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Putin Seeks Integration of Crimean Muslims After Annexation from Ukraine

Putin Seeks Integration of Crimean Muslims After Annexation from Ukraine

The situation in Crimea, now officially Russian territory, remains tense after the referendum that shifted sovereignty from Ukraine. For the Muslim Tatar population in the area, the return of Russian rule has prompted concerns of repression, concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears keen to abate.

In April, Putin acted swiftly to exhibit a gesture of goodwill towards the Tatar people, signing a decree that would rehabilitate the Tatars after they were deported en masse by Josef Stalin during World War II. “I have signed a decree to rehabilitate the Crimean Tatar population, the Armenian population, Germans, Greeks – all those who suffered [in Crimea] during Stalin’s repressions,” Putin announced then publicly.

Public gestures to court the Tatars have continued since then and into June. Speaking to Voice of America News, Mikhail Margelov of the Federation Council of Russia expressed optimism at the rehabilitation. “Vladimir Putin’s law on rehabilitating repressed nationalities is working and will work,” he argued, because “the historical injustices, the historical crimes, that were committed against the Crimean Tatars should be weighed and their consequences liquidated.”

Not all are so confident that Putin’s efforts will work. Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev told Radio Free Europe that the annexation of Crimea was “damaging to the basic interests of Russia and the Russian people.” For Tatars specifically, Dzhemiley said “there is every sign that the Mejlis will be closed and banned” in Crimea. The Mejils is a Tatar executive commission that describes as its major role within the community “the elimination of the consequences of the genocide committed by the Soviet state against Crimean Tatars.” Dzhemilev had formerly led the Mejils; the group strongly opposed annexation into Russia.

Putin himself has not spoken on the issue in any high-profile way since May, when he urged Crimean Tatars to accept their fate as Russian nationals. Following a meeting with representatives of the Muslim Tatar minority, Putin promised the Russian government was “ready to work with all people,” but insisted “the interests of the Crimean Tatars today are tied to Russia.” “None of us can allow the Crimean Tatar people to become a bargaining chip in disputes,” he added, particularly “in disputes between Russia and Ukraine.”

Crimean Tatars represented 15% of Crimea’s population before the annexation, though reports surfaced during the annexation that many Tatars have since begun to exit the area. In addition, the government of Crimea requested that some Tatars yield their land for “social needs,” another trigger of anxiety for many Tatar leaders before the government of Russia regained control of the region.


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