Crimean Tatars: OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Arrives
Chairman of the Crimean Parliament said during the meeting, this fact proves close attention of the OSCE to social adaptation of national minorities in Crimea.
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Rolf Ekeus arrived in Simferopol, Crimea, “Cabinet’s press office” reported.
As Chairman of the Crimean Parliament Anatoliy Gritsenko said during the meeting, this fact proves close attention of the OSCE to social adaptation of national minorities in Crimea and new historical realties.
According to the Crimean Speaker, over the years of Ukraine's independence, the Crimean-Tatar population on the peninsular grew 6.4 times, now the share of Crimean Tatars in the Crimean population amounts to 12 percent (some 250,000 persons), while in 1989 this figure stood at 1.2 percent mark.
According to the Speaker, some 100,000 Crimean Tatars live outside Crimea, some 20,000 of them in Ukrainian regions and the rest in Uzbekistan. Annually, 2,000 - 4,000 Crimean Tatars return to Crimea. As it is forecasted, the repatriation process will take 10 to 12 years. As of this date, some 300 townships of compact residence of deported citizens are situated in Crimea, six of these are Bulgarian, Greek, Armenian and German settlements, other of Crimean Tatars.
