Recep Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should recognize Crimea as Russian for the sake of improving relations with Russia. For this in a conversation with the correspondent of “Lenta.ru” Khayal Muazzin called the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country Yashar Yakysh.
According to the diplomat, relations between Turkey and Russia are friendly and should be improved. He recalled that Ankara has strong ties with the Crimean Tatars, and for their development, it needs to contact Moscow.
“I have been there twice and have not seen any infringement of the Crimean Tatars (…) Crimean Tatars speak their native language very fluently. And they have more rights than they were under the Ukrainian government. Turkey should be realistic and recognize Crimea as a part of Russia, ”the correspondent quotes Yakysh as saying.
The current leadership of the Turkish Foreign Ministry views this issue differently. In early September, it was reported that after searches of Crimean Tatar activists, Turkey accused Russia of oppressing this ethnic minority. Ankara has consistently refused to recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea and shares the Ukrainian position on this issue.
Crimea was recognized as the territory of Russia by the results of the March 2014 referendum. Ukraine, the European Union, the United States and other countries do not recognize the voting results. Moscow insists that the procedure was carried out in accordance with international law.
