Meeting of Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov with the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel

01 May 2023

On April 28, 2023, a meeting of the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Mustafa DZHEMILEV and the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat CHUBAROV with the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel, who is visiting Ukraine, took place in Kyiv.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Ukraine Radek MATULA and persons accompanying the President of the Czech Republic also took part in the meeting.

The conversation began with the President of the Czech Republic Petr PAVEL recalling the event of almost 55 years ago, when in 1968, 25-year-old Mustafa DZHEMILEV publicly condemned the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops and its subsequent occupation.

Mustafa DZHEMILEV, thanking the Czech people, President Petr PAVEL, the Government and Parliament of the Czech Republic for the principled position and support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the provision of military and other assistance, constant attention to the situation of the Crimean Tatar people in occupied Crimea, emphasized the special significance of the further consolidation of the international community in repelling Russian aggression.

In this regard, continued Mustafa DZHEMILEV, the position of the Czech Republic, which consistently defends the principles of democracy and the need for all states to comply with the norms of international law, is very important.

The Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat CHUBAROV, answering the question of the President Petro PAVEL about which problems are considered particularly relevant at the stage of the reintegration of the Crimea liberated from the Russian occupiers, dwelt in detail on the issues related to the restoration of the environment and the ecological state of the peninsula destroyed by the Russian occupiers, rescuing monuments of Crimean Tatar history and culture that are being purposefully destroyed under the conditions of Russian occupation, decolonization of toponymy, legalization of the departure of hundreds of thousands of people who illegally settled in the occupied Crimea.

As a particularly important problem, Refat CHUBAROV singled out the problem of transformation of the current autonomous status of Crimea by introducing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, which will define the indigenous Crimean Tatar people as a subject of self-determination in Crimea, which, of course, is and will remain an integral part of the Ukrainian state.

During the meeting, an appeal to the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people regarding the recognition by the Parliament of the Czech Republic of the forcible deportation of the Crimean Tatar people, carried out by the communist regime of the USSR on May 18, 1944, as an act of genocide of the Crimean Tatar people was also announced.

The meeting took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere, at the end of which the parties exchanged souvenirs.

P.S. Explanation to the photo of the meeting: half an hour before the start of the meeting, an air alert was announced in Kyiv, which warned of a high probability of missile fire from Russian planes, which were brought to their initial positions. Accordingly, the meeting was moved to a more secure part of the building where the Czech delegation was located.

Press service of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people