Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that at talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky in Istanbul, he confirmed Ankara's decision not to recognize the"annexation of Crimea".
The Turkish leader said this at a press conference broadcast by the TRT TV channel, TASS writes.
"We stand for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. We have confirmed our principled decision not to recognize the annexation of Crimea. We stated that we support the initiative of Ukraine in the form of the "Crimean Platform", which is aimed at bringing the international community closer to Crimea. We hope that this initiative will bring positive results for all the peoples of Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars, and Ukraine, " Erdogan said.
In addition, Erdogan said that Turkey and Ukraine have joint projects for the construction of housing and a mosque for "related Crimean Tatars".
"We have started new consultations in the 2+2 format (negotiations between the Foreign Ministers and the Defense Ministry of the two countries), so we are strengthening coordination between our countries. Our cooperation in the defense industry is by no means an initiative directed against third countries," the Turkish President said.
