Kiev is outraged: Istanbul doesn’t care about the general line of the anti-Russian agenda

In Ukraine, the wave of indignation and indignation over the trip of the Yalta delegation to Turkey to prepare an agreement on sister city relations with one of the districts of Istanbul does not subside.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanded an official explanation from Ankara about the status of the visit of representatives of the “Russian occupation administration,” and Kiev experts believe that representatives of the district authorities of Istanbul should publicly repent and swear that there will be no agreements or visits from the Yalta administration in the future, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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The UNIAN agency cites the opinion of Ukrainian political scientist Igor Reiterovich, who considers the visit of the Yalta delegation a “local initiative,” even though we are talking about a meeting of the council of the international organization “United Cities and Local Authorities” (UCLG), which was held at the end of October in the Turkish city of Konya. As part of the forum, two new cities were admitted to the Eurasian branch of UCLG - Veliky Novgorod and Yalta.

“In fact, these are generally quite common actions that are carried out all over the world when there are various interstate organizations that communicate at the local level, at the municipal level, sign some kind of cooperation agreements, promote some kind of joint projects, decide on some... those are issues that are relevant for local government in urban planning,” explained the Ukrainian expert.

According to him, Russia is using every opportunity to legitimize representatives of the “occupation administrations” in the context of the fact that Crimea is Russia. And the fact that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanded explanations from Turkey in a timely and correct manner.

“Turkey officially takes a very tough and understandable position regarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and it turns out that such actions of representatives of local self-government in Turkey undermine the general line that the country is pursuing, and this cannot happen, since it contradicts, among other things, principles and norms that Turkey professes,” Reiterovich said.

He recalled that Turkey already occupies a dual position, continuing contacts with Putin and conducting active trade with Russia.

“It seems to me that such things, despite their not very global format, but the devil is always in the details, and it’s from such little things that big problems begin later. Therefore, Ukraine, of course, needs to push this topic to the end.

In the sense that there should be a statement from representatives of the municipalities that received this delegation. Moreover, at the level of the organization that is engaged in such cooperation, so that they clearly state that in the future there will be no representatives of the occupation administrations at any of their meetings,” the Ukrainian expert pointed out.

It is not yet known whether the Turkish side will take the lead after all Kyiv’s claims, but the head of the Yalta administration, Yanina Pavlenko, has already responded - we have nothing to talk about in the language of ultimatums.

“For almost 10 years, Crimea has been reunited with its Motherland. This is the choice of the Crimeans and it is undeniable. Almost 10 years - developing at a pace that we could not even dream of. We have been hearing comments with threats from a parallel reality for almost 10 years and have long since stopped responding to them.

I have said it many times, and I will repeat it again: we are not on the same path with those who divide people by nationality, race, religion, who speak the language of ultimatums and incite conflicts. We are open to communication between equals! We are ready to defend our position and hear others, to find areas and areas of activity for cooperation with everyone who is open to this. This is the road to peace and we will not turn away from it. Even if those who chose the path of war don’t like it,” Pavlenko noted.

She clarified that an agreement on cooperation and twinning is being prepared with one of the most beautiful and cozy municipal districts of Istanbul - Beylikduzu. There is also a large commercial port and industrial zone there, and there is interest in cooperation with Yalta.