The Crimean News N63
(Mass Media Review for June
19-24, 2000)
The articles are shortened
If the Laws Hamper Resolution of Vital Problems – They
Must be Improved
Vladimir Zakoretsky asked to Resign
People Blocking the Railroad Released
“The Crisis Is Over, There Is an Opportunity to Work more
Actively”
Actions of Civil Disobedient to be Increased
Representatives
of Donor Countries Evaluate CIDP Activities
An International Symposium in Simferopol
Politics
On June 6, the Presidium of the Verhovna Rada (Parliament) of the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea has adopted a decision in response to the demands
of the Crimean Tatar people for resolving their urgent problems – guarantees of
representation in the Crimean Parliament and fair land reform.
According to the decision, the representation issue, which remains unresolved during recent
years, is to be discussed by the
Presidium of the Verhovna Rada with
regional branches of political parties and public organizations in order to
develop a plan for this pressing
problem. It must be emphasized though that the terms of such discussions are
not provided, and this move may have an obvious enough intent of delaying the
issue and finally letting it fall into oblivion.
What is the reason for involving political parties and
public organizations to resolve the problem of legal representation of the
people? The Verhovna Rada continues to
treat the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people as one of public organizations,
ignoring its de-facto status of the representative body of the Crimean Tatar
nation. The nation which seeks ways of
integration into the society, but constantly encounters obstacles created by
followers of totalitarian, categorical approach to ruling the society.
It is obvious that the decision of the Presidium of
the Verhovna Rada of Crimea increases the present tense situation in Crimea
and does not help resolve the existing crucial problems. They still
remain.
On June 14, the Presidium of the Mejlis of the Crimean
Tatar people has adopted an Appeal, with Mejlis propositions to settle the
above-mentioned problems together with the Verhovna Rada of Crimea, Council of
Ministers of Crimea and Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in
Crimea.
It is proposed together with the Mejlis of the Crimean
Tatar people:
To Verhovna Rada - to
establish a working group for developing a legal background for representation
of the Crimean Tatar people in the power bodies of Crimea;
To the Council of Ministers of
Crimea - in the nearest future to
prepare and adopt a decision aimed at resolving the most urgent problems of the
Crimean Tatar people;
To the Representative Office
of the President of Ukraine in Crimea – to establish a working group for
developing amendments to the existing
land legislation, to provide conditions for fair land reforms in Crimea.
The Presidium of the Mejlis of the
Crimean Tatar people.
The Kirim (Crimea) Newspaper, N28 (577), June 24, 2000,
p.1
More
than 100 people gathered at the meeting in front of the building of Simferopol’s
District State Administration on June 12. Meeting participants demanded the
Administration Head, Vladimir Zakoretsky, to resign from office. As stated in the Appeal of the meeting,
“exactly in the Simferopol district, the reorganization of the agro-industrial
complex and accompanying land allotment and
division of property have been conducted in the most dull and
disgraceful way, resulting in tens of thousands people living in rural
area without land plots. The rural
teachers, medical workers and finally, rural population have no land plots.”
The protest
action of the Crimean Tatars in the form of tent camps in front of buildings of
Simferopol district state bodies continues for more than a month. Meeting
participants decided to increase the number of tents near the building of
District State Administration and to continue protest actions near the County Councils.
The Avdet (The Return) newspaper, N12 (246),
June 23, 2000. p.1
Four Crimean Tatars were detained by the
Dzhankoy police on June 18. They were charged with violating law and order, namely blocking the railroad, during
which 12 trains were stopped for 1.5 hours.
Two hundered Crimean Tatars took part in the
protest in Dzhankoy, when they blocked the traffic on the railroad. People
demanded the resolution of May 15 meeting
to be executed. In that resolution, along with the demands of fair land
allotment and guarantied representation
in power bodies, Crimean Tatars
insisted on resignation of the M. Muedinov, Chief Specialist of the
Department on Inter-Ethnic Relations of the Dzhankoy District State
Administration.
Immediately after detention of participants,
the Chairman of the Inspection Committee of Kurultay, Ayder Mustafayev, and
Head of Department of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people working with the
local bodies of national self-government, Sinaver Kadirov, went to Dzhankoy. In
the tent camp in front of District State Administration they met with members
of the regional Mejlis. A meeting was organized in Dzhankoy with more than 500 Crimean Tatars participating on
June 19. Under pressure from the Crimean Tatars, those detained were released.
The Avdet (The Return) newspaper, N12 (246),
June 23, 2000. p.1
The Seventh Congress of the OKND (Organization of
Crimean Tatar National Movement), which was established in 1989 by joined
initiative groups of national movement, met on June 17 in Simferopol. 62
delegates from all over Crimea and one delegate from Uzbekistan participated in
the Congress. Among the most important issues of the Congress’s agenda were the
Report of the Chairman, elections of the Central Council and of the Chairman of
the OKND, and amendments to the Program and Statute of the organization.
