Crimea celebrates Memorial Day for Victims of Deportation of Peoples

In Crimea, on May 18, a mournful date is celebrated — the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the deportation of the peoples of the peninsula. This tragedy has affected hundreds of thousands of families, mostly Tatar. On May 18, 1944, the first echelon was sent to Central Asia. Many died of hunger and disease. Now the date is also a reminder of the restoration of historical justice. Alexey Poltoranin, a correspondent of Izvestia, told in more detail.

Believers consider the Cathedral mosque in Simferopol to be one of the main decorations of Crimea: high-rise minarets, a large hall with Crimean Tatar ornaments. They started actively building all this when the region returned to Russia.

"This is a dream that we have been carrying — not only the Muslims of Crimea, but all the peoples, all the confessions of Crimea – for about 25 years. They constantly tripped us up and prevented us from realizing this dream," said Deputy Mufti of Muslims of Crimea and Sevastopol, Raim Gafarova.

The Ukrainian authorities did not allow the believers to realize their dream. At that time, not a single mosque was built on the peninsula. It was a deliberate policy to destroy an entire people — the Crimean Tatars, the third largest in number, which the Kiev regime did not even consider a people.

"The Ukraine in which I lived was a period of genocide of the intellect, national traditions, identity of the Crimean Tatar people, pitting them against each other," said Ibraim Shirin, deputy of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea.

The genocide on the part of Kiev was manifested both in relation to religion and language. Ukraine did not recognize the Crimean Tatar language, it disappeared from everywhere - from textbooks, kindergartens and, first of all, from schools. The situation changed dramatically in 2014.

The lesson at the Simferopol school is taught to children in two languages at once. Classes in Crimean Tatar from the first grade - children study subjects and culture. The language of the indigenous people of Crimea is now the official language along with Russian.

As told by a student of school No. 44 named after Hero of the Russian Federation Alima Abdenanova Alima Ametova, they have an Olympiad in the Crimean Tatar language. In terms of culture, Crimean Tatar dances, songs, and poems are also studied.

The name of the school was given in honor of the Crimean Tatar, legendary Soviet intelligence officer, Hero of Russia posthumously Alima Abdenanova. The educational institution, the former Dolgostroy, was also built with the support of Russia.

"This is a consequence of the balanced, original state national policy of the Russian Federation, which works according to the formula "unity in diversity." A lot is being done to support languages, to support the identity of each nation," said the rector of the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University. Fevzi Yakubova Chingiz Yakubov.

Residential buildings and apartments are being built on the peninsula to support the Crimean Tatars who have returned from deportation. Zira Izmailova recently celebrated a housewarming party. A resident of Simferopol shared that she received housing in a good area, next to her daughter.

During the Ukrainian period, people were denied the issue of hectares under various pretexts. Enver Usinov, a resident of Simferopol, said that he was not hired under the pretext of not having a residence permit, and the land was allegedly denied due to lack of documents. At the same time, there was an influx of people in the 90s.

All this is now in the past, and in many ways thanks to a fateful document — the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the rehabilitation of peoples affected by deportation. The Crimean Tatars were able not only to restore their rights, but also to feel truly at home.

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Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia on the same day that the Ukrainian government had infringed on the language of the Crimean Tatars until 2014, despite the fact that it declared support for this people. According to Denisov, the situation changed only after the peninsula returned to Russia. Now children study in schools in two languages — Russian and Crimean Tatar.