Turkey’s Foreign Ministry: International community must do more to protect Crimean Tatars

"The persecution of Crimean Tatars gives cause for great concern. They have difficulties in obtaining education and meeting their religious needs. The international community must do more to protect them and their rights. The coordinated response of the international community will give efficiency and effectiveness," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Yavuz Selim Kiran said at a ministerial panel discussion "International Response to Human Rights Violations in the Temporarily Occupied Crimea, Ukraine" on February 23, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

Support for Crimean Tatars and non-recognition of the annexation is both a moral and a legal obligation, he stressed.

"This issue must remain a top priority on the global agenda. Therefore, we support the initiative to create the Crimean Platform. We hope that this initiative will increase international support," said the Turkish diplomat.

He reminded that Turkey had become a refuge for more than 3 million Crimean Tatars so the protection of their rights was very important for Turkey.

"Crimean Tatars have suffered a lot throughout their history. Their deportation was one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. After years of wandering, they were able to return home, but the 2014 annexation brought new suffering. The situation with respect for human rights is deteriorating, the leaders of the Crimean Tatar people cannot visit their homeland," said the Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey.

The Turkish diplomat also noted that the UN had not coped with many of the challenges that have arisen recently, including Russia's occupation of Crimea. He stressed that Turkey did not recognize the annexation of Crimea and advocated the restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As reported, on January 14, the European Court of Human Rights upheld Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia over human rights violations in the occupied Crimea.

Russia's planned armed aggression against Ukraine began on February 20, 2014 with a military operation by the Russian Armed Forces to seize part of Ukraine's territory - the Crimean Peninsula. Subsequently, Russian regular troops and Russian-led militants occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

As reported, the Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupying power and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea and its return to Ukraine.

The Crimean Platform is expected to operate at the level of heads of state and government, foreign ministers, in the dimension of inter-parliamentary cooperation and expert network.

The Crimean Platform is to be launched officially at an inaugural summit in Kyiv in 2021.

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