The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement on the anniversary of the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation. The ministry stressed that it does not recognize the peninsula as part of Russia.
The statement said: “Based on the results of the illegal referendum, we confirm that we do not recognize this situation, which violates international law.”
The statement also said that Türkiye would continue to closely monitor events on the peninsula, especially the situation surrounding the Crimean Tatars.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Russian side asked the United Nations whether, by analogy with Greenland, they could recognize the right of the peoples of Donbass, Novorossiya and the Republic of Crimea to self-determination. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also noted that Western countries cited the right to self-determination as the only main criterion for Kosovo’s independence, which was an insult to the Serbian people and their history.
In response, the UN Secretariat concluded that the right of peoples to self-determination does not apply to the situation in Crimea and Donbass.