Permanent Representative/Head of the Crimea Platform Office Tamila Tasheva spoke at the opening of the Days of Crimea in Turkey, which took place at Istanbul Polytechnic University

Permanent Representative/Head of the Crimea Platform Office Tamila Tasheva spoke at the opening of the Days of Crimea in Turkey, which took place at Istanbul Polytechnic University. The event was organized jointly by the Crimean House, the Crimean Family NGO, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Istanbul, as well as partners from Turkey.

In her speech Tamila Tasheva stressed that the issue of compromises on territorial integrity is unacceptable for Ukraine.

“The Russian Federation is using the occupied Crimea as a springboard to attack mainland Ukraine. Therefore, to protect human rights, in particular of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, who are related to the Turkish people, we must expel the occupier from the peninsula. Our military and political leadership has repeatedly stated that we cannot compromise on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Therefore, the victory of Ukraine is the return of all its territories”.

Tamila Tasheva also thanked Turkey for its active participation in the activities of the Crimea Platform, support of the “Grain Initiative” and assistance to the indigenous Crimean Tatar people of Ukraine, and expressed gratitude to the President of Turkey Recep Erdogan for his participation in the Second Summit of the Crimea Platform.

“The Ukrainian state is implementing systematic steps to support the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, who have historically formed and lived on the Crimean peninsula. It is also about the legislative level, as we managed to develop and adopt the Law “On Indigenous Peoples” and approve the Strategy for the Development of the Crimean Tatar language until 2032. We at the Mission are also working on the Crimea Recovery Strategy after its de-occupation, which takes into account the interests of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, for whom the Crimean peninsula is their historical homeland,” the Permanent Representative summed up.

Besides Tamila Tasheva, the opening ceremony was also attended by: Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Roman Nedilsky, Consul General of Ukraine in Istanbul and the leadership of Istanbul Polytechnic University. The opening ceremony was attended by Vadym Halaychuk, Сo-chairman of the IFO Crimea Platform and Roman Hryshchuk, who heads the Interparliamentary Friendship Group of Ukraine and Turkey.

In his opening speech, Consul General Roman Nedilskyi paid tribute to Ukrainian soldier and former political prisoner Gennadiy Afanasiev, who was killed recently during the fighting in Luhansk region. In addition, Mr. Nedilskyi once again emphasized the courage of Ukrainians and their resistance to the aggressor country.

The event will last three days – the first in Istanbul, the other two in Eskisehir, one of the Crimean Tatar settlements in Turkey.