To understand why Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan would insult Moscow by declaring that Crimea is Ukrainian just ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, one has to understand his obsession with the Ottoman Empire.
“We believe it is important to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including the territory of Crimea, whose annexation we do not recognize,” Erdogan told the world leaders gathered in New York at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Later in the day, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and accepted an invitation to visit Kiev.