Statement by the Crimean Tatar Council under the Head of the Republic of Crimea The Republic of Crimea has been part of…

Statement by the Crimean Tatar Council under the Head of the Republic of Crimea The Republic of Crimea has been part of the large and friendly Russian family since 2014. We saw great prospects and broad opportunities open to us. Just like in the rest of our multiethnic country, there is no discrimination of any form in the Republic of Crimea. The rights and freedoms of its citizens are guaranteed regardless of racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation, and preservat…ion and promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity is enshrined in the Constitution and other legislative acts. Presidential Executive Order No. 268 On Measures to Rehabilitate the Bulgarian, Greek, Crimean Tatar and German peoples and State Support for their Revival and Development dated April 21, 2014 was a milestone event in the life of the republic. The good name of the deported peoples of Crimea was restored and their deportation was recognised as criminal. The reunification of Crimea and Russia was widely beneficial for Crimea. Along with other residents of Crimea, Crimean Tatars obtained the opportunity to revive, preserve and develop their language, history and culture, and to make a statement of the ethnic and cultural identity of the Crimean Tatar people. The Crimean Tatar language is recognised as an official language in the Republic of Crimea. Socially important books are published in the Crimean Tatar language, and Crimean Tatar media outlets are quite active. Every year, the Head of the Republic of Crimea issues executive orders proclaiming the main Muslim holidays of Eid-Al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha public holidays. Traditional holidays of the Crimean Tatars, such as spring holidays Navrez and Khydyrlez, Crimean Tatar Flag Day, Crimean Tatar Literature and Culture Day, and the autumn holiday Derviz are celebrated freely and widely in the republic. Crimean Tatars are full-fledged citizens of the Russian Federation. As part of the state ethnic policy of the Russian Federation, systematic efforts are being carried out to implement infrastructure projects to develop the densely populated land which the rehabilitated peoples call home. Kindergartens, schools, culture centres, roads, gas supply grids, water supply, sanitation and power supply are being built there. People hailing from the rehabilitated ethnicities of Crimea are provided with housing and land plots and are entitled to compensation for the cost of connecting to gas, sewage and power grids. Under the patronage of President Vladimir Putin and with the support of Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, the main Cathedral Mosque of Crimea – the largest Muslim religious building on the peninsula – is being built in Simferopol. In accordance with Executive Order of the Head of the Republic of Crimea No. 93-U dated March 29, 2018, the Crimean Tatar Council under the Head of the Republic of Crimea (hereinafter referred to as the Council) was created. The Council members were elected at an extraordinary expanded meeting of the Kurultai of Crimean Muslims from among distinguished and authoritative figures of science, education, culture, clergy, sports and other spheres. Among the Council’s activities is effective implementation in the Republic of Crimea of the Presidential Executive Order No. 268 On Measures to Rehabilitate the Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Crimean Tatar and German Peoples and State Support for Their Revival and Development dated April 21, 2014 with respect to restoring historical justice and the political, social and spiritual revival of the Crimean Tatars who were subjected to illegal deportation and political reprisals on the basis of their ethnicity. Representatives of public bodies of authority, local self-government and public organisations, experts and lawyers, specialists from various fields and other individuals are involved in the Council’s activities, which will make the Council’s work more effective and productive overall. The Council is an authoritative and effective collegial, advisory and consultative body of the Crimean Tatars under the Head of the Republic of Crimea. Its key goal is to monitor the issues that the Crimean Tatar people may have in the Republic of Crimea and to help overcome them, to draft and implement a set of measures to restore historical justice and support the political, social and spiritual revival of the Crimean Tatar nation. Crimean Tatars are active in the sociopolitical life of the Republic of Crimea and develop the institutions of civil society as an integral part of the political, socioeconomic and cultural life of the Republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation. We, members of the Crimean Tatar Council under the Head of the Republic of Crimea, do not support members of the organisation going by the name of Mejlis* that is banned in the Russian Federation for its provocational activities. We urge residents of Crimea not to trust the statements made by its pseudo-leaders who use the Crimean Tatar issue to destabilise the sociopolitical situation. The Council strongly disagrees with the assumption that some fugitives from Crimea, the self-described “leaders” and “chairmen” of various kinds of foreign public associations of private nature, portray themselves as representatives of the Crimean Tatar people living in their homeland. Former members of the Mejlis that is banned in the Russian Federation such as Refat Chubarov, Mustafa Dzhemilyov, Lenur Islyamov, Eskender Bariyev and other traitors who let down the interests of the Crimean Tatars are currently residing in Ukraine, Türkiye and a number of European countries, acting in the interests and at the behest of Kiev, and widely spreading falsehoods regarding the Crimean Tatars’ situation in Crimea. These individuals do not live in Crimea and do not represent the interests of the Crimean Tatars, therefore their one-sided statements, testimonies and declarations regarding the situation in Crimea cannot be considered reliable or reflect the actual state of affairs with the Crimean Tatar people living in Crimea. These functionaries are misleading the international community with their untrue statements regarding the exercise of the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars and the status of the Crimean Tatar cultural and historical heritage in Crimea. They are not authorised to make any statements or speak at international platforms or organisations on behalf of the Crimean Tatar people. Blatantly illegal actions in the form of energy, food and water blockades that were perpetrated with the strong support of the above individuals caused trouble for all residents of Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars. But, despite the fact that these provocations were targeted to incite ethnic hatred and confrontation between the peoples of Crimea, they failed and brought the Crimeans even closer instead. The above individuals are trying to carry on their extremist activities in Crimea. They threaten physical violence against representatives of the Crimean Tatar community and carry out actions designed to create an atmosphere of hostility and ethnic hatred between the Crimean Tatar people and people of other ethnicities. The Council considers the statements and allegations coming from Ukraine and former members of the Mejlis that is banned in the Russian Federation Refat Chubarov, Mustafa Dzhemilyov, Lenur Islyamov and Eskender Bariyev about discrimination against Crimean Tatars to be false and states that all issues related to the exercise of the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars are being addressed in cooperation with the authorities of the Republic of Crimea and numerous ethnic communities of the peninsula. https://crimea-news.com/society/2023/03/06/1025312.html Uniunea Democrata a Tatarilor Turco-Musulmani din Romania (UDTTMR) Uniunea Democrată Tătară Uniunea Culturală a Tătarilor din România – UCTR