MFA commemorated victims of genocide of Crimean Tatar people
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars.
According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the Crimean Tatar national flag with a mourning ribbon was raised in front of the building of the department.
The participants of the ceremony also honoured the memory of the victims of deportation with a minute of silence.
"This is not the first time we have raised this flag near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And we will raise it as many times as necessary, until the moment when we move this ceremony to Crimea. This flag will be raised in Crimea, including on the flagpole near the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in Crimea. This day will definitely come," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
In the photo: Mustafa Dzhemilev, Dmytro Kuleba, Tamila Tasheva, Refat Chubarov
The leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev, reminded that the crime of 1944 had catastrophic consequences for his people: "The survivors of this genocide have been fighting for decades to return to their homeland, to restore their legal rights. During this struggle, hundreds and thousands of people were subjected to repression by the Soviet regime. Many of our people spent their youth in Soviet prisons and camps."
Dzhemilev added that he always emphasises: "The biggest help that the Crimean Tatars need now is Ukraine's help in defeating the enemy. I firmly believe in Ukraine's victory over the enemy, because without this, the Crimean Tatar people have no future."
The Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Tamila Tasheva called to honour the memory of those who died during the deportation on 18 May by writing a letter to political prisoners (218 of them now), tying a mourning ribbon, or to friends in Crimea.
On 18 May 1944, Stalin ordered the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea to Central Asia. About 200,000 people were deported in railway freight cars. The crime of deportation resulted in numerous victims. Within a few days, an entire nation was deprived of its homeland. Thousands of people died in the death trains and in special settlements. Entire families were destroyed.
The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People is celebrated annually on 18 May, the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944. It was established on 12 November 2015 by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The same resolution recognised the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea as an act of genocide.
As reported by Ukrinform, on 8 May this year, the Verkhovna Rada adopted an Appeal to the governments and parliaments of foreign countries, international organisations, and parliamentary assemblies in connection with the 80th anniversary of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944.