Crimean Tatar leader urges Turkey to impose sanctions on Russia

Turkey should impose sanctions on Russia and follow the examples of European countries, Crimean Tatar leader and member of Ukraine’s parliament said Tuesday.

Mustafa Abdulcemil Kirimoglu said before his scheduled meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara.   

Kirimoglu said “Turkey’s position is certain. Turkey supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

The EU and the U.S. have imposed sanctions on Russia because of its alleged actions of stirring unrest in Ukraine. The Crimean Tatar leader called on Turkey to also impose sanctions.

“We want Turkey to impose sanctions like the European countries did,” he said.

The Crimean Tatar leader said he also held talks with U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“They say these sanctions will continue until Russia’s withdrawal from the occupied lands,” he said. But, he wondered, for how long these international sanctions could last.

About the situation in Crimea, he said “until now about ten thousand of our citizens have left Crimea and went to other cities of Ukraine.”