ANKARA, April 7. /TASS/. Russia never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said as he commented on Turkey heading into May’s election.
When asked to comment on the election campaign that has just kicked off in Turkey and on what political force would Moscow support, Lavrov said, "You must have confused me for someone else. I recommend that you attend press conferences where American officials take part, and they can be asked such questions."
"For Russia never interferes in either the internal affairs or even discussions unfolding in a specific country ahead of election campaigns," he said at a news conference following talks with Turkey’s top diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Lavrov explained that this was the sovereign affair of any country, including Turkey which he described as a highly developed democracy. He castigated as rude the US practice of "telling China what it should do," regardless of any elections.
"We discussed this today, and my counterpart said they would invite observers from the OSCE and the Council of Europe. <…> Otherwise, I am confident that the Turkish side has repeatedly proved that it can organize free and democratic elections," the Russian foreign minister concluded.
Turkey will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.