Türkiye clarifies to Russia on transfer of Azov commanders to Ukraine

The Turkish side provided Russia with explanations in connection with Ankara’s decision to hand over to the Ukrainian authorities six commanders of the Azov nationalist battalion (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation). This was announced on Thursday, July 13, in the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey.

However, no details are provided regarding these clarifications.

Earlier, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara received a request from Kyiv for the extradition of six Azov battalion commanders and decided to satisfy it. Following this, a number of statements were made from Moscow on this matter, but when “they found out the details, the situation became positive.” The politician promised bring this topic up again in August, when Russian leader Vladimir Putin arrives in Turkey.

The situation with the transfer of the leaders of the Azov national battalion to Kyiv was also discussed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. However, the Russian diplomat refused to disclose the details of the conversationemphasizing that he does not have the habit of telling what his colleagues tell him during diplomatic contacts – unlike Western politicians.