MPs propose to recognize mass deportation of Crimean Tatars as act of genocide

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Crimean Tatar human rights activist Mustafa Dzhemilev attending the unveiling of the Memorial to the victims of deportation carried out by Soviet authorities in 1944, in Kyiv, Ukraine, 11 September 2024. Photo: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT / EPA / Scanpix

The chairman of the Riigikogu foreign affairs committee, Marko Mihkelson, on Tuesday submitted to the Riigikogu a draft statement on behalf of 54 MPs marking the passage of 80 years since the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars and recognizing it as an act of genocide.

The draft statement strongly condemns the extermination and the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland on the Crimean peninsula to Central Asia, which was planned and carried out by the totalitarian Soviet regime in 1944. Around 200,000 Crimean Tatars were deported. Tens of thousands of them perished. The entire nation lost their homeland and was subjected to brutal Russification for decades. The prohibition to return to homeland was lifted only in November 1989.

The draft statement underlines that in Crimea, which was occupied in 2014, the Russian Federation is continuing the policy of genocide pursued by the Soviet Union against the Crimean Tatars, with the aim of destroying their identity and erasing the historical and cultural heritage of Crimean Tatars.

According to the draft statement, the Riigikogu condemns the continuation of the policy of genocide against Crimean Tatars through systematic detention, torture, kidnapping and the prohibition to learn and use their native language. In addition, the Riigikogu calls on the international community to show solidarity with Crimean Tatars and to continue to condemn the occupation and annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

The members of the Riigikogu also request the unconditional restoration of Ukraine's national sovereignty over the territory occupied by the Russian Federation as a result of the armed aggression that began in 2014, and underline that Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine.

The foreign affairs committee will discuss the sending of the draft statement to the plenary of the Riigikogu for debate and voting on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, the speaker of the Riigikogu, Lauri Hussar, and the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, Marko Mihkelson, will open an exhibition on the history of Crimean Tatars, titled "QIRIM İÇÜN / IN THE NAME OF CRIMEA," in the second floor gallery of the building of the Riigikogu.

The exhibition has been prepared in cooperation with the embassy of Ukraine in Estonia, and representatives of the Embassy and the Ukrainian community will attend the opening. Permanent representative of the president of Ukraine in Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, will deliver an online address.

Since the beginning of 2022, the Riigikogu has adopted eight statements and one communication to condemn Russia's activities and to express support to Ukraine. The Riigikogu has also recognized the actions committed by the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the military aggression against Ukraine as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian nation, and has declared Russia a terrorist regime and the Russian Federation a state sponsor of terrorism, whose actions must be confronted together. The Riigikogu has also supported the establishment of a center for investigating Russia's crime of aggression by the European Union in The Hague, called on the countries of the world to contribute in every way to the activities of the center, and to continue with efforts to set up an international special tribunal.

The Riigikogu has supported Ukraine's wish to become a member of NATO, requested holding to account individually those involved in planning, preparation, launching and committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine, and called on establishing for this a special international tribunal under the auspices of the UN. In February this year, the plenary of the Riigikogu adopted a Statement in which it condemned the deliberate and systematic deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia in violation of international law, and demanded the release of such children and the ensuring of their safe return to Ukraine.