Turkey's support to Ukraine's territorial integrity remains unchanged

"Turkey has clearly and consistently supported Ukraine, the territorial integrity and indivisibility of our country, it takes a principled stand in the 'Crimean issue'," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. The ambassador also said the Ukrainian-Turkish relations are strategic by nature and asked not to "demonize" the relationship between Russia-Turkey. "We, as an embassy, are actively working to ensure a continued strong stand of the Turkish side on the matter of support for the territorial integrity of our country and deepening of political dialogue," Sybiha said. The diplomat also said that a series of visits by Turkish officials to Ukraine has been planned for the first half of 2017. However, he said that the issue of the introduction of the free trade area (FTA) between Ukraine and Turkey has not yet been resolved. "The working groups are in constant contact. At present, we haven't agreed certain groups of goods. In terms of numbers, out of 22,000 items, which should be covered by the FTA agreement, 1,800 haven't been agreed yet," the ambassador said.