Ukrainian Member of Parliament
from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko, presidential envoy for Crimean Tatar
people's affairs, and Crimean Tatar community leader Mustafa Dzhemilev
(Cemilev) has called on Turkey to join the international sanctions introduced
against Russia for the illegal occupation of Crimea.
Dzhemilev told the Turkish news agency that the nuclear weapons that had been
delivered to Crimea would in the first turn be directed towards Turkey.
The Crimean Tatar leader urged
Turkey to more actively fight for the end of the annexation of Crimea.
"We would like Turkey to follow the EU countries' example and join
the [anti-Russian] sanctions, but we also understand the situation Ankara is in
with its trade and energy interests involving Russia. I've already spoken with
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about Turkey's possible assistance in
releasing certain persons in Crimea, including Crimean Tatars. But nothing
could be done to protect national and human rights because the Crimean Tatars
cannot have a common future with Russia," he said.
Dzhemilev said that the report made by an unofficial Turkish delegation,
which visited Crimea with Professor Zafer Üskül as its head to investigate
violations of Crimean Tatars' rights, has strengthened Turkey's credibility.
"The Russians who thought
that a report by Turkey, which hasn't joined the anti-Russian sanctions, would
be in their favor, were appalled. Prior to that, they hadn't let anybody in
that region. Russia "had thought" that the Turkish report would
safeguard its interests because Ankara hadn't introduced sanctions against it.
If the Turkish delegation had got more time, they would have written more. That
was a very good report, which has strengthened Turkey's credibility and has
brought benefits for the international community," Dzhemilev said.
Dzhemilev said that the Western
sanctions against Russia would be effective. "I'm confident that the
sanctions play a great role. We had to wait for 10 years after the introduction
of sanctions against Russia, which invaded Afghanistan in 1979. It would be a
disaster if we have to wait for another 10 years. We hope that everything will
end much earlier, in a dynamic pace. I don't think that the issue will be
resolved until Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power. If these are
proper sanctions, the Russians will definitely feel their impact," he
said.
Turkey's Minister of Foreign
Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu earlier said that the occupying power in Crimea
continued violating human rights, especially those of Crimean Tatars.
An unofficial Turkish delegation visited Crimea on April 27-30. Its report
about the situation of Crimean Tatars said that Russia had turned the occupied peninsula into a territory of
its own arbitrariness, permissiveness and intolerance.
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