Did Turkey recognize Crimea as Russian territory? No, that's not true: according to the Republic of Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Turkey has referred to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, as illegal.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by TikTok on May 1st 2023, under the title "Breaking news. Turkey recognized Crimea as Russian." It stated:
The sudden change in Ankara's rhetoric regarding Crimea, caused a sharp reaction, not only in Kyiv, but also in Washington. At the very moment when the Ukrainian army, with the support of the United States, is preparing to return the peninsula to "Independence," Turkey stabs them in the back. All details on our channel.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
Turkey has not recognized the annexation of Crimea and considers the peninsula to be Ukrainian territory. This has been reported by local and international media houses, including the Turkish 24-hour news channel, TRT World and Radio Free Europe's Ukrainian service. The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly stated that he stands for the integrity of Ukraine.
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon May 8 15:37:45 2023 UTC)
