UKRAINE CRISIS: CRIMEAN TATARS CALL FOR HELP http://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2014/05/07/ukraine-crisis-crimean-tatars-call-for-help Anadolu Agency
07.05.2014 10:23:16BERLIN (aa) -- Member of the Tatar Mejlis has called for help from Turkey and the international community, saying his people's situation is desperate. Abdurrahman Egiz, a member of the Tatar Mejlis in Crimea, said that since Russia's annexation earlier this year of Crimea the rights of his people had been endangered and a mass deportation was possible. In particular, he called on Turkey -- a powerful country of nearly 80 million people of whom most are the Tatar's ethnic cousins -- for support. "The whole incident in the Ukraine affects us," said Egiz. The Mejlis is the Crimean Tatars' highest exectuive body between meetings of the Qurultay, or national congress. "The leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev Kırımoğlu, has been banned from entering Crimea. More than 2,000 people and Kırımoğlu can't enter Crimea and are waiting at the border, confronted with armed troops." Kırımoğlu, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, is regarded by the Crimean authorities as an ally of the Ukrainians and is known for his support of the country and the West. The Crimean Tatars have faced mass deportation. A Turkic people Crimean Tatars forcibly expelled to Central Asia by Stalin during World War II, most only able to return after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. But Egiz says his people are once more in danger: "We demand the help of the international community to protect our rights." "This is very important for us because we are in a very difficult situation. Tatar leader, Mustafa Dzhemilev Kırımoğlu, is not able to enter Crimea. This is symbolic of our situation." "Discrimination is possible." he said. To create conditions that would force Crimean Tatars to leave the area is also possible. In such a case, people would not be able to stay there." He said Crimean Tatars expected international solidarity from the Muslim community. "Turkey is for us, in terms of history and religion, a brother state," Egiz said. "Because of this we want Turkey to play a leading role. We believe that Turkey will take advantage of all opportunities and continue supporting our case." He also appealed to the international community as a whole. "If you want to help us, you can ask the Russian Federation to take their troops out of Crimea," he said. Mykhaylo Yakubovych, a Ukrainian scholar of Islam from the National University of Ostroh in the Ukraine, said the situation in the Crimea was "perilous". "More than 10,000 Crimean Tatars have left their homes," Yakubovych said, "but the majority continues to live there." He said freedom of movement was a problem for them and they could not move to European Union states because of difficulties with visas. Yakubovych said that, before the occupation of the Crimea, there were many pro-Russian groups who committed a great deal of vandalism. __________________________________________________________ http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68346 Eurasianet May 6, 2014 - 2:06pm Russia to Crimean Tartars: You’re either with us, or against us Crimea’s prosecutor, Natalia Poklonskaya, has formally warned <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpO4dCRxr-I> the Crimean Tartar leaders that they face criminal prosecution if they persists in organizing protests against regional government policies, and their chief civil organization, the Mejlis, will be banned. Refat Chubarov, the head of the Crimean Tartar Mejlis, was summoned to the prosecutor’s office on May 4 after Tatars staged several rallies across Crimea in support of Mustafa Jemilev, a Tartar community leader who was exiled<http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68296> in late April. One of the May 3 rallies occurred near a checkpoint on Crimea’s border with Ukraine at Armyansk, where Jemilev was at that moment attempting to reenter Crimea. The rallies were peaceful and no violence or property damage occurred. Nevertheless, the authorities denied Jemilev entry and charged Chubarov and a number of other Crimean Tatars who participated in the rallies with violating Russia’s law on assembly. Prosecutors claimed that Armyansk rally participants were engaged in "publicly inciting other citizens to unlawful activities," including participating in similar rallies "in support of Jemilev" in violation of "Articles 4 and 5 of the federal law [of the Russian Federation] on assembly, meetings, demonstrations and picketing." Poklonskaya then stated that "based on the aforementioned facts, under Article 7 of the federal law [of the Russian Federation] on fighting extremist activities ... I warn Chubarov Refat Abdurrahmanovich, the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, that extremist activities are prohibited, and I demand that extremist activities be stopped immediately." If the protests do not stop, she stated, "the Mejlis of Crimean Tatars will be eliminated and banned on the territory of the Russian Federation." Poklonskaya promised to present Chubarov with written notice of the charges, but has yet to do so. Numerous participants in the recent protests have been served with writs charging them with violating the law on assembly. Chubarov stated after the meeting with Poklonskaya that he expects to be charged, or even arrested, in the next several days. __._,_.___-- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. 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