Crimean
news ¹31
(Mass Media survey for 8-13 November 1999)
“Wild Dances” Near the Memorable
Stone
Medical Center for the Deported
The Blue Fuel has Reached Houses
Getting a Wished-for Result Really
Takes Great Effort
The Disabled in the
Self-buildings* Need Rescue Also
Politics
November 7th--the anniversary
of the October Revolution--is not officially considered a holiday. The
President’s suggestion to make this day “A Day of Peace” was not supported.
Both left and right parties decisively turned down this suggestion. What kind
of “Day of Peace” can it be when the revolution seems to be endless and the
adherents of the ideas of Lenin and Stalin are eager to restore the USSR, the
motherland of October?
Even if the rally lasted for 4 days, there was no official holiday in
general. But if we speak about Crimea separately, the holiday is quiet
official. The Presidium of the Supreme Counsel and the Ministry Counsel of
Autonomous Republic approved Crimea’s congratulations devoted to the 82nd
anniversary of the Great October socialist revolution. This document, strange
for our time, is interesting in that it contains only one true statement
asserting that the October Revolution made a sharp turn in the lives of people
who live on one-sixth of our planet. We cannot deny it. It made such a sharp
turn that our country is now at the back of the beyond of civilization, and the
USSR has gradually died, leaving some “not wasted” natural resources for the
so-called construction of communism in the whole world.
Rallies under red flags and portraits of Lenin and Stalin not only
expressed people’s longing for the communistic past with unlimited power of the
KPSS and “cheap sausage”, but also had a definite aim – the achievement of
power, not by using weapons but by using voting-cards. Yes, the pre-election
speech sounded quiet loudly at the rally of “Reds”.
“Vl.Vlad,
“The Voice of the Crimea”, ¹46(313), 12 November 1999, p.1.”
“Wild Dances” Near the
Memorable Stone
The memorial stone devoted to the victims of deportation was profaned in
Simferopol’s Salgirka Park. People in our country are accustomed to blame
Chechnians in any part of the CIS when there is any extraordinary situation.
The authorities intentionally point people’s attention to people of the
Caucasian nationalities and… the Crimean Tatars. If the representatives of
Ichkeriya have arrived in Crimea, it means that the Crimean Tatars are planning
something illegal. Not in vain, one of the first leaders of our sunny republic
during one of his interviews stated (with an offended voice) that the Crimean
Tatars together with the Chechenians conducted warlike dances on 18 May. After
this warlike statement it became clear to the whole country that the formation
of an enemy image is in progress. And, being angry with the “ungrateful deported
nation that was at last allowed to return”, a narrow person is looking for a
way to take revenge and express his accumulated anger and aggression. And thus
he profanes memorials – silent memorial stones, gravestones and tombstones.
“F.Torsinova,
“The Voice of the Crimea”, ¹45 (542), 13 November 1999, p.1.”
The Crimean Tatar Mejlis chairman, Mustafa Djemilev, met his compatriots
who live in Pervomayskoye district. During a prolonged talk they discussed the
problems of the Presidential elections in Ukraine and today’s socio-political
problems. The national representatives asked M.Djemilev a number of questions.
“E.Emirsanov,
“Kirim”, ¹45(542), 13 November 1999, p.1.”
Medical Center for the Deported
The Public Health Ministry of Ukraine approved of the Crimean
experience in the organization of medical treatment for deported nations. The
fact that medical treatment for the Crimean Tatars should be made with an
account of their national peculiarities and traditions was clear at the
beginning of the nineties with the mass return of the deported to the
peninsula. But this was only one of the reasons impelling the Public Health
Ministry to take its first steps in establishing such a center in Simferopol
for the treatment of repatriates. There were also other reasons. The repatriates, having returned to their
motherland, faced an extreme problem of unemployment. The establishment of the
center provided many Crimean Tatars with work. But the most important reason
for establishing such a center was the necessity of looking after the health of
the repatriates. Medical personnel feared outbreaks of infectious diseases such
as hepatitis, tuberculosis, diseases of the digestive organs and blood
diseases.
The forced migration of the entire nation to new places* with different
climates and different living conditions had a negative effect on the health of
thousands of people. Two mobile brigades, formed by the Medical Center,
regularly visit the places where Crimean Tatars live very compactly. In
addition, modern medical equipment, which is at the disposal of every brigade,
allows them to conduct high level, complex professional check-ups. 4 thousand
people have gone through such a check-up during 6 months of the current year.
