In the framework of his visit to Turkey, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin was received by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Participation in the meeting with the President of Turkey was taken by the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine on the issues of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev, the First Deputy Minister of Information Policy of Ukraine Emina Jaaparova, and the Member of the Parliament of Ukraine Maria Ionova.
In addition, during the meeting, deputy chairmen of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiogoz, who were released from Russian captivity, were present at the meeting, thanks to the efforts of the Turkish side.
Pavlo Klimkin noted that the issue of ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of Ukrainian citizens who suffer from harassment and repression in the temporarily occupied territories of our state by the aggressor state are at the center of Ukraine’s increased attention. At the same time, it is extremely important that these issues are in the focus of our strategic partner – Turkey. In this context, the Minister stressed the need to continue the Ukrainian-Turkish cooperation on the release of Ukrainian political prisoners held in the occupied Crimea and in the territory of the Russian Federation, including involving the leaders of the Crimean Tatar people in this process.
During the meeting, the high evaluation of the development of Ukrainian-Turkish bilateral cooperation, in particular, the deepening of trade and economic cooperation and inter-human dimension was expressed. In addition, the parties discussed the main elements of preparations for the Seventh Meeting of the High-level Strategic Council that will take place this year in Turkey under the co-chair of the Presidents of both countries.