Ahead of the elections in Crimea, Putin's party is aggressively recruiting Crimean Tatars into its ranks
In the temporarily occupied Crimea, the local branch of Russia’s ruling party, “United Russia,” has drastically changed its policy ahead of the September elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, launching an aggressive campaign to recruit Crimean Tatars into its ranks. Members of the indigenous community who work in the public sector are facing the most pressure and coercion.
A Crimean Tatar civil society activist, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported this to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s “Crimea.Realities” project.
According to the activist, the party’s Crimean leadership under occupation, headed by Vladimir Konstantinov, had previously avoided actively engaging with the Crimean Tatar community due to its mass boycott of the 2014 pseudo-referendum. Now, however, because they refuse to join “United Russia,” state employees are being forced to resign from their jobs, which is why the Crimean Tatar library in Belogorsk has been closed for half a year, and the only Crimean Tatar journalist has has lost its only Crimean Tatar journalist.
The occupiers’ change in strategy is driven by the party’s falling approval ratings among the non-indigenous population, the desire to “taint” as many Crimean Tatars as possible with membership in a criminal organization, and an attempt to divide the community, which remains a pro-Ukrainian force against the backdrop of the peninsula’s possible de-occupation. At the same time, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People emphasizes that such repression and pressure in annexed Crimea are a direct continuation of the Russian Federation’s long-standing genocidal policy aimed at the destruction of the Crimean Tatar people.
Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down sentences to five Crimean Tatars from the temporarily occupied Crimea. The trial was conducted under expedited proceedings, and the defendants received prison terms ranging from 14 to 20 years.
On the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia continues the crimes against Ukraine that it began with the occupation of Crimea, and emphasized the importance of unity in the struggle.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and Circassians, highlighting the ongoing oppression of the indigenous people.
