Russia has turned Crimea into a military foothold for further invasion of Ukraine’s territory. The peninsula has become a land of fear, repression, and persecution of the Crimean Tatars, as well as a platform for expanding Russia’s influence over the Muslim world and manipulating Islamic rhetoric.
This statement comes from the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in an address to participants of the 51st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held in Istanbul.
“Russia has transformed Crimea — the historic land where the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, who practice Islam, were formed — into a military foothold for further full-scale invasion of the rest of Ukraine. Its militarization poses a threat to all countries in the Black Sea region,” the address states.
It notes that since the Russian occupation, Crimea has become a territory of fear where freedom of speech is absent, the Mejlis is banned, civic, cultural, and educational initiatives are suppressed, and the Crimean Tatar people have become the main target of political repression and persecution.
“The most cynical aspect is Russia’s attempt to use temporarily occupied Crimea as a platform to expand its influence in the Muslim world by manipulating Islamic rhetoric. In practice, all actions of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea aim to destroy the national, linguistic, cultural, and religious identity of the Crimean Tatars and erase their collective memory,” the address emphasizes.
The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people called on the participants of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers session to support the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, increase support and pressure on Russia as an aggressor state, respond actively and promptly to violations of human rights and the rights of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, demand that Russia revoke its decision to designate the Mejlis as an extremist organization and lift the ban on its activities, and to take direct part in events under the international Crimea Platform at government and parliamentary levels.
On June 21–22, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is meeting in Istanbul. The Ukrainian delegation, led by the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev and including the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, is participating in the OIC summit at the invitation of Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan.
