Türkiye vows to support Ukraine's territorial integrity, rights of Crimean Tatars

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye on Monday pledged to continue its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and the rights of Crimean Tatars.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Twitter said he has met with "the leader of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Abdulcemil Kirimoglu and First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar."

"We will continue to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the rights of Crimean Tatars," Cavusoglu added.

Russian forces entered the Crimean Peninsula in February 2014, with Russian President Vladimir Putin formally dividing the region into two separate federal subjects of the Russian Federation the following month.

Crimea's ethnic Tatars have faced persecution since Russia's 2014 takeover of the peninsula, a situation Türkiye has decried.

Türkiye and the US, as well as the UN General Assembly, view the annexation as illegal.

Kirimoglu and President of the Crimean Tatar National Assembly Refat Chubarov were banned from entering the peninsula after the annexation.

The Crimean Tatar National Assembly was branded an "extremist organization" and its activities were banned.

Some 2,500 Crimean Tatars who had direct ties to the assembly and everyone who had relations with it became members of the “extremist organization.”

Due to pressure from the Russian administration, thousands of Crimean Tatars had to leave the peninsula.

Arrests of Crimean Tatars at their homes and mosques continue on charges of being members of a “terrorist organization.”