First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Nariman Dzhelyal was on a visit to Turkey for several days, where he took part in a number of events, in particular in the photo exhibition ‘I will always wait for you, child’ dedicated to the mothers of Crimean political prisoners. The exhibition was held in Istanbul, Ankara, Eskisehir and Gebze. In a comment to ‘QIRIM.News’, Dzhelyal noted:
‘I spoke about what happens in captivity. Who are political prisoners, how exactly Crimean political prisoners differ from other political prisoners. I explained that in Crimea, Crimean political prisoners did not oppose the Russian authorities, did not try to seize power, that is, they were not in opposition to this government, but were people who opposed the occupation of their homeland, persecution of their friends, believers, etc.,’ he said.
Dzhelyal also held a meeting with the chief advisor to the Turkish President, Yalcin Topcu, where they discussed the situation in the occupied Crimea and the problem of political prisoners. During the meeting with Turkish MPs, he said that now the number of Ukrainian prisoners in the Kremlin is 220, 136 of whom are Crimean Tatars. Dzhelyal thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for supporting Ukraine.
‘Some deputies actively support us and do not perceive Russians as one nation with Ukrainians. However, there are also those who are not very knowledgeable. They need to be explained a lot of nuances about Ukraine and russia,’ – Dzhelyal added in his commentary.