The Congress has adopted three resolutions: First,
according to the drafted “Regulations on elections of Kurultay delegates,” it
is recommended to elect 200 delegates, 100 of them to be elected in the
single-mandate electoral districts (by simply majority voting), and the other
100 by the lists of nominees of political parties and public organizations on
the basis of proportional representation.
Secondly, The Declaration of OKND on Chechen war says
that the Crimean Tatar people, who experienced horrors of colonialism,
deportation and genocide, are supporting the fair struggle of Chechen people
for the freedom and independence. “Only negotiations based on the UN
Declaration on the right of a nation for self-determination may stop the war
and provide opportunities for the Chechen people to choose its fate.”
The third resolution is titled “Declaration on
political situation.” “To regulate
inter-ethnic relations,” states the document, “there must be a provision in the
Constitution of Crimea which would be based on the equal political partnership
of the Crimean Tatar people and other nations living in Crimea.”
The document includes several demands:
1.
Restoration
of national-territorial statehood of the Crimean Tatar people;
2.
Guaranteed
and effective representation of the Crimean Tatars in the Parliament of Crimea
and other power bodies;
3.
Legislative
provision for the right of the Crimean Tatar people to have the land.
Later that day, the Central Council members were
elected and Erejep Hayredinov was again elected OKND Chairman.
R.Bulat, The Golos Kryma (The Voice
of Crimea) newspaper, N26 (345), June 23, 2000, p.2
More than 200 Crimean Tatars rallied in front of the
Verhovna Rada building on June 21, simultaneously with the plenary session.
“The goal of this meeting is not to gather as many
people as possible, but to remind that there is a limit to Crimean Tatars’
patience,” said Remzi Ablayev, Deputy
Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. “We again demonstrate our
readiness to any negotiations at any level. And we demonstrated this by taking
down half of the tents in front of the Crimean Parliament building. But from the Verhovna Rada there is no response. The patience of our people is not for ever,
and then all the responsibility will be
upon gentlemen in this building. It will be on their conscience.”
Anatoly Korneychuk, the Permanent Representative of
the President of Ukraine in Crimea also spoke about negotiations. He informed people that he received a letter
from the Head of Presidential Administration, Vladimir Litvin. It is prescribed
in the letter that the working commission is to be established in Crimea to
resolve these problems, with
representatives of Crimean Tatars, Verhovna Rada of Crimea, Crimean government,
and Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in Crimea participating.
The Appeal of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people
was read at the meeting and the decision on increasing actions of civil
disobedience of Crimean Tatars in all regions of Crimea was adopted. After the
meeting, a camp tent in front of Verhovna Rada was expanded.
The Avdet (The
Return) newspaper, N12 (246), June 23, 2000. p.1
Social Sphere
Representatives of Donor Countries
Evaluate CIDP Activities
Representatives of diplomatic missions of UN, France, Greece, The
Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, and representatives of international organizations
to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine visited Crimea from June 13 to 17.
The reason for the visit was to review the problems of deportees and the
implementation of projects within UN Crimea Integration and Development Program
(CIDP). This program has been active in Crimea since 1996. Representatives of
UN donor countries and Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine visited Crimean Tatar
settlements in Bakhchisaray, Belogorsk and Sudak, where they were acquainted
with the projects being implemented by CIDP.
During the visit, a conference was organized with participation of
representatives of Ukrainian and Crimean governments and national structures,
international donors and administrative and executive staff of the Program.
Issues relating to allocation and distribution of funds were discussed among
others. Mustafa Jemilev, the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar
people, commenting on activities of the CIDP, noted that the Program itself was
established as a result of numerous
appeals to embassies and diplomatic representatives of various countries
explaining situation of resettlement of repatriates. In his opinion, it would
be advisable to listen to opinions of national groups while planning the CIDP
activities, to better understand where and what assistance is needed.
Asan Asmanov, The Avdet
(The Return) newspaper, N12 (246), June 23, 2000. p.1
Culture
The Crimean Tatar culture, science and education in
the context of good Ukrainian-Turkish relations constituted the focus of the
International Symposium in Crimea on June 18-22. Among its organizers were the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people,
the Republican Committee on affairs of nationalities and deported people,
Crimean Ministries of Education and Culture, the Republican Crimean Tatar Arts
Museum and others. Turkey was represented by the office of the Chief Advisor to
the Turkish President, Ahmad Yasevi University, “Turkey-Ukraine” Friendship
Society and others.
On 20 June, the round table devoted to the 80th birthday of
the famous Turkic novelist, Cengiz Dagci was organized in the I.Gasprinsky
Republican Crimean Tatar Library, and attended by writers, scientists,
journalists and relatives of the novelist. The works of Cengiz Dagci are
included in the curriculum of the
Crimean Tatar departments of the Tavrichesky National University and Crimean
State Pedagogical-Industrial Institute. In the near future, a new book
in Crimean Tatar, “Hatirlarda Cengiz Dagci” will be published in Simferopol.
A visit to the house of Cengiz Dagci in the village of Kiziltas
(Krasnokamenka) and other activities were
also planned during this Symposium.
G.Useinova, The Golos Kryma (The Voice
of Crimea) newspaper, N26 (345), June 23, 2000, p.1