(image credit: Wikimedia)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reaffirmed Turkey’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, stressing that Russia’s return of Crimea to Ukraine is “a requirement of international law”, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday.
In a video message recorded for delegates to the fourth summit of the Crimea Platform, Erdoğan said that Crimea’s return to Ukraine aligned with international legal norms. “Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence is unwavering. The return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law,” he said.
Turkey has never recognised Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Erdoğan said, pointing out the “enduring pain experienced by Crimean Tatar Turks”, who have the right to live “freely, securely, and peacefully in their own homeland”.
Erdoğan thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leader of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Abdülcemil Kırımoğlu for organising the summit, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet deportation of the Crimean Tatars from the Crimean Peninsula.
Read Novaya Gazeta's full article here
