Russia ready to show stringent response to Turkey should it try to take Crimea

Russia will have to show a stringent response to Turkey for its plans to take Crimea, Georgy Muradov, permanent representative of the Crimean administration in Russia's presidential administration said commenting on recent statements from Turkish officials.

"Sooner or later, we will have to respond very harshly. Turkey plans to take Crimea," he explained, adding that Turkey would not stop until its goals were accomplished.

The official also noted that Turkey behaves ambivalently not only with regard to Crimea, but also in relation to the Caucasus and Syria.

"NATO and EU member countries do not recognize the inclusion of Crimea into Russia. They consider Crimea as Russia-occupied part of Ukraine. Turkey shares this position. Turkey and Russia develop partnership relations, but they have strong disagreements on a number of significant important issues in modern world politics," Boris Shmelev, the head of the Center for Political Studies at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Pravda.Ru.

"One of these differences is the assessment of the status of Crimea. To a certain extent, the status of Crimea is regulated by an agreement between Russia and Turkey — by the so-called Kuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty, which had been signed under Catherine II. The treaty says that if Russia loses control over Crimea, the peninsula should return to the sovereignty or protectorate of Turkey. Even though no one has denounced the treaty, it formally remains in effect. Such documents cannot be considered as the basis of the policy of a particular state," the expert said.

"I think that all these talks of the Turks are some sort of a PR stunt or idle fiction. Turkey patronizes the Crimean Tatars, but it is unreasonable to seriously assume that Ankara wants to take Crimea away from Russia,” Boris Shmelev explained.

"What actions should Russia take? I don't think there will be any special actions. Crimea is a part of the Russian state, Russia stands for its territorial integrity, and any encroachment on the status of Crimea is an encroachment on the territorial integrity of the Russian state. By defending this territorial integrity, Russia is ready to resort to any means," says Boris Shmelev.

"Turkey understands this very well, and therefore there is no need to talk about any change in the Crimean status here. As long as Russia is strong, no one will dare to raise a hand against Crimea,” the expert concluded.

"Should anyone try to bite off Crimea from Russia, Russia will knock their teeth out,” this is how people reacted to Turkey's claims on social media.

Russia OK with Turkey's stance on Crimea

The position of the Turkish authorities on the status of Crimea does not complicate the cooperation between Moscow and Ankara, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said commenting on Turkey's position on the status of Crimea, RIA Novosti reports.

Turkey declared its disagreement with Moscow on the issue of Crimea from the very beginning. Crimea is part of Russia, so what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is talking about is unacceptable.

"Nevertheless, this does not prevent us from interacting with the Republic of Turkey where it is beneficial for us. We highly appreciate the efforts of the Republic of Turkey to resolve difficult situations, as it was with grain exports," Peskov said, adding that Russia and Turkey have a very good potential for deepening cooperation.

Earlier, the official representative for the President of Turkey, Ibrahim Kalyn, said that Crimea should be returned to Ukraine should an appropriate agreement be signed with Russia.

"Russia's annexation of Crimea is illegal, and Turkey's position on this issue has not changed since 2014," he said.