On Monday, May 15, at the Ukrinform news agency, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center held a press conference as part of the #LIBERATECRIMEA information campaign dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people.
Speakers were:
Eskender Bariiev – Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, head of the Department for Legal and Foreign Affairs of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people;
Tetiana Podvorniak – Communications Manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center;
Refat Chubarov – Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
During the press conference, the experts reminded the Ukrainian community about the terrible crime against humanity – the genocide of the entire Crimean Tatar people in 1944. They also drew parallels with modern events in 2022, when the Russian Federation actually continues the practice of the Soviet Union and carries out genocide of the entire Ukrainian people.
“Today we commemorate the 79th anniversary of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people, but we are all now witnesses of the genocide of the Ukrainian people, which is being committed by the Russian Federation now. Unfortunately, all the methods of the occupants remained the same: deportation, arrests, rape, special settlements. The Russian Federation is trying to completely destroy Ukraine”,- said Eskender Bariiev.
Bariiev noted that if the world condemned the genocide of the Crimean Tatars in a timely manner, history might not repeat itself. Therefore, now we need to actively work on this in order to show the Russian Federation that it will definitely pay for its crimes that it committed in Ukraine.
Tetiana Podvorniak presented all the visual and information products that were prepared for the 79th anniversary of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people as part of the #LIBERATECRIMEA information campaign. A representative of the CTRC demonstrated the test “What do you know about the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide”, posters, infographics, videos.
“We decided to form our information campaign based on the parallels of two historical events: the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944 and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thus, we emphasize that these were indeed different eras, but the perpetrator remained the same. This was the result of impunity for the crime in 1944”,-Tetiana Podvorniak explained.
The posters and the test developed as part of the #LIBERATECRIMEA awareness campaign can be found on the landing page.
In addition, Refat Chubarov informed about the events dedicated to this date around the world, which will be held by the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and public organizations.
Let us recall that earlier the Crimean Tatar Resource Center presented a new information campaign #LIBERATECRIMEA, which is designed to raise the level of awareness of the population of Ukraine about the situation in the occupied Crimea.
The #LIBERATECRIMEA campaign was presented by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center as part of its project implemented under the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact. The contents of this campaign are the sole responsibility of Pact and its implementing partners and do not necessary reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.