Moscow will treat with caution the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry that «they have no legal force for Turkey,» the parliamentary elections for the Russian State Duma (Lower House), which were held on the territory of Crimea, said the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova on the «Soloviev Live» network, commenting on the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s press secretary, Ambassador Tanzu Bilgic.
«Turkey knows very well that Crimea is a sovereign part of the Russian Federation and that we never ignore such statements,» said M. Zakharova, adding: «If they haven’t grown tired of hearing the relevant rebukes, reminders, and observations from Moscow, it means they are patient people, but that leads nowhere, except that we draw the corresponding conclusions, which clearly do not benefit bilateral relations.».
M. Zakharova also noted that «year after year, as part of the electoral process, Crimea symbolically reaffirms the choice it made in 2014,» when, according to Moscow, the local population voted 96.57% in favor of Crimea’s independence from Ukraine and its accession to Russian sovereignty.
According to data from Russia’s Central Election Commission, 1,131 polling stations were open in Crimea, along with one additional station at Simferopol International Airport for travelers, where a total of 745,452 citizens cast their ballots, representing 49.67 % of registered voters on the peninsula.
Just a few days earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a «strong protest,» condemning the holding of parliamentary elections for the Russian State Duma «in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine» (implying Crimea and the de facto breakaway provinces in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine) and had called on the international community not to recognize the Russian parliamentary elections.
