09 October 2024

Art Exhibition QIRIM İÇÜN / For Crimea Opens in the Estonian Parliament

Today, the art exhibition QIRIM İÇÜN / For Crimea, dedicated to the complex history of the Crimean Tatar people—one of Ukraine’s Indigenous Peoples—was opened at the Riigikogu, the Parliament of Estonia. The exhibition’s opening coincides with yesterday’s submission of a draft statement to the Riigikogu, marking the 80th anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars and recognizing this atrocity as an act of genocide.

The opening event in Estonia was attended by the Speaker of the Riigikogu, Lauri Hussar, and the Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson. Ukraine’s Ambassador to Estonia, Maksym Kononenko, delivered a speech, and the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, addressed the participants via video message:

“Your people know firsthand that Russians never acknowledge their crimes. Just as they have not acknowledged the occupation of the Baltic countries in the 1940s, nor the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars as genocide, today they do not acknowledge their crimes in the occupied territories of Ukraine. And if the world does not speak out loudly about these horrific crimes, if it does not call things by their proper names, if it forgives and turns a blind eye to the past abuses by the Russians, these atrocities will repeat again and again,” stressed Tamila Tasheva.

The art project QIRIM İÇÜN / For Crimea takes visitors on a journey through the long history of the Crimean Tatar people, with the 1944 deportation being one of the key events. During this period, the Soviet authorities forcibly deported nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars to Central Asia and the Urals, where tens of thousands perished. For decades, Crimean Tatars were deprived of the right to return to their homeland, and their culture was subjected to harsh russification. Russia continues this policy today, trying to erase the identity of Crimean Tatars and destroy their cultural heritage.

The exhibition allows visitors to trace the path of the Crimean Tatar people, from their origins to their ongoing struggle for the right to live on their native land. Among the exhibits are sketches by Ukrainian artist Anton Logov, illustrating key moments in Crimean Tatar history, the deportation diary Paradise Butterflies, works by artists Asan Barash and Rustem Eminov, and portraits of Crimean Tatar servicemen. The exhibition also showcases elements of Crimean Tatar culture, reflecting both their past and present.

This art project was first presented during a solemn event at the Mission on the eve of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide in May 2024. The exhibition was organized with the support of the Partnership for a Resilient  Ukraine Fund and the British Embassy Kyiv.

The opening at the Riigikogu was organized by the Crimea Platform Office in cooperation with the Parliament of Estonia and the Embassy of Ukraine in Estonia. Special thanks go to all partners involved in this initiative, including the State Enterprise “Crimean House,” the Congress of Ukrainians in Estonia, TRO Media, the media initiative Crimea Daily, and the Crimean Tatar restaurant Musafir.