Estonian Parliament recognised mass deportation of Crimean Tatars as genocide

Crimean Tatars wipe away their tears at a mourning rally on May 18, 2004 during the 60th anniversary of deportation of ethnic Tatars under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, in the Crimean capital of Simferopol, Ukraine. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP / Scanpix

Today, the Parliament of Estonia (Riigikogu) issued a Statement which commemorates the passing of 80 years from the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars and recognises it as an act of genocide.

At the final vote, 83 members of the Riigikogu supported the adoption of the Statement of the Riigikogu «On Recognising the Mass Deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as an Act of Genocide». The Statement was submitted by 54 members of the Riigikogu.

In the Statement, the Riigikogu strongly condemns the extermination and the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland on the Crimean Peninsula to the territories of Central Asia, which was planned and carried out by the totalitarian Soviet regime in March 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 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 the identity and erasing the historical and cultural heritage of the Crimean Tatars.

In the 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. The Riigikogu also calls on the international community to show solidarity with the Crimean Tatars and to continue to condemn the occupation and annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

The Riigikogu also requests the unconditional restoration of Ukraine’s national sovereignty over the territory occupied by the Russian Federation during the armed aggression that began in 2014, and underlines that Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine.

This is the nineth Statement that the Riigikogu has issued since the beginning of 2022 to condemn Russia’s actions and to express support to Ukraine. The Riigikogu has also adopted one Communication.

In the Statements, the Riigikogu has recognised 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 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, 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.