Erdogan: All occupied territories will return to Ukraine, including the Crimean

Overnight, television PBS NewsHour published the full transcript of the interview with the Turkish president in which he said: “If peace should be established in Ukraine, of course, the restoration of the conquered land would become a matter of great importance. That's what's expected. This is what you want. Putin has taken important steps. We've taken important steps. The conquered lands will be restored to Ukraine”.

Asked specifically in the Crimean case, Erodogan said: “since 2014, we've talked to honest friend Putin about this subject and that's what we've asked him for. We've called for him to revert the Criminal to its rightful owners... unfortunately no step has been taken”.

Erdogan refused to say who thinks he now has a top priority in the war, saying: “as a leader, I am not willing to prononcise. What we all want to do and see is end this war with peace, whatever goes to Putin, whatever it is to Zelensky, I have always made this request. This is a conflict that has ended with consequences. People are dying, and at the end of the day, no one will win”.

He also said he had discussed the war directly with Putin. “in Uzbekistan, I talked with President Putin and we had a broad discussion. Indeed, he is showing that he is willing to end this war as quickly as possible. This is my impression because the way things are going is very problematic; 200 hostages will be exchanged after an agreement between the two sides. I think an important step will be taken towards this”.

During the interview, he said that no “invasion could be argued”, yet he gave a diplomatic response when asked if Putin had miscalculated when he started the invasion. Erdogan said that “no leader would later say this was wrong. Nobody means: Yeah, I made a mistake: ”. The same is true of Ukraine. Do you think Zelensky feels guilty too? Leaders, when they take a road, it's hard to get back. It's very difficult for leaders to back off”. /Periscopi/