By Emin Avundukluoglu
ANKARA (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has “crossed the line” by starting a war against Ukraine, a Turkish opposition leader said on Wednesday.
“Putin has crossed the line. This is not the time for hollow words, but for sanctions (on Russia). This is not the time to stand back, but to rise up and face the oppressor,” Meral Aksener, leader of the Good (IYI) Party, told her party’s parliamentary group.
Vehemently condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine, she called on the international community to give a strong response to Putin and Moscow.
“We can’t allow this arrogance, this greed, any longer,” Aksener asserted.
“We cannot abandon all the people persecuted by Putin, especially our brothers in Crimea. We cannot leave them to their fate.”
The international community has reacted with fury since Russia launched its war on Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Besides sanctions and Moscow’s exclusion from the international payment system SWIFT, the US, UK, EU and its members have also supplied Ukraine with weapons, shut airspace for Russian airlines, and banned Russian state-run media.
Over 2,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, while the UN Refugee Agency estimates more than 874,000 people have fled from Ukraine to neighboring countries.