Lawmaker: Turkey never to recognize Crimea's annexation

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - The head of Turkey's inter-parliamentary friendship group with Ukraine met on Wednesday with the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey in the capital Ankara.

"We never recognized Russia's annexation of Crimea and we [still] do not. There is no change in our stance on the issue," Turkey's Tugrul Turkes told reporters ahead of his meeting with Andrii Sybiha.

Underlining that Ankara would continue or be "resolute," Turkes reiterated Turkey's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity "under all circumstances."

Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea after a controversial referendum.

Turkey, as well as the UN General Assembly, viewed the move as illegal.

Ukraine has also blamed the Kremlin for separatist violence in the east of the country near its border with Russia.

Sybiha, for his part, lauded Turkey's relations with Ukraine, saying the issues they faced were "almost the same."

"We are close to each other more than we think, we are also open for cooperation. Moreover, we are willing to improve this cooperation," he said.