Turkey accused Russia of not keeping the promises it has given regarding Crimean Tatars' rights and announced that it will send a delegation to monitor developments in the region.

In his interview with the Turkish news agency, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised during his talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in early December that the Crimean Tatar language would be announced as the official language, that Crimean Tatars would be given a place in the regional government and that they would be given more rights.

"We should see these promises being implemented. But I say with sorrow that these promises have not been kept. Russia is our friend, but we have to tell them if they go wrong," Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency.

The Turkish foreign minister said they were planning to send a delegation to Crimea to look into developments.

Moreover, the Turkish diplomat reiterated that the Turkish leadership submitted to Russian president tow lists of names of Crimean Tatars, who have been punished for a meeting with Mustafa Jemilev or who were missing, killed, attacked after annexation or whose entry into the region was banned by Moscow.

Turkey said it did not approve of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and asked Moscow to respect the rights of Crimean Tatars, an ethnically Turkic group that makes up nearly 15 percent of the population.

Russia is Turkey's second largest economic partner after Germany, but Cavusoglu said: "Having good ties with Russia does not mean that we will recognize its annexation of Crimea and what it has done to Ukraine."