Yeni Vatan Newspaper, News Desk, Vienna, 16.March.2024
VIENNA. One of the three reliable and influential newspapers in the world The New Zurich Times, In the editions dated March 16, 2024, which coincided with the anniversary of the Russian occupation of Crimea contrary to international law. Chairman of the Crimean Tatar Assembly Refat Chuborav from Vienna with signed by Ivo Mijnssen included an interview.
Vienna-based Yeni Vatan Newspaper has prepared the Turkish translation of the news published in Neue Zürcher Zeitung on March 16, 2024 for you as follows:
New people of Zurich zeitung, 16.03.2024
Crimean Tatars Artillery shells used by Russia in the war
Since the occupation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea ten years ago on March 16, 2014, the ethnic group that was once dominant there has been subjugated.
“Crimea is a zone of fear,” Refat Chubarov said during our meeting in Vienna. He has been the chairman of the Crimean Tatar Assembly, the political representation of the Crimean Tatars, for ten years. He lives in exile in Ukraine, having been displaced and politically persecuted since the peninsula was annexed by Russia.
Crimean Tatars were in Crimea centuries before the Russians
According to Moscow, Chubarov is an extreme case because Chubarov never recognized and publicly protested Russia’s occupation of his homeland, Crimea. Insisting on the right of his people to democratic self-determination, 66-year-old Chubarov pointed out that Crimean Tatars were in Crimea centuries before the Russians and even had their own state from time to time. Chuborov said at the CSCE meeting in Vienna that his homeland Crimea has become a military camp of the Russian army since the annexation. The politician’s family history seems to be a mirror of the recent past of his people: Chubarov’s parents founded their own village in 1944. Ai-Seres’ten He was exiled to Uzbekistan 80 years ago.
Stalin’s clan detention
Stalin accused the Crimean Tatars of collaborating with the German Wehrmacht and deported approximately 200,000 of them to the East. More than a tenth of the Crimean people transported in cattle wagons died soon after, primarily in Uzbekistan and other countries from which they came. This virtually ended the centuries-long existence of a Crimean people in Crimea as the Russification of the Crimean peninsula progressed.
In 1967, Crimean Tatars in Russia were acquitted of charges of mass treason. However, only a few, including Chubarov’s family, were allowed to return. He had to leave his homeland again to study. However, 22 years later, then-Kremlin leader Gorbachev allowed the majority of the ethnic group to return to their homes. However, they were not allowed to return to their homes in Crimea, which have since been taken over by others. During Russia’s annexation of Crimea on March 16, 2014, 266,000 Crimean Tatars, including Chubarov, began to live again in the Crimean peninsula. Crimea enjoyed autonomy as part of independent Ukraine.
“But we had a complicated relationship with the Ukrainians,” recalls Crimean Parliament Speaker Chubarov, adding: “Kiev has always been skeptical about the special rights granted to the majority-Russian peninsula. There was also distrust towards Crimean Tatars, who made up 12 percent of the population and spoke Turkish. Many Ukrainian politicians were afraid that we would regain our power and flee to Turkey with our Crimea.“
Moscow troops 16.March. When he invaded Crimea in 2014, a tense but democratic period for Crimean Tatars came to an abrupt end.
The so-called “plebiscite”
It led to its annexation by Russia in 2004. The Crimean Tatar Parliament boycotted the vote in violation of international law. Since then, the occupying Russians have been resolutely persecuting the political activities of the Crimean Tatar minority in Crimea/ The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe noted in his 2023 report that there has been a “major deterioration in the human rights situation of the Crimean Tatars” in the last decade. The ban of Parliament in 2016 was just the tip of the iceberg. All non-governmental organizations and independent media also disappeared in Crimea. They were replaced by the Russian propaganda machine.
A weapon against those who are disturbed
In Crimea, the program of Russian patriotism, characterized by ideology and militarism, is now taught in schools. 14 Crimean schools on the peninsula remain open. However, Chubarov vividly explains that the invaders deliberately placed Russian families in these schools and defended their right to receive education in their own language, and adds: Previously, Crimean Tatar was spoken in every lesson. Now there is a Tatar Turkish language lesson for 45 minutes a week.”
There is also open pressure in Crimea. There are 200 political prisoners in Russian prisons in Crimea. Two-thirds of them are Tatars, and in recent years 13 members of the national community have disappeared without a trace. Chubarov received a report from an acquaintance about another raid on ten people.
Russia suspects these individuals of engaging in terrorist activities – a widely used crime with dramatic consequences: Anyone convicted by politically active courts receives a swift prison sentence of thirteen years or more. Chubarov reads a Facebook post of a relative of the detainees as follows during our interview: “If you think that the occupation will not affect you, you are wrong. It’s just a matter of time before they come for you and take everything away.”
“We are cannonballs”
Russia’s major attack on Ukraine in February 2022 and especially the partial mobilization in the autumn of the same year made the situation in Crimea even more difficult. Residents of the currently occupied Crimean territories were among the first groups recruited into the army. Among Crimean Tatars alone, more than 40,000 male soldiers have been called up from Crimea since 2014. Chubarov, „For the authorities, this is the best way to get rid of people they consider disloyal. We are cannonballs.” said.
Chubarov says 6,000 Crimean Tatars fled with their families at the end of 2022 to avoid serving in the army. Because many of their Ukrainian passports had expired, they traveled through Kazakhstan, which accepted them. From there, they were able to contact the Ukrainian Embassy and the Crimean Tatar Parliament. According to the European Council’s report, some returned because there was no new wave of mobilization. Now they are the target of Russian raids.
Chubarov complains that those serving in the Russian army are now being forced to take up arms against their own country, Ukraine. Partisan group that provided information to the Ukrainian secret service and carried out attacks in Crimea, especially last year Ates There was news about it. However, Chubarov believes that these reports are exaggerated. “This is more symbolic and important for morale,” says the Crimean Tatar.
Chubarov said, “Russians are watching almost every centimeter, so a major activity is not possible.” He said, “Today, he sees that his ethnic group is stuck between hope and despair. Ukraine’s attacks on the Black Sea Fleet and military bases in Crimea are truly brave. But the ten-year occupation left its traces. Some people told themselves that everything was not so bad, that the Russians were building roads and kindergartens, even if they were aimed at the needs of the army. Many things are legitimized this way. Wrong. But I believe that when freedom comes, people will find their true faces again.” ( NZZ, news, 16.03.2024
2024-03-16 12:55:57