Turkish politician urges president to recognize Crimea as part of Russia
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan should recognize Crimea's reunification with Russia if Ankara sees itself as Moscow's strategic partner, party head Vatan Dogu Perincek said.
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| Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Sputnik |
Earlier, President Erdogan said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who paid an official visit to Ankara on August 7, that "Türkiye has not recognized and will not recognize the annexation of Crimea."
"The Turkish side did not include the discussion of the agreement between Ukraine and the United States on opposing the construction of the Turkish Stream in the agenda of negotiations with Zelensky. The agenda was determined by Ukraine. Everyone could see this clearly at the press conference. Our president stated that Türkiye does not recognize the reunification of Crimea with Russia, and Zelensky raised the level of militancy, - the Turkish politician said.
According to him, President Zelensky's announcement of a minute of silence at the press conference to honor the dead military is unprecedented in world diplomacy.
"When the Ukrainian delegation stood up, the members of the Turkish government initially could not understand what to do and looked at each other. At this point they were just standing within the framework of hospitality," the Turkish politician added.
According to him, strategic partnership is not a limited liability company, it determines the position of the state, and obviously, today Türkiye has a strategic position, in the middle of the Atlantic - Asia.
“The Turkish strategy “New Discovery of Asia” offers an answer to this problem. Russia is one of our main partners. And the ruling Justice and Development Party in Türkiye is engaged in this strategic “dance”. Today there is one strategic partner, tomorrow another, the third day after tomorrow. And even the former showman made Turkey dance – that strange “minute of silence” that we saw at the press conference,” he said.
If someone wants to be a strategic partner with everyone, then there cannot be a real strategic partnership with anyone, and such an approach can be very dangerous for the country, the politician noted. He called Türkiye's relations with the US and NATO "partnerships on paper".
