Repatriation of the Crimean Tatars comes to the end. Nowadays on the foreground there were problems of high-grade integration into the Ukrainian society of completely new to Ukraine community— Turkic according to the ethnic origin and Muslims by religion. Nowadays Ukraine is not only Slavic and Christian, but substantially both the Turkic and the Muslim country, and this fact demands reorganisation of relations in the state.
The wish that the December session of the Vth Kurultay of the Crimean Tatars will be "the Kurultay of changes" did not come true. Predictions of political scientists that this time persevering desire of Mustafa Dzhemilev to leave a post of the head of the Mejlis (surely, remaining the recognised leader and the honourable head!) will be realised, did not come true, too. Conversations on the considerable personnel changes connected with it, on introduction in action of already developed reforms of bodies of national self-management, about a course change of national movement, etc. also remained just talks.
For two days the delegates of the Kurultay discussed these problems, but actually everything stayed as it was. And when the ten of the most well-known delegates persuaded Mustafa Dzhemilev not to leave the post, in spite of the fact that he heads the Mejlis for more than 18 years, their main arguments were reasonings that the national movement is at a difficult stage when Ukraine deals with the issue of presidential elections that actually means a state's choice of a new political course. The situation becomes more difficult, that in the press the topic of radical Muslim trends is again exaggerated, that the Crimean Tatars face the threat of the split, and that is why there is a dire need of cardinal strengthening of spiritual unity of the people. So, Ukraine, and Crimea, and the Crimean Tatars are at a critical stage of development, "on a crossing", and for this reason to change the leader at the moment means to subject the people to new dangers. It is also important that the most esteemed elders of the national movement, rights protectionist and a prisoner of Soviet camps Vedzhie Kashka on behalf of delegates handed to Dzhemilev "The Quran" and said that since he accepts this gift of the Jamaat, he has no right to refuse from his commissions. After the Kurultay Dzhemilev even thanked the delegate Shevket Kaybullaev, who was the only one who together with him (against resignation there were 224 votes, for resignation - 2, and 4 delegates refrained) voted for his resignation...
Mustafa Dzhemilev remained the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars as he says, until the next Kurultay. However it does not mean at all that the national movement has fallen asleep. On the contrary, it is reformed, but by means of refusal of change of the head it secured itself on the future from hasty and thoughtless steps. Therefore though the point of the head of the Mejlis stood the last, but the previous five were considered in accordance with its content.
Recently on a world scene they speak about destabilization of Ukraine, foretell that it will start with Crimea, concretely from disorders of the Crimean Tatars. And in this sense Crimea, really, endures certain stress. Last months endured crises and was reformatted the autonomy parliament in which now works the new majority. In crisis are numerous national movements in the autonomy. There is a reorganization of the Russian communities which change leaders, tactics and strategy. Work of the Ukrainian national-cultural organizations is reconstructed. Configurations and programs of political powers change. As delegates of the Kurultay consider, in such conditions of the general chaotic political movement it is very important for the Crimean-Tatar people to stay uniform.
It is not a secret that in Crimea also works a political — in the form of the newest small quasi-parties which are supported from abroad, and religious — in the form of the radical organizations, likewise with support from abroad — opposition of the Mejlis. And if to destabilize the Mejlis, may start the split in the national movement as each of probable successors of Dzhemilev — and they are not only judicious Refat Chubarov or Remzi Ilyasov — has his own idea about strategy and tactics, about methods of work and problems of national local government.
Last years the Muslims are worried about appearing of religious sects, which activity, according to Mustafa Dzhemilev, "introduce enmity and split" into the Crimean-Tatar people, "discredit Islam". The leader of the Mejlis expressed concern that system actions for normalization of the situation in the Muslim Ummah are not carried out by the state. Mustafa Dzhemilev declared that even if the Simferopol City Council will not make decisions on the land allocation under the building of Dzhuma Dzhami (the Cathedral mosque) which should play in the Crimean Islam a considerable stabilizing role, the Mejlis will begin the building by its own forces. "We do not want conflicts but if they do not help us, we will make it by our own forces. It is abnormal, when even the newspaper "New York Times" writes about the problem of allocation of land under the building of Dzhuma Dzhami in Simferopol whereas the local authorities cannot deal with this question", Dzhemilev emphasized.
