CORRECTION - ‘Turkiye remains committed to sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine’

CORRECTS COUNTRY NAME IN HEADLINE AND IN SIXTH PARAGRAPH

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye's deputy foreign minister said Thursday that the military assault launched by Russia against Ukraine is "unacceptable."

"We reject this assault, as we rejected the decision to recognize the so-called breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk," said Sedat Onal, speaking at a virtual meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Strengthened Permanent Council.

Onal described the Russian assault as a "blatant violation of international law," adding the recent move contravenes the Minsk Agreements and poses a serious threat to the security and stability of the region and the world.

"We remain committed to and will continue to support the preservation of the sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea and Donbas," said Onal.

Onal called on Russia to stop this "unlawful assault" and return to dialogue and diplomacy.

He added that Turkiye is ready to work with all parties to facilitate a peaceful resolution of this crisis.

The February 2014 "Maidan revolution" in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.

That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations.

As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.

The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations. As of February 2022, some 14,000 people had been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people "subjected to genocide" by Kyiv and to "demilitarize and de-Nazify" Ukraine while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.