Paul
Goble
Staunton, April 19 – In a
demonstration of principled toughness, Mustafa Cemilev, the longtime leader of
the Crimean Tatars and a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, has very publicly
returned to his homeland after declaring
that he remains a Ukrainian citizen and that some in Moscow are thinking about
a new deportation of his people.
Cemilev arrived in Akmesjit (Simeropil)
from Kyiv Friday night. With him were Refat Chubarov, the chairman of the
Crimean Tatar Mejlis, and Omer Kyrymly, the deputy chairman of that body. They were detained by border guards of the
Russian occupation forces for 40 minutes but then allowed to proceed (qha.com.ua/mustafa-djemilev-pribil-v-krim-135222.html).
Prior to leaving
the Ukrainian capital, Cemilev denounced what he described as the ever more
frequent manifestation of “chauvinist” attitudes in Crimea against the Crimean
Tatars and FSB officers in Moscow who hope to promote a new deportation either
officially or by creating unbearable conditions for his people (hromadske.tv/politics/dzhemilyev-bilshist-fsbshnikiv-----pribichniki-dep/
and pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2014/04/19/7023011/).
He said that
some ethnic Russians had asked Crimean Tatars “When are you leaving? ... I want
to move into your apartment,” adding that since the Russian occupation, “children
are beginning to attack Crimean Tatars especially if they speak their
[national] language.”
It is not clear what will happen
next, but Cemilev’s return undoubtedly encourages members of his own nation and
shows how leaders committed to democracy and human rights can and should behave
in the face of repression and threats.
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