Eskender Bariiev, the Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre, member of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, said in an interview with the Espresso TV channel about the nine-year-old events when Russian occupants held an illegal referendum in Crimea.
“I had a principled position: I mentioned that a people who had been fighting a non-violent struggle for many years, based on international law, under no circumstances can support a country that violates the sovereignty of an entire state and violates international law,” he pointed out.
Bariiev said that the actions of the Crimean Tatar representative body and the entire Crimean Tatar people in those days were extremely important and significant.
Thus, on March 15, 2014, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, on its initiative, adopted an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the entire Ukrainian people. And due to this appeal, on March 20, 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine declared the Crimean Tatars the indigenous people of Crimea, and the Mejlis and Kurultai of the Crimean Tatars as representative bodies of the people.
Eskender Bariiev emphasized that the whole Crimean Tatar people, by boycotting the referendum, had clearly stated their position and their right to self-determination in accordance with international law. For example, in places of compact residence of Crimean Tatars, polling stations were either empty or closed.
“Indeed, I have the research of 2008-2013, according to which there were no more than 30% of Russian supporters in Crimea in 2014. Although the occupiers are constantly trying to propagate lies about the participation of more than 80% of the population,” he added.