RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


 

Muslims in Crimea have difficulties recovering rights

ALL CONFESSIONS OF CRIMEA PARTICIPATE IN PRAYER ON OCCASION OF 71ST ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE OF CRIMEAN TATARS

Religiia v Ukraine, 18 May 2015

 

In a sign of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people, on 18 May, the day of the memory of the victims of deportation, representatives of all religious confessions of Crimea took part in a collective prayer, "The Prayer of Memory and Unity." A decision to this effect was adopted on 15 May at a session of the Interconfessional Council of Crimea "Peace is God's gift," Religiia v Ukraine reports with a reference to the DUMK [Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Crimea].

 

On 18 May, at 11:00, simultaneously in each temple, mosque, and synagogue a collective prayer was conducted according to the religious canons of each confession, calling for peace.

 

Also at the last session, as a sign of solidarity with the tragic date in the history of the Crimean Tatar people, members of the Interconfessional Council of Crimea "Peace is God's gift" wore blue ribbons symbolizing the color of the sky and also the color of the national flag of the Crimean Tatars.

 

In an appeal to the republican bodies of state authority, members of the Interconfessional Council of Crimea "Peace is God's gift" called for the adoption of immediate measures for the restoration of historical justice and full cooperation in the social and spiritual rebirth of repressed peoples.

 

All confessions of Crimea participated in the prayer on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the genocide of Crimean Tatars.  "We, members of the Interconfessional Council of Crimea 'Peace is God's gift,' representing historical religions of our peninsula, along with the deported peoples, share the sorrow of the victims of deportation and we raise up our prayers that the Lord would help all persons who suffered from the totalitarian regime to equip their houses more quickly and comfortably and gain confidence and spiritual tranquility in the land of their fathers and grandfathers," the appeal says.

 

For the 71st anniversary of the violent deportation of the Crimean Tatar people, which carried off the lives of more than 46% of the people, the spiritual leader of Muslims of Crimea, the chairman of the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Crimea, Haji Emirali Ablaev, addressed the Crimean Tatar people:

 

"The deportation never was a happy event for us; more than 46 percent of our people perished. The people were divided into parts; some were sent to the Urals and others to Uzbekistan. Of course, in thinking of those days you understand how many difficulties this people experienced, but we will not forget our history until the Day of Judgment, and we will not allow our grandchildren to forget it. I do not want for my people to experience again the dark pages of its history. May the Almighty preserve us from the troubles that our parents, grandmothers, and grandfathers experienced. May he allow our children and grandchildren to shed tears.

 

"The 18th of May is a day of bitterness for the Crimean Tatar people. But I want to advise our people the following: I ask you, let's be patient, wise, and mature so that those who see us would wish to be like us. If we will fulfill the commandments of Allah that he gave in the Holy Quran and live in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him and blessing), then our future will be bright. I believe that we will gain confidence and a good life in both worlds.

 

"Today we, the Muftiate, advise our people the following: since on 18 May a rally will not be conducted on the square, we, as in past years, will conduct prayers in mosques and we will pray for the victims of the deportation. From 11:00 a.m. until the lunchtime prayer a dua will be conducted. Whoever wishes may continue to pray up until evening and devote his prayers to the dead. Just do not leave the victims of the deportation without prayers; they need our prayers. We appeal to the people with the call: take good care of one another, be wise, and support one another. And remember: the religion of Islam is a religion of peace and harmony.

 

"Let us live in peace and harmony."

 

The Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Ukraine, in the person of the mufti of Ukraine, Sheikh Akhmed Tamim, also sent to the Crimean Tatar people sincere condolences for relatives and neighbors who perished in the years of the stalinist deportation of 18 May 1944.

 

"For decades far from home they bore many sorrows, but despite severe trials that fell to the lot of the Crimean Tatar people, it was able to survive and preserve its beautiful tradition, following the path of its ancestors. Through the years, far from home, preserving love for their native land and returning to it, Crimean Tatars faced new trials. But nevertheless we hope that the rights of the Crimean Tatar people will be restored and that each Muslim will come to feel as a full-fledged member of society," the appeal says, which the DUMK quotes. "May Almighty Allah grant the Crimean Tatar people strength and patience, peace and stability, and also prosperity for each Crimean Tatar family. May those horrible events of bygone times not be repeated, and may such grief never again be suffered."

