Last Updated: Wednesday, 31 May 2023, 15:44 GMT

Thousands of Crimean Tatars rally to demand land restitution

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Publication Date 16 July 2009
Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Thousands of Crimean Tatars rally to demand land restitution, 16 July 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4a82b6fac.html [accessed 5 June 2023]
DisclaimerThis 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.

Crimean Tatars rally in Kyiv.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine – Some 2,000 Crimean Tatars have protested to demand the restitution of land that they lost when they or their relatives were deported more than 60 years ago, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reports.

Representatives of the Crimean Tatar National Congress met with Crimean Supreme Council Speaker Anatoliy Hrytsenko to discuss the Tatars' demands.

Crimean Tatars have also been protesting in front of the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv for some 60 days, with some of the protesters engaging in hunger strikes.

Hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars were deported to Central Asia in 1944. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, they began returning to Crimea and demanding the return of their land. Their ongoing protests typically escalate during the summer.

The Crimean Parliament has adopted a law on land restitution, but any return of land has been rejected by the Simferopol State Council.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036

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