Paul
Goble
Staunton, August 21 – Ukrainian President
Petr Poroshenko has named Mustafa Cemilev to the new position of
plenipotentiary representative for Crimean Tatar affairs and charged him with “securing
the observation of the constitutional rights of the Crimean Tatar people as an
indigenous people of Ukraine” (grani.ru/Politics/World/Europe/Ukraine/m.232238.html).
Poroshenko’s decision
institutionalizes the Verkhovna Rada’s vote on March 20 declaring the Crimean
Tatars an indigenous people of Ukraine and underscores Kyiv’s commitment to
ending the illegal Russian occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula. It also gives
Cemilev, the longtime leader of the Crimean Tatars, new official standing.
Western governments should follow
Poroshenko’s action by articulating a non-recognition policy, officially
underlining that the international community does not recognize Russia’s illegal
occupation of Crimea by imposing restrictions on what Western officials can
travel there and on Western investment.
Moreover, thanks to what President
Poroshenko has done, such governments now have an official they can interact
with on Crimean Tatar affairs and thus have yet another means of making it
clear that Russian occupation is at odds with international law and with the
right of nations to self-determination.
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