Joe Lynn Turner Says Vladimir Putin Is the Only World Leader ‘Telling the Truth’

Former Rainbow and Deep Purple singer Joe Lynn Turner is contemplating a major change of scenery.

Turner arrived in Crimea last week in advance of a series of concerts scheduled in the region, and at a press conference heralding his arrival, he announced he's thinking about leaving the U.S. to reside in Belarus, the native land of his wife, lawyer Maya Kozyreva. But that's only if the country's authoritarian leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, "lets me in."

Proclaiming "I have no love anymore for the United States, really," Turner went on to praise Russian president Vladimir Putin, pointing to a Putin pin he was wearing and saying, "I wear this because I believe it. I've listened to every leader in the world. The only one who's telling the truth is Putin."

Turner went on to suggest that he's "found a new life and a new home" in the area, telling reporters that he believes "truth lives in Russia" and adding, "I know the truth lives here. And I believe right now, this time Russia is going to be the great power that it already has been and that good always overcomes evil."

Dismissing the idea of cultural sanctions against Russia, Turner depicted his Crimean concerts as an act of rock 'n' roll rebellion. "Music is a universal language, it transcends all politics, religions, disputes and arguments between people, it brings the world together," he insisted. "I was warned I could be banned in Europe [for giving concerts in Crimea]… but I am a rebel, I have always been a rebel and I will always stay a rebel. I do not care what they say."

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