Ukraine sends note to Japan over 'DPR' team's participation in karate tournament

The embassy reported this on its Facebook page on Thursday, November 14.

"On November 12, 2019, the media reported about the participation of 'representatives' of the so-called 'DPR' in the '9th world karate cup' held by the 'karatenomichi world federation' in Tokyo on November 7-10, 2019. In this regard, on the same day, the Embassy of Ukraine has taken steps to find out the reliability of the said fact," the report reads.

It notes that a representative of the secretariat of this organization confirmed that a sports team, the training club of which is located on the territory of the temporarily occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk region, had been invited to the tournament.

"As part of measures of diplomatic response, the Embassy of Ukraine drew the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to this fact and handed over a note to the Japanese side stating a respective official position of the Ukrainian side," the report reads.

The Embassy of Ukraine is still taking steps to clarify all the circumstances of this fact.

"The Embassy of Ukraine considers it necessary to emphasize that from the very beginning of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, Japan's position on unconditional support for our country's sovereignty and territorial integrity has been consistent and unchanged, and therefore some media speculations regarding a possible change in this position by the Japanese government have no grounds," the embassy said

The Karatenomichi World Federation is a private organization, and its area of karate is little known both in Japan and in the world as a whole.

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