THE REACTIONS OF THE LEADING INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO THE ILLEGAL ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA

The protest, which started on 21 November 2013 afterYanukovych government’s announcement about the suspension of theAssociation Agreement, which was planned to be signed between theEuropean Union and Ukraine, soon evolved into anti-governmentprotests and turned into a major domestic political issue. While Ukrainewas struggling to solve this problem, Russian Federation sent its troopsto Crimea in early March 2014 and annexed Crimea and Akyar(Sevastapol) following an illegal referendum held on 16 March 2014.Many states and international organizations react to this occupationand illegal annexation. This study reviews the process of the illegalannexation process of Crimea and examines the reactions of the leadinginternational organizations, namely, United Nations, European Union,North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, CollectiveSecurity Treaty Organization and Organization of Islamic Cooperatio