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Ankara issued a statement against Moscow on Monday, calling for “the systematic repression of the Crimean Tatars.”
Turkey on Monday expressed concern about the “new oppression” of Tatars in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
“We are watching with concern the raids on the homes of Crimean Tatars and the arrests that took place in Crimea this morning,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Turkey’s foreign minister argued that the arrests and raids were the latest example of a “systematic campaign of repression and intimidation against Crimean Tatars” following the illegal and illicit annexation in 2014.
“Turkey will continue to support its relatives, the Crimean Tatars, who defend their rights and interests through peaceful means and seek to make their voices heard through democratic means,” the statement said.
Russian forces entered the Crimean peninsula in February 2014.
The term Crimean Tatars means Turkish-speaking Muslim Tatar race. In the 2001 census of Ukraine, 248,200 Ukrainian citizens were recognized as Crimean Tatars by 98% (or about 243,400) of the inhabitants of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. About 1,800 (or about 0.7%) live in Sevastopol, but outside the borders of an autonomous democracy. The Crimean Tatars in Turkey live mainly in the Eskisehir province, descendants of those who emigrated in the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
Source: skai.gr