The Mufti of Crimea Hadzhi Emirali Ablaev in the report on this question told that he is disturbed by loud events round Islamic religious party "Khizb ut-Tahrir". The increase of "Khizb" influence is appreciable in many regions of Crimea. "These people get everywhere to bring discord into the Crimean-Tatar people. We should care of integrity and position of Islam in Crimea", the spiritual leader of Muslims of Crimea emphasized. According to Refat Chubarov, the Spiritual Management of Muslims of Crimea should take all Jami (mosques) of Crimea under its control. In his opinion, for the decision of this question it is necessary to create special committee on religion affairs.
Struggle for votes
The considerable part of discussion in the Kurultay was devoted to the preparation for presidential elections. The Crimean Tatars already for several convocations provide in Crimea notable percent of votes for the PMU in exchange that their representatives join service records in the Supreme Council of Ukraine. The Crimean Tatars provided entering of the representative of the Movement (Ruh) (however, the only one) into the Supreme Council of Crimea. Therefore, nowadays in Ukraine there is a real competition for votes of the Crimean Tatars. Whatever you may say, they are approximately 200 thousand voters. The Kurultay was congratulated by the President Victor Yushchenko and the Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko. Victor Yushchenko informed that he gave order to start the criminal case on the facts of genocide of the Crimean Tatars in the course of the deportation. Yulia Timoshenko directed to the leader of the Mejlis the special letter on three pages in which she promised to allocate great sums for financing of the program of returning and arrangement of repatriates. It is stated in it, that in Ukraine there will be developed the program of arrangement of the Crimean Tatars for the period till 2015. For its realization she promised to provide in the state budget of the next year the sum not less that was allocated in the previous year, and with improvement of an economic situation this sum will increase, at least, to 150 million hryvnia per year.
Despite it all Crimean Tatars have a lot of claims to the present power of Ukraine: the decision of neither legal, nor economic, nor humanitarian problems does not move ahead. Victor Yushchenko only once met Council of Representatives of the Crimean-Tatar people at the President; there is no prospect of the decision of a problem with returning of historical toponymics, with national education expansion. Under the program of arrangement of the deported from the state, from the budget of Ukraine in 2009 it was allocated only 76 % of the provided means, from the autonomy budget — 60 % from the planned 10,5 million hryvnia, though the year already came to an end. Besides, in the previous year, in connection with financial crisis, for the program is allocated twice less of means, than it was provided by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: just 53 million hryvnia, though at first it was planned to allocate 108 million hryvnia. And in the project of the state budget for 2010 for the program is provided just 3,5 million hryvnia! During her meeting with Mustafa Dzhemilev, Yulia Timoshenko promised to allocate the whole sum, and Victor Yushchenko promised not to sign the project of the budget without introducing of respective alterations.
The Mejlis together with the governmental commission and the commission of an autonomy on agrarian questions made 19 certificates about the transfer of the lands by a total area about 1,5 thousand hectares to the Crimean Tatars under habitation building. From them 15 reports on sites by the area of 1035 hectares are already co-ordinated with land users, materials are directed to the Ministry for decision-making and if these offers are realized, "about one and a half thousand hectares of land will be given into people's possession, and about 14 thousand families will have opportunity to build homes for themselves. It for a long time will remove stress in the agrarian question", Dzhemilev states.
According to the first deputy of the ministerial council of Crimea Aziz Abdullaev, for last three years (2007 — 2009) thanks to teamwork of the Crimean authorities with the Mejlis, for the Crimean Tatars was allocated 6 936 ground areas. However, 20 thousand Crimean Tatars still need the land. But it is only a half of the problem. Apartment houses cannot exist without an infrastructure — roads, water drain, water pipe, gas pipeline, communication, etc.
