Member of the European Parliament, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Anna Fotyga raised the issue of genocide of the Crimean Tatar people due to the Russian occupation of Crimea

Anna Fotyga, a Polish politician and member of the European Parliament, wrote an article on the European news website EurActiv in which she highlighted the historical crime committed by the Russians against the Crimean Tatars and drew parallels with the present, summarizing that since the beginning of the Russian occupation in 2014, Crimea has become an epicenter of human rights violations, where Russia continues its policy of persecution and repression, especially against the indigenous people of Ukraine — the Crimean Tatars.

The European Parliamentarian emphasized: “For many nations in Europe and Asia, no other country has brought as much sorrow and suffering as Russia. This state has distorted and maimed the countless individuals and nations. Russia’s continued existence depends on its ability to expand. From the Vistula, the Baltic Sea, and the Danube in the west, to the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Central Asia in the south, to the Far East in the east, the peoples inhabiting these territories have been in a state of constant fear for the last 400 years due to the ongoing threat of Moscow’s aggression, occupation, colonization, and  even complete ethnic genocide”.

Ms. Anna drew parallels between Russia’s repetition of its genocidal expansionist policies on the same lands in the 18th century and today: “Moscow first deprived the Crimean Tatars of their state territories, and then of their statehood on the Crimean Peninsula and the adjacent regions. These territories are currently witnessing fierce battles for Ukrainian independence.. In the late 18th century, Crimean Tatars, along with Poles and Ukrainians, fell into the hands of Russian imperialism, and the first thing Moscow did was strike at the historical memory of these peoples. The blow to the Crimean Tatars was so profound that by the end of the 19th century, they were on the brink of total extinction”.

The politician emphasized the importance of the Crimean Tatars in the history of Crimea. The Russian invaders are trying to physically eliminate them, to destroy their presence in Crimea to somehow legitimize the illegal Russian occupation of the peninsula. “Even the microscopic presence of Crimean Tatars on the Crimean Peninsula was viewed as an existential, ideological, and historical threat for the Kremlin. Putin’s words were not accidental when he said that Crimea is a sacred place for all of Russia. However,  it is based on historical lies and omits the fact that less than 6 percent of Crimea’s written history belongs to the Russian chapter” — the politician wrote, stressing that this short period continued with the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people, which continues today under the Russian occupation of Crimea.

The Member of the European Parliament spoke about the crime of the Moscow regime — the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, during which half of the Crimean Tatar people died. In addition, Ms. Fotyga mentioned the attempts to rewrite the history of Crimea, to erase its true identity by renaming Crimean Tatar toponyms, destruction of cultural monuments, etc. Anna Fotyga also urged: “We need to say it loudly: Moscow committed genocide on the Crimean Tatars in 1944.”

In conclusion, Mrs. Anna stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian aggressor. “Our obligations under the genocide convention require our strong support to Crimean Tatars. It can be argued that the only way to prevent Russia from repeating the crime of genocide is for Crimea to be returned to Ukraine. The liberation of Crimea must be the principal objective of our goals for Ukraine’s victory and we must recognise that this is already underway.  Russia’s aggression against Ukraine started with Crimea and cannot be won until Crimea’s liberation” — the politician concluded.

The full article is available here: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/russia-repeats-genocide-on-crimean-tatars/