Russia does not keep its promises over Crimea: Turkey

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.AA Photo

Turkey accused Russia of not keeping the promises it has given reagarding Crimean Tatars’ rights and announced that it will send a delegation to monitor developments in the region.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised during his talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in early December that the Crimean Tatar language would be announced as the official language, that Crimean Tatars would be given a place in the regional government and that they would be given more rights.

“We should see these promises being implemented. But I say with sorrow that these promises have not been kept. Russia is our friend, but we have to tell them if they go wrong,” Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency. The Turkish foreign minister said they were planning to send a delegation to Crimea to look into developments.

Turkey said it did not approve of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and asked Moscow to respect the rights of Crimean Tatars, an ethnically Turkic group that makes up nearly 15 percent of the population.  

Russia is Turkey’s second largest economic partner after Germany, but Çavuşoğlu said, “Having good ties with Russia does not mean that we will recognize its annexation of Crimea and what it has done to Ukraine.”

Çavuşoğlu said they have submitted two lists of Crimean Tatars who have been punished just because they met with Mustafa Cemiloğlu, a Crimean Tatar leader whose entry into the region was banned by Moscow.