Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on September 29, 2021. AFP
"Such illegitimate fait accomplis will not be recognised by the international community," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Turkey never recognised the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula that occurred in the first months of a festering conflict that broke out in 2014 and led to Russia's all-out invasion on February 24.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been using his open relations with both Moscow and Kyiv to try and set up direct truce talks.
But Russia's decision to hold the annexation votes and partially mobilise reservists signals the potential start of an even more violent chapter in the war.
Erdogan told world leaders at the United Nations on Tuesday that both Moscow and Kyiv needed help finding a "dignified way out" of the crisis.
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