Turkey welcomes role of OSCE mission in Ukraine

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu speaks during a joint press conference with Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, April 18. AA Photo

Turkey has welcomed the outcome of the Geneva meeting on the Ukrainian crisis and applauded an agreement on the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to take a role in implementing measures agreed in the statement.

 “It is an important step that both Russia and Ukraine have agreed on the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission’s role to de-escalate tension,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on April 18 at a joint press conference with Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati.

Davutoğlu emphasized that Ankara was ready to take any step to contribute to the solution of the crisis in Ukraine, citing that former Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan was already on duty for the OSCE observer group for Ukraine.

The Contact Group meeting in Geneva, attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ukraine Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, resulted in agreement that all illegal military formations in Ukraine be dissolved. There will also be amnesty for all anti-government protesters, all overseen by monitors from the OSCE.