Crimean Tatars protest policy denying them right to vote (03/29/98)

Crimean Tatars protest policy denying them right to vote

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - A protest by Crimean Tatars in Crimea on March 24 turned violent after they received word that the Verkhovna Rada had failed to pass a law giving their non-citizens the right to vote.

Eighteen police officers were hospitalized as the demonstrators first broke windows at the Communist Party city headquarters and then squared off with police units at the city's train station.

The Presidential Administration criticized the Verkhovna Rada action but said the response by demonstrators was not justified. "The Verkhovna Rada has planted a bomb in Crimea," said Yevhen Kushniarov, President Leonid Kuchma's chief of staff. "The Crimean Tatars are part of the Ukrainian state, and if they are not given some access to the electoral process huge problems could arise."

He added that the government did not, however, support "the manner in which they are asserting their rights."

More than 6,000 Crimean Tatars gathered and marched in and around the capital of Ukraine's autonomous southern peninsula throughout the day to demand the adoption of a law on the status of Crimean Tatars and for the participation of all Tatar residents, including those who have not yet attained Ukrainian citizenship, in national elections to the Verkhovna Rada.

Crimean Tatars have been returning since 1992 to Crimea from Uzbekistan, where they were deported by Stalin in 1946. Although many have renounced their Uzbek citizenship and have registered as residents in their localities, they have not taken Ukrainian citizenship because of the prohibitively expensive 100 hrv fee that is attached.

Of Crimea's 200,000 Tatars, about 20,000 have renounced Uzbek citizenship but have yet to become citizens of Ukraine.

The protesting Tatars gathered in the morning hours of March 24 in several places, including the city square in Symferopol and on the highways from the city leading to Yalta and to Bakhchiserai, where they blocked traffic and where several incidents between motorists and demonstrators were reported.

At approximately 1 p.m., when news broke that Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada had failed to approve a bill that would grant voting rights to Tatars who had given up their Uzbek citizenships and had registered as permanent residents of Ukraine, the protesters began to converge on the Communist Party city headquarters. There they hurled snowballs at the party's office windows, tore up newsstands and kiosks, and shouted obscenities at party officials in the building.

After being dispersed by police, the demonstrators regrouped at the Symferopol train station where they battled with militia. Scores of law enforcement officers were injured and hospitalized before the protest broke up.

The Crimean Tatars blame the Communist Party of Ukraine for blocking several attempts to give them voting rights. The Tatars are most closely aligned with the Rukh Party and are generally anti-Communist.

Nadir Bekirov, a member of the Tatar government council, the Mejlis, told the newspaper Den that the civil disturbance was a direct result of the Verkhovna Rada's failure to pass the bill on Crimean Tatar voting rights, for which he blamed the Communists. "It is a reaction of the people to the behavior of the Communist faction in Parliament," said Mr. Bekirov.

Ironically, on a day when most national deputies were electioneering in their districts, the real reason that the law was not passed this time was that merely 234 parliamentarians were registered as present, with only about one-third of that actually in the session hall. With 226 votes needed for passage, the final vote was 146 for and one against.

Mr. Kushniarov, chief of staff to President Kuchma, said the president has the authority to give the Crimean Tatars the right to vote by executive decree, and that he was considering such a move prior to the March 29 elections.

Mustafa Jemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatars, called for more demonstrations on March 28 if the Tatar demands are not met.