The leader of Crimea’s native Tatar community has denounced Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine and warned western powers of a “great calamity” if they allow Moscow to redraw the map.
The Tatars are the strongest supporters of Ukraine's pro-western revolution in mostly ethnic-Russian Crimea, and joined protests in Kiev and other cities that toppled former president Viktor Yanukovich and his regime.
They rallied in their thousands last week against an emergency session of Crimea’s parliament, called to debate moves to loosen the region’s ties with Kiev and to appeal to the Kremlin for assistance.
After the Tatars successfully blocked the session last Wednesday, unidentified gunmen seized parliament the next day and pro-Russian deputies voted to hold a referendum on Crimea’s status and to appoint a Russian nationalist as the new prime minister.
Russian soldiers and local militia have since seized control of the peninsula, stoking fear among Tatars that they may fall back under the control of Moscow, which subjected them to severe repression during Soviet times: in 1944, Joseph Stalin accused the Crimean Tatars of collaboration with Nazi Germany, and exiled the entire 200,000 population to Siberia and Central Asia.
Native claim
"We were not allowed to live on our native land for decades. Now we have returned and we don't want to be forced to choose between Russia and Ukraine," said Tatar leader Refat Chubarov. "However this situation develops, the main priority should be preserving the territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said, while rejecting Moscow's claim that it was was forced to deploy troops in Crimea to protect its Russian-speakers from violent ultra-nationalist supporters of Kiev's new government.
“Since taking power, the new authorities have done nothing that could be considered a threat to anyone in Crimea . . . A few days ago there were no problems here . . . The main problem now is the number of troops on the streets.”
Mr Chubarov said he feared “provocations” against Russian servicemen, ethnic-Russian civilians or Tatars, that could be used to stoke tension or justify further military action. “If today Ukraine is divided or loses its sovereignty, then our neighbours should know that this could also happen to them,” he warned.
“Look at the history of the 20th century,” he appealed to western leaders. “We do not need to break the post-war world order. Don’t let anyone break that order. If it happens, it will cause a great calamity.”
