Crimean Tatars: Call On Kyiv To Restore Their Rights
Congressional delegates, issuing a statement at the end of the three-day session,
accused Ukrainian authorities of disregarding the rights of Crimean Tatars,
who were deported en masse by Soviet leader Josef Stalin in 1944.
RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reported that congress member Timur Dagci was
among the voices calling for Kyiv to recognize the deportation as genocide:
"Our problem -- the problem of Stalin's genocide of the Crimean Tatar people
-- is an undeniable fact, so I believe all countries, the United Nations, and
the European Union will recognize it and will decide that it was indeed genocide,"
Dagci said.
Many Tatars have since returned to Crimea, but have been unable to reclaim valuable
land and property that was theirs before the deportations.
The Tatar Congress delegates called on the Council of Europe and the European
Union to make Ukraine's possible membership in the EU and World Trade Organization
contingent on their recognition of Crimean Tatar rights