Crimean Tatar Mejlis facilitated a meeting today. Initially it was meant to be on the Lenin Square, but fear of provocations by the government supporters, the “titushkas” (groups of knackers gathered by Yanukovich regime supporters to attack the Maidan supporters and civil population ) and “Sebrat” representatives made the facilitators change the place.

The meeting was held near the Office of the Ukrainian Resident Representative in Crimea. More than 3.000 people of different ethnic and religious origin came to voice their position.

No provocations took place; the meeting was safeguarded by the local police.

The mottos were: “Turn your brains on!!!”, “YES to European integration!”, “We demand cancelling the dictator’s laws of January 16!”, “Restore the Crimean Tatars’ rights!”, “Support the European integration of Ukraine!”

The meeting began with singing Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar national anthems (done by everybody) and prayers for peace, tolerance and security in Ukraine and stopping the bloodshed (led by the Priest of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyivan Patriarchate p. Vladimir and Mufti of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine Mr. Amirali Ablaev).

Mr. Refat Chubarov, Head of Crimean Tatar Mejlis, announced their demands to the Government of Ukraine: “We demand to stop the bloodsheds and strengthening dictatorship in Ukraine, cancel the dictator’s laws of January 16, restore the Crimean Tatars in their rights, maintain Ukrainian sovereignty and unity, help facilitating and take part in the International Forum for maintaining rights of the Crimean Tatars, and adopt changes to the programme for provision of the necessary facilities for Crimean Tatars”.

“We have to develop a society where no one can bluster people into obedience. If the society reacts for such bogeyman stories, such society is easy to manipulate. We want the Crimean society to be free from manipulations. We want that the Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and Russians were living their lives consciously”, — Mr. Chubarov added.

He called upon everyone to join their meeting on February 23 to pay tribute to Crimean Tatar prominent public figure Mr. Noman Chelebijihan, the first elected Mufti of Crimea and facilitator of the First Crimean Kurultai, who was massacred on February 23, 1917, among dozens of other people of different ethnic origin, at Sevastopol city prison.

“We, the Crimean Tatars, will gather on the central square of Simferopol on this day to ask, how much longer we have to wait for our rehabilitation, for the law on Elections to Crimean Parliament, for the changes we await from the Crimean Parliament and Government. Remember this date — February 23 — and there’ll be 25-30 thousand of us on the meeting instead of 5 or 6 thousand.”

It bears reminding that the Crimean Tatars supported the European integration from the very beginning, and many of them participate in Kyiv Maidan regardless the danger of being there, in order to reveal their civic position.

Staff reporter, Simferopol