Relations between Moscow and Ankara have improved markedly in the last two years. But this does not prevent Turkish politicians from showing perseverance in their unwillingness to recognize the Russian status of the Crimea. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reminded of this again. "We will never forget about what happened in the Crimea, never. We consider the incident an annexation of the Crimea, "the diplomat quoted Yeni Safak as saying.. The topic of the status of the Crimean peninsula Chavushoglu was touched upon during a meeting with members of the Crimean Tatar Association for Culture and Assistance. The Minister stressed that Ankara has always supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Turkish blamed some European countries for the fact that they began to "forget" about what had happened in the Crimea. Therefore, they must take responsibility for what happens in Ukraine. "We remind them that if you now forget about the Crimea and tomorrow something happens in Ukraine, you will be responsible for this," said Cavusoglu. Ankara has confirmed its readiness to provide Kiev with all kinds of assistance, since in Turkey "they will never forget that Crimea is part of Ukraine". One of the forms of assistance will be the rapid signing by the two countries of an agreement on the creation of a free trade zone. In addition, the Turks hope to increase the tourist flow from the Nezalezhnaya. Last year, 1.4 million Ukrainians visited Turkey. The question of how important for Ankara relations with Kiev are important is open. An experienced diplomat Cavusoglu could hardly say anything else about this, because together with him at the meeting with the Crimean Tatars attended and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin. He flew to Ankara on a visit timed to the 74th anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. In Moscow, they negatively perceived the position of the head of Turkish diplomacy. Such statements do not improve the climate in Russian-Turkish relations. This opinion was expressed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Foreign Affairs Committee of the Council of Federation Vladimir Jabarov. "Now is not the best time to stir up the conflict between the West and Russia. It should be the choice of the Crimean people, not the opinion of Cavusoglu, "said the senator. According to him, the diplomat's statements are understandable, since about 2 million Crimean Tatars live in Turkey. "He does it in order to please voters," Jabarov said.. An expert at the Middle East Institute, Sergei Balmasov, believes that "the Turks simply need to somehow cajole the Crimean Tatars and tell them that" we have not forgotten about you ". "This is an important moment for Turkey itself, where this is an important ideological factor and where many descendants of the Crimean people live, which significantly influence the state of affairs within the Turkish state. So, Ankara arrives here quite logically, "- noted the expert. In his opinion, the remark in the direction of Ukraine and Europe is "just the ordinary desire of the Turks to solve this problem in their own favor in the hands of others". "There is nothing surprising here, but something real Turks in this matter can not do," - concluded Balmasov. Earlier, Turkish politicians repeatedly stated that for them the Crimea remains a Ukrainian territory.

At the same time, the authorities of the country do not raise the issue of imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation. Ankara actively supports the Crimean Tatar activists who oppose the annexation of the Crimea to the Russian Federation.

Last fall, Turkey acted as an intermediary in the release of activists Akhtem Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov, convicted in the Russian Federation for calls for violating territorial integrity and organizing riots. Russia transferred the prisoners of Turkey, from where they returned to Ukraine.