Crimean Tatars Slam Turkey Over Aggressive Stance Towards Russia

Crimean Tatars condemn the anti-Russian policy of the Turkish government and demand urgent moves to resolve the conflict between the two countries, a public movement of the ethnic Tatars living on the Black Sea peninsula said in a resolution on Saturday.

“The participating delegates denounce the aggressive anti-Russian policy pursued by the Turkish authorities and firmly believe that the friendly people of the Turkish Republic are not responsible for their leaders’ provocative behavior. The Crimean Tatars, together with their Turkish brothers, are looking forward to a speedy resolution of this difficult situation,” the delegates of the Simferopol meeting said in a resolution.

The attending members of the Kyrym public movement expressed their full support for President Vladimir Putin and described the recent downing of a Russian bomber by a Turkish fighter plane as a premeditated provocation that made the friendly Turkish people hostage to the anti-Russian policy pursued by Ankara.

On November 24 a Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber over Syria for allegedly straying into Turkish airspace.  President Vladimir Putin described the unwarranted attack as a “stab in the back by accomplices of the terrorists.”