Crimean Tatars call for reversal of Russian annexation
“Participants at the World Congress of Crimean Tatars rebuked Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014.”
Participants at the congress rebuked Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014. American and European officials alike have criticized Russia’s repression of the Crimean Tatar community since the annexation took place. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who spoke on Saturday, said that the annexation “is temporary — because it is illegal,” asreported by Voice of America.
The 300,000-strong Muslim Crimean Tatar minority makes up less than 15 percent of Crimea’s 2 million population.
Mustafa Dzhemilev, a veteran leader of the Crimean Tatars, told the conference that the Tatars who have fled were motivated by “discrimination and lawlessness” on the peninsula since Russia’s takeover as well as “forced conscription of young people to the Russian Army with the prospect of sending them to war with their Ukrainian brothers,” as reported by Radio Free Europe.
The leaders said they also left because of the “complete absence of democratic freedoms and the lack of any prospects for young people.”
Russia’s annexation of Crimea was followed by continued fighting in eastern Ukraine between Kremlin-backed separatists and Kiev forces. The United Nations has estimated that more than 6,500 people have been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine.(UPI)