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On Thursday, spiritual lead of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev appealed to the West to not forget the Crimean Peninsula as it turned its attention to the increasing violence in Eastern Ukraine.
“We are concerned that because of Russia’s recent actions, the issue of Russia’s occupation of Crimea has become secondary in light of the potential threat of Russian forces invading across the eastern border of Ukraine”, he said. Dzhemilev was meeting with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.
“We are in favor of being part of the Ukrainian nation, we reject this annexation.We are hoping that the international community will not forget about the occupied territories of Ukraine”, he added.
Russia had formally annexed Crimea in March in a move which was condemned by the internationally community and the Ukrainian government. Since the move, the local population has had the choice of accepting Russian citizenship. However, Dzhemilev insisted that the Crimean Tatars, who mostly support the government in Kiev, and make up around 12% of the population in Crimea, are increasingly being forced out of their homes.
“There is an emerging trend to evict those Crimean Tatars out of Crimea who refuse to recognize the annexation. Crimean Tatars are being forced into the situation where they would rather leave their homeland. The indigenous people of Crimea have become foreigners in their own homeland”, he said.
Despite rumors that Russia intends to disband Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the highest representative body of the Crimean Tatar population, Dzhemilev said that there were no specific signs of that happening yet, but “you can expect everything from the occupying power”.
A Ukrainian Member of Parliament, Dzhemilev is well respected in the Tatar community. He was recently banned from entering the peninsula by local authorities. An attempted return to Crimea last weekend resulted in clashes between the authorities and the Tatars in Crimea. On Thursday, Dzhemilev said he will keep trying to enter Crime, and that he will “not let the occupiers enjoy peace”.
