Turkey following developments regarding detention of Crimean Tatars, expects their release

Turkey is monitoring the recent developments regarding the detention of First Deputy Speaker of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Celal and four other Crimean Tatars, and expects their release as soon as possible.

This was said in a statement by Ambassador Tanju Bilgiç, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ukrinform reports.

"We are following the developments with concern and expect that Nariman Celal and the four other Crimean Tatars detained with him will return to their homes and families as soon as possible," the spokesperson said.

As Ukrinform reported, on September 3 and 4, Russian occupation authorities in Crimea conducted mass raids in Crimean Tatar households and made a number of detentions. In particular, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Celal and four other Crimean Tatars – Aziz Akhtemov, Asan Akhmetov, Shevket Useinov, and Eldar Odamanov – were detained. Their whereabouts were unknown to their relatives, lawyers, or human rights defenders. On September 4, relatives of the missing and lawyers gathered near the FSB building in Simferopol. More than 40 people were detained trying to find out the whereabouts of five Crimean Tatars.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed a strong protest in connection with the repeated illegal searches and detentions in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

The Ukrainian government called the Kremlin’s move a reaction to the launch of the Crimea Platform initiative, and demanded that all detainees be immediately released.

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