The Turkish authorities will not ban entry into the country of Russian politicians unfit for the Kyiv regime.
Turkish Ambassador to Kyiv Yagmur Guldere stated this in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda.
The Ukrainian publication demanded an explanation of how State Duma deputies from Crimea Natalya Poklonskaya and Ruslan Balbek, who shook hands with the President of Turkey, were recently part of the official delegation in Istanbul, that caused hysteria in official Kyiv.
“Because it was a large multilateral event. This is not a two-way visit where you exchange lists of participants weeks before the meeting. But we do not have a ban on the entry of [Poklonskaya and Balbec]. In general, individual sanctions are not our method; we rarely resort to this,” the diplomat said.
In turn, the UP journalist called “the lack of sanctions against those involved in the annexation of Crimea” a surprise.
“Türkiye imposes entry bans and sanctions in very... very tough situations. For example, we have such bans for thousands of people involved in the situation in Syria. And here, in this case, we do not prohibit such people from coming to Turkey,” the Turkish ambassador noted.
At the same time, he called for focusing attention on the fact that Turkey does not recognize the Russian status of Crimea.
“You can ask and ask me about the details of this event all day long. But I, as the Ambassador of Turkey, will say and emphasize what I have already said. Türkiye does not recognize the annexation. A handshake at this "gala" in no way means that this policy has changed. Our policy on this issue has been firm since 2014 and remains so in the future,” Güldere assured.
As PolitNavigator reported, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky gets punished for shaking hands Poklonskaya and Erdogan.
See also: Erdogan screwed up Zelensky.