History of the conflict connected with the building in Simferopol of main Muslim temple has its continuation. Quite clear at the beginning, after a few months it reached its deadlock.
Let us remind that more than two weeks ago the household court of Crimea obliged the city council to provide Muslims with the land for building the assembly mosque there, were it is requested – in Yaltinskaya street. Ten days finished at 25th of February, but the authorities did not execute this decision and did not appeal, too. Moreover, on the session last Thursday Simferopol deputies acknowledged the field on Yaltinskaya and the nearby territory to be “forest-park zone, used for relaxation of Simferopol inhabitants” and recommended to build the mosque at Lugovaya street. However, at the same time the city council of Simferopol canceled its January decision concerning assigning here the land for these purposes, satisfying in this way the protest of the public prosecutor of the Crimean capital. With it all, the authorities noted that if the Muftiyat will address them concerning the land, they will provide them with it.
The Crimean Tatars reacted principally. They are not going to free the land which is considered by local authorities as self-usurpation and on which it was already delivered 65 (!) thousands of stones. In the opinion of Mejlis, office of public prosecutor should institute criminal proceedings against public servants and deputies of the city council of Simferopol due to ignoring of the decision of the court and for kindling international dissention. It turns out, as usual in the like stories; everyone has its own truth.
Lower is given the position of both sides of the conflict, published by the agency “Context-media”.
Gennady Babenko, the city head of Simferopol
First of all, decision of the household court still did not come into force and we, surely, will appeal. Secondly, absolute majority of the population of the city require that there should be forest-park zone. That is why we addressed with recommendation that organization which suggested Yaltinskaya, 22, would address to us with request to assign land in Lugovaya, 6.
Protest of public prosecutor’s office was connected with the fact that according to current law we cannot assign the land if we were not addressed concerning assignation. Muslims did not address us concerning Lugovaya, 6, that is why the decision about assignation of land there was cancelled. We made a decision to recommend addressing to us. Now they may do it, and they, surely, may not – this is their right.
I do not agree that the city council exceeded their authorities in this case. The land in Lugovaya is the same as the land in Yaltinskaya, and there are more comfortable approaches to it. The most important is that the project of the mosque should not be re-done. No any coin is needed to re-do the project. The project should be dashed, connected with this area, and there will be no any problems. So, we do not violate anything.
If other confessions would set questions concerning building of their temples in restricted area, next to tank, from which all of us, actually, are used to drink water, we would treat them in the same way. Ask ecologies, ask administration which concerns water resources, they will tell you and show you. We speak about health and life of people. No one argues that the mosque should be built. But there is planned not only mosque, but the whole complex with huge sizes. I know for sure, that money for this spiritual complex are allotted by Turkey, the project of it was also worked out by Turkey, by Turkish project organizations, Turkey meets all expenses of the building, and the builders will be from Turkey, too.
Refat Chubarov, first substitute of the head of Mejlis of Crimean-Tatar people
I said several times, and approve it now, that last decision of the city council is provocation. Moreover, it looks like farce, since the city council many times and cardinally changed its position concerning the mosque and the head of the city himself during last months behaves rather chaotically, and now they make use of so-called letters of inhabitants and work force, though they obviously made a carbon copy.
The fact that the decision of the court was ignored, and it really was, since it was not even considered, tells about scandalous legal and juridical ignorance of those, who sit in the city council. I already told that the procurator of Crimea must come out on the scene now. This is exactly the act of farce when the gun, hanging on the wall, should shoot. Babenko should directly go to prison for kindling international dissention. Babenko adheres to position of maximal “PR”, informational “untwining” of his own image. He thinks about elections, and because he has nothing to boast of in another spheres, he considers that by opposing the building of the mosque he could win townsmen’s support. But dwellers of Simferopol see that the man instead of performing the duties of the city head turned to intriguer in the most disgusting form. That is why, to my mind, even if the appellation court will approve the decision of the household court, and it can’t go the other way, Babenko will try to perform it in such a form that will show his disagreement, hoping that the dwellers of Simferopol will support him.
Concerning Muslims’ mood, they do not connect position of the city council with position of all dwellers of Crimea, the people learned to make difference between these things. And those people of non-Muslim faith who supported our action strengthened Muslims’ confidence in the fact that this provocation goes from the authorities’ side.
We will continue informational piquet, but not in any case we will exceed the frames of the law. For example, no one will cut off the roads. Mejlis does not support force actions and will not call to them. There will be the second and the third stages of this action, and I am not going to speak about them for now. I will just say that they will have more informational character.
I’m sure, that at the end everything will finish so, that the mosque will be built at Yaltinskaya, 22. And the question will be solved in such a way, that all citizens will be satisfied.
On the materials of “Context-media” (Crimea)
