Protest rally against occupation of Crimea held in Istanbul

"A protest rally against the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by Russia took place in Istanbul," the Consulate General of Ukraine in Istanbul reports.

The protest, attended by the representatives of Crimean Tatar, Turkic and Ukrainian unions, was organized by the Crimean Tatar Center in Istanbul.

The rally participants were holding the posters "Yesterday Stalin, today Putin", "Stop crime of Kremlin, return the stolen", "Crimean Tatars will not surrender" and others.

The activists also protested against the closedown of the ATR Crimean Tatar TV channel.

“At risk. The only Crimean Tatar TV channel under threat of closedown,” one of the posters said.

“For six years, our compatriots have been hard pressed as they have no opportunity to observe their customs, to freely profess their religion, to study in their language. Now the Crimean Tatars living in Crimea are being persecuted because of their nationality and religion,” Ukrainian Cultural Society correspondent Aliya Usenova wrote in a publication about the rally.

As reported, Ukraine will continue to pursue legal action against Russia in the international courts to bring it to justice for actions in Crimea and Donbas.

Photos: facebook.com/CGUinIstanbul

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