Erdoğan denounces annexation of Crimea

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 3 denounced Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.

Erdoğan on Feb. 3 met with his Ukranian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev. The leaders held a bilateral meeting and attended the Ukraine-Turkey business forum.

During a joint press conference with Zelensky, Erdoğan said that Turkey's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity will continue.

Ankara is "closely monitoring" the situation of Crimea's Tatar Turks and will continue supporting them with Ukrainian authorities, he added.

For his part, Zelensky said Ukraine country is "grateful" to get assistance from Turkish partners, thanks to the military and financial cooperation between the two countries.

On exchanges of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine sought Turkey's support on the release of Ukrainian citizens including Crimean Tatars in Russian prisons, Zelensky added.

The Tatars have faced persecution since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. 

'Untenable' situation in Idlib

For the heightened tensions between Ankara and Damascus in Idlib, Erdoğan said that the situation has "unfortunately become untenable."

Turkey has been "very patient," Erdoğan said.

The president also underlined that due to the attacks by the Bashar al-Assad regime, one million people are fleeing towards Turkey's borders.

Regarding the recent clashes between Turkey and Syria, Erdoğan said that "eight people, including three civilians and five [Turkish] soldiers, were martyred today in shelling by Assad regime forces in Idlib."

"We are making [regime forces] pay the necessary price intensively through air and ground attacks, and we will continue to do so," he...

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