 

We recall that the European Union has criticized the occupation government of Crimea for prohibiting the Crimean Tatars from conducting an event in honor of the 71st anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. On 8 May, the self-proclaimed government of Crimea refused to allow the Tatars to conduct in Simferopol a funeral rally in memory of victims of the deportation. Also, the Tatars were prevented from conducting an auto rally in Crimea.  (tr. by PDS, posted 18 May 2015)


 

MUFTI GAINUTDIN DENIES STATEMENT ABOUT VIOLATIONS OF CRIMEAN TATARS' RIGHTS

RIA Novosti, 18 May 2015

 

An official representative of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, Steffan Zaibert, began a government briefing on Monday with a statement about the anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars, emphasizing that the rights of Crimean Tatars are still being violated, and calling for an end to this. The head of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin, disagreed with Zaibert.

 

Ravil Gainutdin, the head of the Council of Muftis of Russia, refuted a statement by an official representative of the government of FRG, Steffen Zaibert, about the violation of the rights of Crimean Tatars, emphasizing that after the restoration of Crimea to Russia, Crimean Tatars received more rights than under the Ukrainian government.

 

On Monday, Zaibert started a government briefing with a statement about the anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars, emphasizing that the rights of Crimean Tatars are being violated even now, and he called for stopping it.

 

"Today more possibilities have opened for the Crimean Tatars for self-realization and rights than at the time when the peninsula was a part of Ukraine," Gainutdin told RIA Novosti. To support his words, he recalled how one of the first orders of the Russian president regarding Crimea was the order on the rehabilitation of Tatars. In addition, historic cultural buildings were transferred to the ownership of the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslim of the republic of Crimea.

 

Gainutdin also mentioned the confirmation of his statement in the report of rights defenders from Turkey, who in early May arrived in Crimea for a study of the conditions of life for the Crimean Tatars.

 

Previously Ankara, in agreement with Moscow, announced the decision to send to Crimea a delegation of retired politicians, scholars, and representatives of public organizations to get first-hand information about the situation of the Crimean Tatars, in order to eliminate the reason for concern and upset over their relations. The head of the Turkish delegation, Mekhmet Uskiul, arrived in Crimea for a three-day visit and he left satisfied with the situation of the Crimean Tatars on the peninsula.

 

At the same time, in a speech at the opening of the scholarly conference of Bigiev Readings in St. Petersburg, Mufti Gainutdin did not avoid the topic of 18 May. "In these days in our prayers we continue to recall all who defended their fatherland from the aggressor, and also those who in the dark years of war suffered innocently because of repressions and mass deportations. Today, 18 May, is a day of memory of the victims of deportation of the peoples of Crimea, among whom were also our brothers, Crimean Tatars. In connection with the conduct in Crimea of memorial events, the mufti of Crimea was not able to participate today in our conference," Gainutdin said.

 

In the years of the Great Patriotic War, representatives of 20 nationalities were subject to forcible deportation from Crimea on suspicion or accusation of treason, including Greeks, Armenians, Germans, and Bulgarians. Crimean Tatars suffered most of all. From 18 to 20 May 1944, over 183,000 persons were shipped out of the peninsula. After the referendum in March 2014, Crimea joined the Russian federation, and in April, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an ukase about the rehabilitation of Crimean Tatars and other nations of Crimea.

 

Crimea again became a Russian region after the March referendum, at which an overwhelming majority of residents of what was still a Ukrainian autonomous region, but who did not recognize the legitimacy of the February overthrow of the government in Ukraine, voted for joining the Russian federation. Ukraine considers Crimea its own, temporarily occupied territory.

 

The Russian foreign ministry has frequently declared that residents of Crimea voted by a democratic means in full correspondence with international law and the UN charter, for unification with Russia, which respected and accepted this outcome, and this decision is the reality which it is necessary to take into account.

 

Now about 260,000 Crimean Tatars are living on the peninsula. After the reunification of Crimea with Russia, practically 100% of Crimean Tatars received a passport as a citizen of the RF and they also are widely represented in government agencies. The head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, reported previously that problems of the Crimean Tatar people in Crimea have been resolved. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 May 2015)




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