On Tuesday, August 22, on the eve of the Third Summit of the International Crimean Platform took place, during which the participants discussed issues related to the de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea.
There were two panel discussions:
STEPS TO LIBERATION AND RESTORATION OF SUSTAINABLE SECURITY IN CRIMEA AND ON THE BLACK AND AZOV SEA
CONSOLIDATION OF THE EFFORTS OF UKRAINE AND THE DEMOCRATIC WORLD ON THE WAY TO THE REINTEGRATION OF CRIMEA
Within the framework of these discussions, the participants spoke about the vision of the situation in which Ukraine is on the way to the liberation of Crimea and the occupied parts of the Black and Azov Seas, the issues of reintegration of the peninsula, the steps that are being taken and the initiatives that need to be worked out.
In addition, within the framework of the Eve of the Third Summit of the International Crimean Platform, a special event of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people “Ensuring the rights of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples – the path to successful reintegration of Crimea” took place. The co-organizer of this event is also the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.
Panellists for this panel were:
- Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people
- Oliver Loode, Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2014-2016, Head of the Board of the NGO Uraliс
- Suleiman Mamutov, Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
- Eskender Bariiev, Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, coordinator of the working group Restoration of the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine – as a tool for the de-occupation of Crimea
- Rustem Umerov, Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine
- Olena Arabadzhi, Head of the Board of the National Cultural Society Jemaat (online)
- Viacheslav Lombroso, Head of the Krymchak community in Lviv (online)
- Moderator: Andrii Kulykov, journalist, presenter, co-founder and head of the board of Hromadske Radio in 2015-2022.
Refat Chubarov during his speech noted that the Crimean Tatars consider Ukraine a state that can guarantee the preservation and development of the Crimean Tatar people.
“The Crimean Tatars are a people who want to self-determine, to decide their own destiny. Crimean Tatars are realists in all directions. Including all their potential, including modern world trends and the role of the Ukrainian state, the Crimean Tatars found a very successful answer to the question – what is Crimea for Ukraine, and what is Ukraine for Crimea? We proceed from the fact that Ukraine is for Crimea the state that will be able to guarantee the preservation and development of the Crimean Tatar people”,- he explained.
“As a human rights worker, I no longer think in terms of discrimination, be it positive or negative. The main question is, are people’s rights protected? What rights do Crimean Tatars have as an indigenous population of Crimea, or any other indigenous peoples of Ukraine? Where there are rights, there are also obligations – Ukraine’s obligations to the Crimean Tatars, in particular”,- said Oliver Loode.
The expert stressed that the Crimean Tatars are an indigenous people, therefore, in accordance with current international law, they have the right to self-determination and all the rights and obligations that follow from this.
“This can inspire and push the indigenous peoples of Russia to something similar. This will definitely allow them to understand even more than they do while they understand that they live in a prison of peoples, in Russia, that they need to decolonize and protect their right to self-determination. … Therefore, if Ukraine really wants to “blow up” the state that is called the Russian Federation, then it is important to support the right of the Crimean Tatars to self-determination”,- he added.
Eskender Bariiev noted that the Crimean Tatar national movement had been fighting for the return to their homeland after deportation for more than 50 years.
“And since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea, the Crimean Tatar people have made up their minds. The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and to the entire Ukrainian people with a statement that clearly states that the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and the entire Crimean Tatar people support the sovereignty of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, despite the fact that at that time there was already an occupation. It was very important”,- Bariiev explained.
Speaking about the Law of Ukraine On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine, Bariiev noted that now it is very important that by-laws be adopted in Ukraine, so that this law is working, and not lying somewhere on the shelf. According to the calculations of the CTRC, 17 by-laws need to be developed – now there are only two that have been adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
“We are a state of law, and we need all this to be regulated at the legislative level and at the level of normative legal acts. Then we will really demonstrate that Ukraine is not an invader, that it is not trying to assimilate any peoples, and Ukraine is a liberator, a legal, democratic and European state. Ukraine is Crimea, and Ukraine can become an example for many countries in the world”,- he added.