In total, 18 thousand Crimean Tatars have been treated at the Medical Center
during this time.
“DINAU,
“The Crimean Times”, ¹210(813), 11 November 1999, p.1.”
*Deportation of the Crimean
Tatars to the Urals, Central Asia and other regions of the USSR is meant here.
The Blue Fuel has Reached
Houses
The dwellers of the Bakhchisaray 6th micro district have been
waiting for this day for many years. And it has come: these people have natural
gas. A natural gas distribution point has been specially designed and
constructed, and 2 km of gas main was laid while constructing the gas main. The
blue fuel will make people’s lives much easier.
“Valentin
Yarovoy, “The Crimean Truth”, 12 November 1999, p.1.”
Getting
a Wished-for Result Really Takes Great Effort
The completion of the first stage of installing a water main in the
village Kamish-Kora, located in Simferopol district, was celebrated a bit
earlier than it should have been. In any case, the news that the village
dwellers already had water was, frankly speaking, an exaggeration. In reality,
the village dwellers are still fetching water from a versta and using bad and muddy roads as a path. 400 lots have been
given for individual construction, but people have begun building on only 120
of them. Although the village is close to Simferopol, living conditions “leave
room to hope for the best” – no roads, no sewerage, no telephone. Moreover, the
houses, which are close to the pond, get flooded during heavy rains.
As the Leader of local Crimean Tatar women’s
league, Meva Seitbekirova, states: “During all those nine years when I was
fighting for the construction of a water main, none of the leaders were
interested in the affairs of poor and suffering people – neither the local
authorities nor the Autonomy leadership. At last they have begun doing
something – the first stage of the water main is finished. However, the pipes
that were laid went out of order on the very first day. “It was the fault of
the contract organization” explained specialists. It is a pity that after such
long and tiring work we have to suffer because of someone’s negligence. All the
media means have informed that there is water, but unfortunately we have not
had a drop of it.
Some dwellers have bored wells, but as the sanitarium-epidemic stations
have concluded, the water is not fit for drinking. Actually, it is not even fit
for washing.
“Lentara
Halilova, “The Voice of the Crimea”, ¹46(313),12 November, 1999, p.1.”
*Versta
– Russian unit of measure, used in the text in the meaning of “from a far
place”.
The Disabled in the
Self-buildings* Need Rescue Also
A Speaker of the Crimean Parliament, speaking about the problems of a
program to provide telephones in the houses and flats of disabled persons and
World War 2 veterans during 2000-2005, emphasized that for these people, a
telephone is not only communication with the world but also rescue, and for
that reason we must do everything possible in order to provide these people with
telephones (there are 1468 of them). While taking necessary care of poor people
we should not forget that there are the same Crimean Tatar disabled persons in
self-buildings who need rescue also. Unfortunately, no one even speaks about
providing this populated area with telephones. These people have to walk a
pretty long way to the nearest phone in order to call an ambulance, but
unfortunately, they are not always in time.
“Lentara
Halilova, “The Voice of the Crimea”, ¹46(313), 12 November 1999, p.1.”
*self-buildings
– villages which were built by returning Crimean Tatars in the end of 1980’s
and the beginning of the 1990’s, despite the Crimean authority’s strict taboo
that prevented the return of the native nation from exile.
Culture
A meeting of Crimean Tatars with the dwellers of the Kamenka micro
district was held in this micro district. The Crimean Tatar writer, Shakir
Selim, his assistant, the editor of the literary and historical department of
“Yani Dunya” (“New World”) newspaper, poet Yunus Kandim, and writer Riza Hazim
took part in the meeting. They spoke out about the catastrophic condition of
the native language and the rate oat which people are reading periodical
newspapers. These kinds of meetings are planned to be conducted in many regions
of Crimea. At the second session of the Kurultay 3, they made a decision to
adopt a program, which would support the native language and its practical
usage. The Crimean Tatar Literature Counsel has also taken some practical steps
to solve this great problem, because Crimean Tatar writers were worried about
their native language even when they were in exile. Using any opportunity at
every meeting they have discussed the problem of their native language and its
development. These meetings were held both in exile and after coming back to
the motherland. They also decided that the problem of the supporting and
development of the native language should be solved by the whole nation.
Writers emphasized the difficult condition of the Crimean Tatar language and
made specific suggestions for a way out of this hard condition.
“Y.Beshim,
“Yany Dunya”, (“New World”), ¹45(499), 13 November 1999, p.8.”