16 October 2024

Estonian Parliament Recognizes the 1944 Deportation of the Crimean Tatar People as an Act of Genocide

Today, the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia (Riigikogu) approved a statement recognizing the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by the Soviet regime in 1944 as an act of genocide. 83 MPs of the Riigikogu supported the statement.

The statement condemns the mass extermination of Crimean Tatars and their forced deportation from the Crimean Peninsula. The document also emphasizes that, since the occupation of Crimea in 2014, the Russian Federation has continued the policy of genocide against Crimean Tatars, aimed at destroying their identity.

The statement calls on parliamentarians to condemn the continuation of crimes against Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea, which persist today through systematic arrests, torture, abductions, and bans on studying and using the Crimean Tatar language. It also calls on the international community to demonstrate solidarity and continue condemning the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

The Mission initiated and actively worked on the recognition of the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars as an act of genocide in the Republic of Estonia. Working meetings were held with Estonian MPs Mati Raidma and Marko Mihkelson, during which the illegal persecution and repression of Crimean Tatars by Russia and the need to recognize the 1944 deportation as genocide were discussed. As part of the preparations for the Parliamentary Summit of the Crimea Platform, the Mission initiated an inter-parliamentary meeting between the Riigikogu and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, where several issues regarding cooperation were also discussed. The Mission provided informational materials, including videos highlighting the tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people, and organized the exhibition QIRIM İÇÜN / FOR CRIMEA in the Riigikogu, which details the history of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people’s struggle for their right to live on their native land.

This year marks 80 years since the Soviet regime committed genocide by deporting the entire Crimean Tatar population from the Crimean Peninsula. Previously, the deportation was recognized as an act of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people by Ukraine in 2015, Latvia and Lithuania in 2019, the House of Commons of Canada in 2022, and Poland in 2024.

Estonia reaffirms its support for Ukraine and consistently participates actively at all levels of the Crimea Platform, demonstrating its unwavering stance on restoring the territorial integrity of our state.

We thank the Estonian parliamentarians who initiated and supported this process, and we would like to extend special thanks to Dmytro Teperik, an expert of the Council on Cognitive De-occupation of Crimea, for accompanying this process.

We are also grateful to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Estonia for their coordinated efforts.

We urge the parliaments of other countries to join the Republic of Estonia and also begin the process of recognizing the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars as an act of genocide.

Elagu Eesti! Glory to Ukraine!