Ukraine has called on the international community to prevent a recurrence of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people who were forcefully deported 70 years ago, according to a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the occasion of the International Day of World`s Indigenous People.
”We appeal to the international community to condemn the actions of the occupying authorities, make all the necessary efforts to protect the Crimean Tatars from discrimination and harassment on the part of the Russian Federation, and prevent the recurrence of genocide of the Crimean Tatar people who experienced the tragedy of forced deportation 70 years ago,” the document stated.
According to the department, Ukraine guarantees the preservation and development of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identities of all national minorities of the country, and in particular, assures the protection and realization of the inalienable rights of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination as part of a sovereign and independent Ukrainian state. It also recognizes the Mejlis and the executive body of Kurultai as the authority of the Crimean Tatar people.
In addition, Ukraine once again notes that systematic pressure on the Crimean Tatar people, their repression on a national level and the organization of ethnically and politically motivated persecution in the temporarily occupied parts of the territory, starting from the date of temporary occupation of Crimea, is a conscious policy of ethnocide of the Crimean Tatar people, the statement said.
”We are confident that all those responsible for the occupation and unlawful attempt to annex Crimea, as well as the systematic and widespread human rights` violations on Ukrainian temporarily occupied territory, will be held accountable,” the statement noted.
Ukraine will continue to make every effort to complete de-occupation of the territory of Crimea and restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and therefore, calls on partners to increase their pressure on the country-occupier, the document highlighted.
