Ukraine's parliament recognizes 1944 'genocide' of Crimean Tatars
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 12 November 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ukraine's parliament recognizes 1944 'genocide' of Crimean Tatars, 12 November 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56813d0e12.html [accessed 22 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
November 12, 2015
Ukraine's parliament has approved a resolution recognizing the mass deportations of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide.
The resolution adopted on November 12 also says that May 18 will be marked in Ukraine as the Day of Remembrance of the victims.
Crimean Tatar activists have been pressuring Ukrainian authorities for years to recognize the deportations as genocide.
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars, the indigenous people of Crimea, on May 18, 1944 on the grounds that they had allegedly collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
More than 180,000 were deported to Central Asia and Siberia. An estimated 40 percent of those deportees died during the journey or within a year of being exiled.
Crimean Tatars were allowed to return to Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in the late 1980s, before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Most Crimean Tatars openly opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014.
Based on reporting by UNIAN and uatoday.tv
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
