Turkey condemns Russia’s ‘illegitimate’ votes in Ukraine

Turkey on Wednesday condemned Russia’s “illegitimate” plans to hold annexation referendums in four Moscow-controlled regions of Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Such illegitimate fait accomplis will not be recognized by the international community,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Turkey never recognized the Kremlin’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula that occurred in the first months of a festering conflict that broke out in 2014 and led to Russia’s all-out invasion on February 24.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been using his open relations with both Moscow and Kyiv to try and set up direct truce talks.

But Russia’s decision to hold the annexation votes and partially mobilize reservists signals the potential start of an even more violent chapter in the war.

Erdoğan told world leaders at the United Nations on Tuesday that both Moscow and Kyiv needed help finding a “dignified way out” of the crisis.