Turkey denies recognition to Crimea's accession to Russia – Erdogan

10:39, 10.03.2016 1 min read

Turkey does not and will not recognize Crimea's accession to the Russian Federation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"Turkey has not recognized the illegal annexation of Crimea, and it is not going to do so," he said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Ankara on Wednesday after bilateral negotiations.

The Turkish president said that Russia had breached international law in this case.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for Turkey's engagement in international negotiations on the Crimea issue, including the 'Geneva plus' format (Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union).

"Mr. President [of Turkey] and I have called for joint steps towards the de-occupation of Crimea. With this in mind, we plan to pool our efforts at international organizations, on the basis of new international formats, among them 'Geneva plus' involving Budapest Memorandum guarantors, Turkey and Ukraine," Poroshenko said at the joint press conference.