“Remembering history – returning territory”: event dedicated to Crimea’s past and future to be held in Kyiv
At 12:00 on May 18, in the Red Hall of Ukrzaliznytsia, Kyiv, 1 Vokzalna Ploshcha, (entrance through the Lounge), the event “Remembering History – Returning Territory” will be held to mark the Day of Remembrance of Victims of the Genocide of Crimean Tatar People.
This day 79 years ago, by the order of dictator Joseph Stalin, about 200,000 Crimean Tatars were deported in railway freight cars thousands of kilometers from home – to East Asia. This was the culmination of ethnic cleansing and persecution of the indigenous people of Crimea by the Soviet occupiers.
In 2014, Crimea was again occupied by the successor of the USSR, the Russian Federation. Crimean Tatars continue to be oppressed and politically persecuted by the occupation authorities. They are accused of extremism, alleged participation in “terrorist organizations” and “sabotage”, their houses are searched unlawfully, and they are put behind bars on fabricated cases.
Since 2015, the Day of Remembrance of Victims of the Genocide of Crimean Tatar People has been marked on May 18. This year, in the context of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the event “ Remembering History – Returning Territory” is held dedicated to the history, return, and future of the Crimean Tatars on the peninsula.
As part of the event, the art performance “Tashke-Tavaksay Hell Road” will be held. During it, an excerpt from the diary of Nariman Kazenbash, who at the age of 13 was deported from Crimea along with other Crimean Tatars by the Soviet authorities in 1944, will be read out.
During the event, guests will be able to join the marathon of writing letters to political prisoners and get acquainted with two photo projects:
“Eyewitness testimonies of crimes” will tell ten stories of Crimean Tatars deported from Crimea in 1944
“Stories from occupied Crimea” tell present-day stories about the persecution of the Crimean Tatar people.
Speakers:
- Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
- Tamila Tasheva, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
- Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People
- Iryna Vereshchuk, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine
- Rustem Umierov, Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine
- Emine Dzhaparova, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
- Eskender Bariyev, member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Head of Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center
- Oleksiy Tilnenko, Head of Board of CrimeaSOS
- Onysiia Syniuk, analyst at Human Rights Centre ZMINA
- Elvin Kadyrov, representative of the Commissioner for the Rights of Residents of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol
- Martin-Oleksandr Kyslyi, historian
- Arsen Zhumadilov, public figure
- Denys Yashnyi, expert at Crimean Institute for Strategic Studies
Moderator: journalist Andriy Kulykov
Organizers: Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, NGO CrimeaSOS, Human Rights Centre ZMINA.
The event will take place on April 18, 2023. Time: 12:00 – 15:00. Venue: Red Hall of Ukrzaliznytsia (1 Vokzalna Ploshcha). Entry is free with prior registration at the link.
