Estonian Parliament Says Stalin’s Deportation of Crimean Tatars was a Genocide and that Moscow is Continuing that Crime Against Humanity in Russian Occupied Crimea

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 16 – On the occasion of the 80^th anniversary of Stalin’s deportation of 200,000 Crimean Tatars from their homeland, the Estonian parliament voted overwhelmingly to denounce that action and point out to the world that Putin is continuing that policy in Russian-occupied Crimea.

            The Riigikogu condemned the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars during which many of them died and from which they were able to return only in November 1989 (rus.err.ee/1609492547/rijgikogu-priznal-massovuju-deportaciju-krymskih-tatar-genocidom and riigikogu.ee/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Zayavlenie-Rijgikogu-Priznanie-massovoj-deportatsii-krymskih-tatar-1944-goda-aktom-genotsida-RU.pdf).

            But it went further and declared that the Russian Federation is continuing this act of genocide since it occupied Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, demanded that this criminal policy be ended and said that the territorial integrity of Ukraine must be restored there and elsewhere as well.

            The Estonian deputies called on the international community to show solidarity with the Crimean Tatars and continue to denounce the annexation of Crimea that has been carried out by the Russian Federation, the continuing genocide of the Crimean Tatar nation, and the restoration of their land.

            This is the ninth Riigikogu declaration about Ukraine since Putin began his expanded war there in February 2022. In these others, the Estonian parliament condemned Russia for its genocide against the Ukrainian people and declared that Moscow under Putin is a terrorist regime.

            The Estonian parliament also has spoken out in favor of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO and the bringing before an international tribunal all those Russian officials responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

            The Estonian deputies have thus shown more courage than their counterparts in other Western countries even though Estonia shares a common border with the Russian Federation and many observers say that it could be Putin’s next target for invasion if he succeeds in defeating Ukraine.