President Erdogan Calls Turkey Committed To The Territorial Integrity, Sovereignty And Political Unity Of Ukraine

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Turkey has always expressed its commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political unity since the 2014 announcement of Crimea, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.

Turkey has close ties to Russia and Ukraine and has sought to balance relations through war.

On the one hand, Turkey rejects Western sanctions against Moscow, while on the other hand also criticizes Russia's invasion and supplies Kyiv with armed drones.

"We will continue our efforts to achieve peace and stability in the future. For example, once we get back, we will call the leaders again and continue our phone diplomacy with them", President Erdogan told reporters in New York, quoted by Daily Sabah on September 23.

He explained that the United Nations must take the initiative and make more efforts to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, the United Nations cannot end the war, cannot stop the bloodshed, nor can it find a solution to the energy and food crisis that emerged as a result of war", he explained.

"The efforts of the UN Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) to establish a wheat corridor on this issue have somewhat assured the UN, but there is no doubt that more efforts must be made to end the war", President Erdogan continued.

The United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to restart wheat exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were temporarily suspended after the Russian-Ukraine war began in February.

President Erdogan stressed that Ankara's only goal was to end the bloodshed and build peace since the Russian-Ukraine war began in February.

"We have always expressed our commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political unity since the Crimea announcement last year. 2014", said President Erdogan.

"Since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russian war, we have stressed that the steps taken by Russia at this time are unfair and unacceptable", he said.

President Erdogan added that Turkey supports diplomacy to resolve crises and extraordinary problems.