At different times, Russia attempted to distance Crimean Tatars from Ukrainians – Dzhaparova

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Foreign Affairs First Deputy Minister Emine Dzhaparova during the event dedicated to Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar Pele, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Dzhaparova, it is important to speak about the fact that the Russian Federation in Crimea is repeating the crimes committed by the Russian Empire, Soviet Russia that used to wage an information war just as Putin’s Russia is doing now in Crimea.

“Back then, during Soviet Russia, we were not aware of this. But, in fact, I am absutely convinced that Russia of different times always artificially created myths about each of us, trying to distance Crimean Tatars from Ukrainians… because I am absutely convinced that our history is very identical,” Dzhaparova said.

In her words, Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars had their languages squeezed out, and their very physical existence was called into question.

“The Hodomor and the deportation, which are essentially the same crime: the rewriting of history, when Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars were deprived of everything that unites us: love and affection for our land, traditions, for our ancestors,” Dzhaparova stressed.

A reminder that, on May 18, Ukraine annually marks Day of Fighting for the Rights of the Crimean Tatar Pele and honors the memory of the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars.