Twenty years ago, on May 17-18, 1999, nearly 35,000 Crimean Tatars gathered in the Crimean capital city of Symferopol to mark the 55th anniversary of their forced relocation to Central Asia by the order of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1944. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the forced deportation.
In 1944, nearly half a million Crimean Tatars were marched onto train cars and deported to Uzbekistan based on Soviet accusations of being Nazi collaborators. This was a false accusation and a means to ethnically cleanse the Crimean peninsula of Crimean Tatars and repopulate the area with relocated Russians.
Protesters carried signs that read, “Deportation – the Most Horrible Crime” and “We Demand the Right to Live.” Protesters demanded inclusion into Ukraine’s political and economic processes, as well as simpler citizenship procedures, teaching of the Crimean Tatar language in their schools and changes to the Crimean Constitution to protect the rights of Crimean Tatars. The gathering demanded that the Crimean Tatar flag be hoisted atop the government building and that it, along with the Ukrainian and Crimean flags, be set at half-mast during the two-day mourning vigil.
During the protests, three Crimean Tatars were severely beaten by the local police, said Remse Ablaiev, a Mejlis representative. Following the brief altercation, the demonstration continued peacefully.
Tension was high in anticipation of the protest, but President Leonid Kuchma and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko flew to Symferopol the day of the protest to meet with Tatar leaders to defuse the situation. Other officials who addressed the protesters were Vice-Prime Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Valerii Smolii, National Deputies Hennadii Udovenko and Mykola Horbal, and Chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers Serhii Kunitsyn.
Later that day, demonstrators gathered for the unveiling of a monument to Soviet dissident and war hero Gen. Petro Grigorenko, a bust of whom had already been erected in Soviet Square, near the city center of Symferopol. Gen. Grigorenko was a founder of the Helsinki monitoring groups in Moscow and Kyiv who avidly supported the rights of Crimean Tatars. The unveiling ceremony was attended by Gen. Grigorenko’s son, Andriy. Prayers were offered by Crimean Tatar Mufti Hadzhi Nuriefeni and a representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate.
Although the demands of the Crimean Tatars were not met, Mustafa Dzhemilev, leader of the Crimean Tatar National Assembly, the Mejlis, said the talks had offered hope. “Unfortunately, yesterday’s meeting with President Leonid Kuchma did not have the intended result. Although we wanted recognition for the Mejlis as the consultative body of the Crimean Tatar nation under the president, all that was agreed to was a consultative committee to look into the matter.”
By 1999, nearly 271,000 Tatars had returned to the Crimean peninsula, most of them settling around Symferopol and in Bakhchesarai, their historic former capital. There were no Crimean Tatar schools, and barriers had been put in place prevent them from attaining Ukrainian citizenship. Only half of the 271,000 Tatars had obtained Ukrainian citizenship in the years since they began returning to Ukraine after renewed independence in 1991.
Without citizenship, Tatars were prevented from taking part in elections. Crimean Tatars continue to be represented in the Verkhonova Rada by Mr. Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov, who were originally elected because they were placed high on the Rukh Party list.
Although many of the demonstrators had dispersed after the two-day protest in May 1999, more than 100 leaders remained and constructed a tent city, where they planned to live for at least a week or until they saw that their demands were being considered.
Source: “35,000 Crimean Tatars demonstrate in Symferopol,” by Roman Woronowycz, The Ukrainian Weekly, May 23, 1999.