Annexation votes organized by Moscow in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine are obstructing efforts for peace, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday, urging Russia to opt for diplomacy amid the ongoing war.

"The referendum causes trouble. I wish that they did not hold a referendum, but rather we could solve this problem through diplomacy," Erdoğan said, speaking at a live interview on CNN Türk.

Erdoğan said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked him for support for the four regions in question for annexation, namely Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and to convince Putin.

The president is expected to hold a phone call with the Russian leader on Thursday and discuss the issue.

Earlier on Wednesday, Erdoğan, during a call with Zelenskyy, noted that he is very glad since the exchange of war prisoners between Russia and Ukraine has been carried out successfully after a long period of preparation.

Drawing attention to the successful functioning of the agreement on Ukrainian grain shipment through the Black Sea, Erdoğan stressed that a similar approach could be taken as regards the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as well. He reiterated Türkiye's offer to act as a mediator and facilitator for forming a demilitarized zone around the power plant.

Holding unilateral referendums in Ukrainian regions that are under Russian control will undermine efforts aimed at reviving the diplomatic process, the president stressed, adding that Türkiye stands ready to provide every kind of support for the settlement of the war through peaceful negotiations.

Most recently, Türkiye enabled a prisoners swap between the warring countries.

One of the most important outcomes of Turkish mediation was when Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen certain Ukrainian ports to release grain that had been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war – a development that has been crucial in responding to a growing global food crisis.

Türkiye is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis.

With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.

In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month, with casualties piling up on both sides.

Türkiye also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya in March and hosted four-way meetings recently in Istanbul between Moscow, Ankara, Kyiv and the United Nations with the aim of solving the grain crisis.

U.S. move won’t go unanswered

On the other side, speaking on the U.S.' decision to lift the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot Administration, Erdoğan said: "Everyone must know that this last step will not go unresponded and that every precaution will be taken for the security of the Turkish Cypriots."

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had lifted defense trade restrictions for Greek Cyprus for the fiscal year 2023 – a move seen by Ankara as favoring the Greek Cypriot administration and negatively affecting the fragile balance on the divided island.

"U.S.' lifting of the arms embargo on Southern Cyprus is inexplicable in terms of content and timing."

Türkiye will reinforce its military presence in northern Cyprus after the United States lifted defense trade restrictions.

"The United States, which overlooks and even encourages the steps by the Cypriot-Greek duo that threaten peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean, will lead to an armament race on the island with this step," Erdoğan said.

"Will we stand by? We cannot," he said, adding that Türkiye already has 40,000 troops on the island and will reinforce them with land, naval and aerial weapons, ammunition and vehicles, Erdoğan said.

"We made the necessary warnings to the U.S. and Greece through our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We sent our last letter to the U.N. on Sept. 17."

Tension has risen in recent months between Greece and Turkey, fellow members of the NATO defense alliance, which have long feuded over maritime borders and energy exploration rights in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean seas.

Türkiye on Monday lodged a protest with the U.S. and Greece over the unlawful deployment of armored vehicles on Aegean islands with nonmilitary status.

Turkish army drones have recorded the Greek deployment of armored vehicles on the islands of Lesbos and Samos, which is in violation of international law.

Türkiye summoned the Greek ambassador and called for an end to violations on the Aegean islands and restoring their nonmilitary status, according to the foreign ministry.

In the note, the ministry stated that the deployment was another violation of Greece's obligations under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris.

These islands were required to be demilitarized under the two treaties, so any troops or weapons on the islands are strictly forbidden.

Meanwhile, in a protest note to the U.S., Türkiye urged respect for the status of the eastern Aegean islands and measures to be taken to prevent the use of weapons there.

The country’s National Security Council also discussed recent tensions with Greece on Wednesday and vowed that Türkiye will not refrain from utilizing legitimate methods to protect its national interests in the face of Greece's increasingly provocative actions.

The council urged all "actors encouraging Greece to arm islands that have nonmilitary status ... to exercise common sense," according to a statement released after a four-hour meeting chaired by Erdoğan in the capital Ankara.

Türkiye will continue to defend the rights of Turkish Cypriots, the council asserted, while calling on the international community to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N. Annan Plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.