Day of Remembrance of the victims of Crimean Tatars’ Genocide

19 May 2018

On Friday, May 18, the Day of Remembrance of the victims of Crimean Tatars genocide was held in Kyiv.

This year, organizers decided to combine both formal events: the Evening-Requiem and the rally, which were held in one place – on Sofiyivska Square. The State Officials, heads of the diplomatic missions, religious, cultural and public figures were invited. Before the beginning of the Evening-Requiem, the participants traditionally performed the Anthem of Ukraine and the Crimean Tatar People.

The first to make a speech was the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. He noted that the pain of the Crimean Tatar people is the pain of all Ukrainians and that Ukraina “will never forget the cynical crime of the Soviet regime, the crime against the whole nation, against humanity”. The Head of the state also announced a formation of the Crimean Tatar Autonomy and the right of the Crimean Tatars to self-determination within a framework of the united Ukraine. He added that the working group had already prepared changes to the Section X of the Constitution regarding the status of Crimea.

The next speaker was the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov, who, in his turn, noted that the Crimean Tatar Autonomy is a step towards the de-occupation of Crimea. Chubarov told about the thousands of deads and broken fates of the Crimean Tatars during the deportation of 1944.

Also, the participants of the memorable event were the US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Jovanovic and the Ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine Yönet Can Tezel, who expressed his support to the Crimean Tatar people.

The official part of the event also included the rally itself, in memory of the victims of the deportation, and the orchestra conducted by the Crimean Tatar kapellmeister Dilyaver Osmanov, who played two compositions.

The presenter of the meeting was traditionally the Mejlis’ member Eskender Bariev. At the beginning, Ayder Rustemov, Mufti of the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said a prayer in memory of the victims of the Crimean Tatar people’s deportation, and then there were speeches of well-known dissidents, spiritual leaders, politicians and activists.

At the end of the event, the audience at all-Ukrainian rally unanimously adopted a resolution.

In conclusion, on the big screen the Akhtem Seitablayev’s film “Haytarma” was shown.