Therefore on the Kurultay it was discussed for what candidate for the president of Ukraine should they vote. Delegates at once rejected the offer (Enver Abduraimov) to boycott elections, after all Ukraine in any case will elect the president, and the Crimean Tatars then will remain behind a board of processes in the state. Refat Seytablaev, the delegate, declared, "In the list of the candidates the 19th there should be a Crimean Tatar, either Mustafa Dzhemilev, or Refat Chubarov". He is sure that the Crimean-Tatar people would collect necessary 2,5 million hryvnya for registration of the candidate. But it is already too late.
Whereas several weeks ago Mustafa Dzhemilev rejected the offer to meet Victor Yanukovych and carried out negotiations with Yulia Timoshenko, someone decided that the Crimean Tatars will support BYT. However these conclusions were untimely. Opinions of the delegates were divided. The delegate Osman Topav suggested, as before, to support Victor Yushchenko, and Sinaver Kadyrov expressed in favour of Yulia Timoshenko. However the final decision tended that in the first round it is very important to support candidates from national-democratic forces. Therefore the Mejlis for the first time for all the history of participation in elections in Ukraine made decision not to recommend to voters for whom to vote, but recommended to choose someone from representatives of democratic parties. Names were not stated officially, but in a lobby there were mentioned the names of Victor Yushchenko, Yulia Timoshenko, Anatoly Gritsenko and etc. But in the decision it is emphasized that already in the second round the Crimean Tatars should vote in coordination for the concrete candidate and for whom exactly will be defined in the special Kurultay, which, probably, will be called on this question.
Following the results of the discussion, the delegates charged the Mejlis to create the working commission on working out of the program of social and economic development of the Crimean Tatars. Such a program never existed, and the need for it is dire.
Integration of repatriates
As a whole, advantage on discussion of the Kurultay of legal, economic and humanitarian problems of arrangement of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea testifies that in 20 years after moving to Crimea of the first immigrants, repatriation basically came to an end. Nowadays to Crimea move no more than 1 thousand repatriates in a year. The others already have their own houses, and now they are more interested in decision of social and economic problems — improvement of infrastructure of settlements, roads, presence of national schools, including high schools with a sufficient set of demanded specialities. All in all, nowadays on the foreground there were problems of high-grade integration into the Ukrainian society of completely new to Ukraine community— Turkic according to the ethnic origin and Muslims by religion. Nowadays Ukraine is not only Slavic and Christian, but substantially both the Turkic and the Muslim country, and this fact demands reorganization of relations in the state.
On the one hand, the Crimean Tatars who, by the way, live not only in Crimea, but appreciably in Kherson, Zaporozhye and other areas, in Sevastopol and in Kiev, can not only demand the account of their features, but also should consider cultural-political and religious features of Ukraine. On the other hand, state structures of Ukraine, providing integration of the new community, should consider their ethnic, religious, and cultural features. Probably, as they said on the Kurultay, the first common duty of the Crimean-Tatars should be planned work and legal mutual aid by recognition, on the one hand, the Famine of the Ukrainians, and on the other hand, deportations of the Crimean Tatars as acts of genocide committed by the ruling mode, which aim was full submission and suppression, even destruction, of the Ukrainians and the Crimean Tatars as independent ethnoses. Integration is a long and difficult process. And consequently as a whole at the nation-wide level it demands scientific, accurately planned approach. It is quite obvious that in Ukraine should be worked out absolutely new concepts of international relations adapted for new realities and the documents defining the status and the maintenance of the Crimean autonomy as a part of Ukraine. After all it is obvious that the present concept and especially the real practice of international relations, all the same as the autonomy status, do not display real requirements and the present problems of the society and create internal political complexities in the state which become more and more sharp.
By "The Day" newspaper
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