All-Crimean Meeting, Timed to International Human Rights Day was Held in Simferopol

The participants of the all-Crimean meeting stated that they will do their best to strengthen the cohesion and spiritual unity of the Crimean Tatar people, the further development and strengthening of the elective bodies of Crimean Tatars.

On December 10, 2012 the all-Crimean meeting, timed to the International Human Rights Day was held in the Central Square in Simferopol. The meeting was initiated by Crimean Tatar public organizations with the support of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

The meeting, held under the slogan “My voice matters” was attended by more than 3 thousand people from various regions of Crimea. The participants of the action carried Crimean Tatar national flags, broadsheets: “December 1^st – International Human Rights Day!”, “We demand either return our homes or allocate land to build houses for our families”, “We demand restoration of our rights”, “Restoration of the Crimean Tatar people’s rights under the aegis of the International community”, “Crimea – germ for ones and Homeland for others”, “Cossacks – gangsters must answer for the night riots!”

The representatives of Crimean Tatar, Russian and Ukrainian community, politicians, activists of Crimean Tatar national movement spoke before the participants of the meeting.

The CEO of the International public organization “Bizim Qirim” Asan Egiz presided at the meeting.

The Deputy Mufti of Crimean Muslims hajji Enver Nagashev blessed the event, reading a dua (prayer).

The Head of the Secretariat of Mejlis Zair Smedlyaev opened the meeting. In his opening speech, made both in Crimean Tatar and Russian languages he informed the participants of the meeting about the recent resonant events.

“We returned to our Homeland despite all the obstacles! Today, setting the protest camps we don’t demand someone’s land. We say “give us a small portion of land in return of what was taken from us in 1944,”- Zair Smedlyaev said in his speech. On May 18, 1944 no Crimean Tatar wrote a letter of abandonment of his land or property share, neither he wrote the letter that he grants his house – we were just deprived of it. That is why de jure we have the right for them”.

The Head of the Secretariat of Mejlis underscored that Crimean Tatars do not demand someone else’s land “we say – return us what belongs to us and we have right to this”.

Crimean peoples must remember the lessons of the past in order to make conclusions for the future. “On the International Human Rights Day we have to speak that today the dialogue and adoption of the law “On the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people and persons, deported on the ethnic grounds” could help to solve a huge layer of existing problems,”- the Head of Mejlis’ Secretariat said.

Addressing the participants of the meeting the Head of the Land Commission of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Zevdzhet Qurtumerov noted that today the right to allocation of housing and land for the construction for the people in need was almost reduced to nothing in Ukraine.

Zevdzhet Qurtumerov underscored that in March 2013 there will be the 10^th anniversary of almost unsolved land issue of the participants of Crimean actions of protest, involving tens of thousands Crimean residents. “The authorities made their best to delay the process of the solution of the land issue, drawing people to the criminal responsibility for the forced occupation of land,”- Z.Qurtumerov underscored.

According to Z.Qurtumerov delaying of the solution of the land issue was also stipulated by the fact that the authorities found the “advantageous compromisers” among the participants of the actions of protest who make the provocative work to please the state officials.

The Deputy Chairman of Mejlis Ahtem Chiygoz, member of the public organization “Avdet” Nazim Memetov, the Head of the Revision Commission of the Association of Crimean Tatar workers of education “Maarifchi” Beye Ilyasova, the Head of Simferopol Regional Mejlis Lemmar Yunusov, the Head of Crimean organization of Ukrainian National Party Oleg Fomushkin, the acting Head of the Revision Commission of Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people Qurtseyit Abdullaev also spoke before the participants of the meeting.

Every speaker established the direct interconnection between the protection of the Human Rights and the need to protect the rights of people, saying that it is hard to count for the protection of the human rights in Ukraine without the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people and exercising of its right to self-determination.

“We’ve fought and we are fighting for the reviving of our people, our language, culture and religion in our ancestor’s land,- the veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement Ayshe Seytmuratova said. We do not prevent other peoples and don’t oppose other languages and religions”.

The Head of Crimean organization Congress of Ukrainian nationalists Vasil Ovcharuk, noted addressing the participants of the meeting that Crimean Tatars are the representatives of one of the most active ethnic groups in Crimean and Ukraine.

“Ukrainians along with not indifferent Russians must understand that one couldn’t build the peaceful and just society violating the rights and freedoms of their neighbors,”- Vasil Ovcharuk said.

In his turn the leader of the protest camp, located next to Simferopol airport, consisting of the representatives of various nationalities,Vlad Doroshenko noted that all people face with just the same problems and all people are equal. “However, it seems like some people rank themselves higher the others and obtain easily 9 thousand hectares for growing lichens. The authorities say to a common citizen of the democratic state that there is no free land for him, but at the same time they find the huge land arrears for solar stations and allocate hundreds of hectares to “big men,”- V.Doroshenko noted.

 “According to Vlad Doroshenko the mess in Molodezhnoe is a shame for Ukraine. I would think over the possibility to unite all self-acquisitions – both Slavic and Crimean Tatar as we have the same goal and it is fully corresponds to the article of the Constitution, providing that every citizen has the right to land,”- V.Doroshenko said.

The First Vice Chairman of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Head of the Parliamentary faction “Qurultay-Rukh” in the VR ARC Refat Chubarov thanked all his nationals that came to the meeting for their civil position and the unity showed, and voiced the slogan of the United Nations Organization on the International Human Rights Day “My voice matters”.

Refat Chubarov was sure that if a person won’t protect his rights himself no one will do this for him.

According to Refat Chubarov the rights of all the residents are violated in Crimea, especially Crimean Tatars’ ones in the issues, relating to the education in native language and allocation of land for the construction of the individual houses.

The First Vice Chairman of Mejlis called Crimean residents to unite their efforts in order to protect their legal civil rights.

Speaking about the riots in Molodezhnoe settlement in Simferopol region and explosions in the territory of the future construction of the Central Mosque Refat Chubarov characterized them as “gangster’s attacks”. Even during the strongest quarrel the reasonable persons should hold the negotiations,”- the politician thought and underscored that no one could take the powers of the court bodies or the bodies, responsible for the execution of these or that court decisions in the state with the supremacy of law.

The First Vice Chairman of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov also underscored that the destiny and development of the national education and restoration of the historical toponymy depends on every Crimean Tatar. He called people to be active and defend their civil rights, to come up with an initiative to build mosques in their places and called the parents to write claims about the opening of the national classes where their children could study their native language.

The speakers also expressed their discontent with the installation of the monument to the bloody field marshal Lassie who destroyed thousands Crimean settlements, a plunderer, and an incendiary of Khan’s library, as well as the participation of the representatives of the authorities in the opening ceremony.

In conclusion of the meeting its participants adopted the Resolution saying that they will do their best to strengthen the cohesion and spiritual unity of the Crimean Tatar people, the further development and strengthening of the elective bodies of the Crimean Tatar people – Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people, Milli Mejlis, regional and local mejlises.

The ongoing discrimination of the Human Rights in Ukraine, the open ignoring of the necessity to restore the rights of the Crimean Tatar people by the Ukrainian state is the main obstacle on the way to the construction of the civil society in Ukraine, designed to ensure the equality, justice and deserving living conditions for all its citizens.

The participants of the all-Crimean meeting called the President of Ukraine to support the initiative of the Crimean Tatar people, approved by the governments of all member-countries of the OSCE and international organization on carrying out of the International Forum on the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people in its Homeland, ensuring its safety and guaranties for the development in Ukraine.

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Reference: The International Human Rights Day is annually celebrated on December 10, 2012 since 1950. It was proposed by the UN General Assembly. This day in 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.