at the hydroelectric dam on Tuesday. The blast caused immediate flooding which is displacing countless Ukrainians and killed Russian troops whose control the dam was under at the time of the blast. The presidential office commented: after speaking with Zelensky: “President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community, including Turkiye for a detailed investigation into the explosion at Kakhovka Dam.”
Erdogan said he told Putin that a thorough investigation is needed to figure out what happened at the dam site. His office said that Erdogan told Putin the commission he proposed would include the U.N. and Turkish officials. The blast is especially worrisome since the dam, located on the Dnipro River, supplies a reservoir providing cooling water for the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. Currently, thousands of civilians were forced to flee the flooded regions which Zelensky called an “ecocide.”
