Turkey will never recognize annexation of Crimea – Cavusoglu

Turkey consistently supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, condemns the annexation of Crimea and will never recognize it, defends and will continue to defend Crimean Tatars.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Odesa on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

“I would like to take this opportunity to stress once again that we support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the inviolability of its borders. We condemn the annexation of Crimea and will never recognize it. Today, we also once again emphasized that we have the will to protect the rights of the Crimean Tatar people,” Cavusoglu said.

The minister recalled the position of Turkey regarding the war in Donbas.

“We support the peaceful solution of the situation in Donbas in the framework of international law. We will continue to support the activities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission,” he said.

During the meeting, the parties also discussed problematic issues of the Black Sea and Middle Eastern regions, and the situation in Syria.

As reported, the Seventh Meeting of the Ukrainian-Turkish Joint Strategic Planning Group was held in Odesa on February 1 under the chairmanship of the Ukrainian and Turkish foreign ministers.