Turkey’s Erdoğan reaffirms stance against Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea
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Turkey does not recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and continues to see it as an illegitimate military occupation of Ukrainian territory, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Aug. 23.
“We also maintain our stance in favor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said in a video message to the Third Crimea Platform Summit held in Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv.
“We consistently emphasize that Crimea is a part of Ukraine on every platform, including the United Nations.”
The end of the Russia-Ukraine war and the restoration of peace and stability in the Black Sea basin will bring relief not only to the region but also the entire world, Erdoğan said.
“We are putting significant effort into keeping communication channels open for the cessation of bloodshed and to at least prepare the parties to come to the negotiation table,” the Turkish president said.
Turkey also continues efforts to revitalize the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and during this process, Ankara believes it is essential to avoid steps that would further escalate tensions in the region, Erdoğan said.
The Turkish leader also reiterated his expectation for the release of Nariman Dzhelyal, deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, and other Crimean Tatars who were detained by Russia in 2021.
The Crimean Platform is an international coordination mechanism initiated by Ukraine to return the Crimea issue to the agenda, protect human rights in Crimea and promote the end of occupation of the peninsula, as well as strengthening European and global security.
The Third Crimea Platform Summit kicked off in Kyiv on Aug. 23, involving leaders from several European countries.
In addition to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the following leaders have attended the event:
- President of Hungary Katalin Novak;
- President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda;
- Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić and member of the Presidency, Denis Bećirović;
- President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa;
- Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo;
- Prime Minister of Moldova Dorin Recean.
Russia occupied Crimea in February 2014 as part of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
On March 16, 2014, Russia held an illegal “referendum” regarding the status of autonomy, with falsified “results” indicating that 96.77% of participants voted for the separation of the autonomous republic from Ukraine.
Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan recognized the results of the so-called “referendum.”
On March 18, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and self-proclaimed “head of the Crimean Council of Ministers” Sergey Aksyonov, “speaker of the Crimean State Council” Vladimir Konstantinov, and self-proclaimed “mayor” of Sevastopol Alexey Chaly signed the Treaty on Crimea’s accession to Russia “as a subject of the federation.”
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