Two amphibious warfare ship of the Turkish Naval Forces, carrying civilians evacuated from Lebanon, arrived at Türkiye's southern port of Mersin.
The TCG Bayraktar departed from Beirut and docked at the port of Mersin, bringing 588 evacuees, the second ship, TCG Sancaktar, arrived with an additional 378 civilians onboard, Anadolu reported.
According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, about 1,900 Turkish citizens expressed their desire to leave Lebanon. A total of 966 people, including 878 Turkish citizens and 24 from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), were evacuated by the Turkish ships.
The TCG Bayraktar and TCG Sancaktar also delivered 300 tons of humanitarian aid to Beirut, an initiative led by the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority. After offloading the aid, the ships returned to Türkiye, escorted by two frigates and two patrol ships.