Ukraine’s foreign ministry honors victims of 80th anniversary of Crimean Tatar mass deportation genocide

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the tragic mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a ceremony honoring the victims of the Crimean Tatar genocide.

Ukrinform reports that.

The Crimean Tatar national flag, adorned with a black ribbon, was hoisted in front of the department building. During the ceremony, the attendees also observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to the deportation victims.

^{Photo: Ukrinform}

"This is not the first time we raise this flag near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And we will raise it as much as necessary until we move this ceremony to Crimea. This flag will be raised in Crimea, including on the flagpole near the representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in Crimea. This day will definitely come," Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said.

The leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev, recalled that the crime of 1944 had catastrophic consequences for his people:

"After surviving the genocide, those who remained alive fought for decades to reclaim their homeland and regain their legal rights. This was a difficult struggle during which the Soviet regime oppressed hundreds and thousands of people. Many of our people spent their youth in Soviet prisons and labor camps."

Dzhemilev added that he always emphasizes:

"The most crucial aid that the Crimean Tatars require at this time is support for Ukraine in defeating the enemy. I have full faith in Ukraine's ability to overcome the enemy, as without it, the Crimean Tatar people have no future."

Tamila Tasheva, the President of Ukraine's permanent representative for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, has urged people to remember those who lost their lives in the May 18 deportation by sending letters to the currently detained political prisoners (numbering 218), tying a mourning ribbon, or reaching out to friends in Crimea.

For reference:

On May 18, 1944, by order of Stalin, the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea to Central Asia began. About 200,000 people were deported in railway freight cars. The crime of deportation resulted in numerous victims. Within a few days, the entire nation was deprived of the Motherland.

Thousands of people died in the places of special settlements. Entire families were destroyed.

After the deportation, the Soviet regime resorted to erasing the historical memory of Crimean statehood and the Crimean Tatars. On June 25, 1946, Crimea was stripped of its autonomous status and transformed into an ordinary region of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. Over the next two years, over 80% of the original Crimean toponymy was replaced with standard Soviet names.

The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People is commemorated annually on May 18, the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944. It was launched on November 12, 2015, by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine [Ukraine's parliament – ed.]. By the same resolution, the Verkhovna Rada recognized the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea as an act of genocide.

On May 8 of this year, the Verkhovna Rada issued an address to the governments and parliaments of foreign countries, international organizations, and parliamentary assemblies in recognition of the 80th anniversary of the 1944 genocide of the Crimean Tatar people.

It should be noted that on June 26, the Day of the Crimean Tatar flag is celebrated.

August 9 is the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, established by the UN General Assembly in 1994. The campaign "Indigenous Peoples Matter for Ukraine," dedicated to the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples of Crimea, has started on social networks.