Turkish Foreign Minister assures Crimean Tatar leader that Ankara's position on Crimea remains unchanged
The press service of the commissioner of the president of Ukraine for the affairs of Crimean Tatars has reported that, during a meeting with the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that improving relations with Russia will not change Turkey’s position regarding the non-recognition of the annexation of the Crimea.
“During the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey assured the commissioner that certain steps taken by his country towards reconciliation with Russia will not significantly impact Turkey’s position regarding support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, non-recognition of the Crimean occupation, and provision of comprehensive assistance for Crimean Tatars in their struggle for freedom for their homeland,” the statement reads.
Dzhemilev also spoke with the Turkish Foreign Minister about the upcoming G20 summit, which will take place September 4–5 in China.
Dzhemilev paid a two-day visit to Turkey from August 29 to August 30.
The meeting on August 9 between the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was the first to take place since relations between the two countries became strained in November of last year when a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Su-24 over the Syrian-Turkish border.
After the meeting in Saint-Petersburg, Putin and Erdoğan stated that the key priority is restoring bilateral relations between the two countries to the level that existed before the conflict.