OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek Held Meetings in Mejlis

14 October 2011

On October 13, 2011 the First Chairman of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, President of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov met with the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek in the office of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

The meeting was also attended by the OSCE High Commissioner’s advisers Lars Ragnar Olerud Hancen, Alexander Vinnikov, Wincent de Graaf and Deputy chairman of Mejlis Remzi Ilyasov, Head of the Secretariat Zair Smedlyaev, Head of International Relations Department Ali Khamzin, Head of the Land Commission Zevdzhet Kurtumerov, member of Mejlis, Chief editor of newspaper “Qirim” Bekir Mamutov.

During the meeting the parties discussed a wide range of problems, including the issues of allocation of land to Crimean Tatars, the situation of school education in Crimean Tatar language, the financing of the program of the return and resettlement of Crimean Tatars in the current and coming 2012 year, the peculiarities of the interrelations between Mejlis and Crimean authorities.

At this, the parties paid the main attention to the issues, related to the preparation to the International Forum on the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people to their homeland, its security and guarantees of development in Ukraine.

The OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek highly appreciated the results of the meeting of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people with the heads of the diplomatic representations and international organizations, accredited in Ukraine, held on October 5, 2011 in Kyiv. He noted that as the OSCE High Commissioner he is ready to start consultations with all the parties concerned and first of all with Ukrainian authorities in order to determine the goals and tasks of the coming Forum.

After the meeting in Mejlis the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek and accompanying him persons, including Zair Smedlyaev, Zevdzhet Kurtumerov, Ali Khamzin, Minister of regional development and construction of ARC Sergey Brayko and representatives of Reskomzem and Reskomnats of ARK visited the “protest camps” of landless Crimean Tatars. Visiting massive “Abdal”, laying within the conservation zone of the city cemetery and in this connection the people that occupied it were allocated the land plots in the territory of Dobrovsky village council. The high guests visited the land massive “Krymavtogaz” (by pass road area) where Ablyatipovs – a family of pensioners received them in the newly-build house. The OSCE High Commissioner Knut Vollebaek and his assistants had opportunity to talk with the hearty hosts and obtained answers to all their questions.

Then Knut Vollebaek and accompanying him officials visited “Yany Duniya” (New World) settlement, built on a land plot of 7 Hectares on Balaklavskaya Street in Simferopol. Here they also had meeting with the residents of the settlement and visited the building of the newly constructed mosque.

At the end of the day the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek left to Kyiv.