Turkish Foreign Ministry: Russia wants to intimidate Crimean Tatars by banning Mejlis

"They try to intimidate the Crimean Tatars again. We condemn this decision, which is another manifestation of systematic, massive pressure on the fundamental rights and freedoms of the peninsula’s residents,” the statement reads. The Foreign Ministry also added that Turkey would continue to support the legitimate struggle of the Crimean Tatar people and the efforts to lift such pressure. The Turkish Foreign Ministry stressed that the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars was the legitimately elected body of the Crimean Tatar people, formed democratically on the basis of free expression will and thus reflecting the will of the Crimean Tatars.