Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has confirmed media reports that Ankara has asked Kyiv for explanations on the campaign against Turkish businessmen, RIA Novosti has reported.

Earlier, the Turkish newspaper Aydinlik reported that in Ukraine, the campaign to impose sanctions against Turkish businessmen and banks in connection with the non-alignment of Ankara to the anti-Russian decisions of the West has been launched. According to the newspaper, a list of executives of Turkish banks Ziraat, Ishbank and Credit Europe Bank with photos and a call for sanctions against these companies and individuals was published. The newspaper noted, citing diplomatic sources, that Turkey requested explanations from Ukraine in connection with the campaign launched in Kyiv.

According to Cavusoglu, there was an impression that this campaign, initiated by Ukraine, was aimed only against Turkish companies. However, this is not true, the list includes companies from many countries associated with Russia and doing business with it, including from the U.S. and EU countries, he said. "There are more than 18,000 people and companies on this list. We only care about our own companies. We asked for an explanation. We are working on it," the Turkish foreign minister told reporters.