Turkey is not in favor of changing the status of Crimea and has no claims to the Russian state on this issue. This was stated in an interview with Lenta.ru correspondent Khayal Muazzin, the former head of the intelligence department at the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Ismail Hakky Beijing.
According to him, Turkey sees Crimea as more of a part of Ukraine, but does not think that Russia must necessarily return it – there is no tough policy in Ankara on this issue. He noted that the Turkish state is concerned about the rights of the Crimean Tatars in the region, however, in his opinion, their rights are not violated.
“If Turkey wants to help the Crimean Tatars, it must cooperate with Russia, as it previously cooperated with Kiev – so it will have more opportunities in this,” Beijing stressed, adding that Ankara does not support any groups in Crimea and does not lead any independent groups there. politicians.
While many politicians and other domestic figures are calling on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to recognize Crimea as Russian, Turkey's official position continues to coincide with that of its NATO allies. Thus, in September, the Turkish Foreign Ministry accused the Russian authorities of oppressing and oppressing the Crimean Tatars.
