The event commemorated the 71^st anniversary of the forcible deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by Stalin’s regime and focused systematic violations of rights and freedoms of the Crimean Tatars by the occupation power in 2014-2015. The discussion was moderated by Andrew S. Weiss, a Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Charge d’Affairs of Ukraine in the USA Yaroslav Brisiuck stressed that Ukraine would never reconcile with the occupation of the part of its territory – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol – by the Russian Federation, and would never cease fighting for the rights and freedoms of its citizens residing there. He underscored that Kremlin’s 2014-2015 repressive policy in Crimea was the crime of the same scale as Crimean Tatar’s deportation based on false allegations in 1944. Those who are responsible for this ongoing crime are to be brought to justice inevitably.

Lilia Muslimova, an assistant for Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Jemilev and a spokesperson of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people (2003-2014), urged the USA and world community to revise relations with Kremlin, be more active in counteracting Russian propaganda and provide stronger support to Ukraine and the Crimean Tatar people. She shared her own impressions on last year’s events in Crimea, which she had witnessed there. Lilia Muslimova also highlighted current developments on the occupied Ukrainian peninsular, including the infringements of the freedom of speech and media as well as other physical harassments and unjustified persecutions carried out by the Russian Federation. The representative of the Crimean Tatar people stressed their decisiveness to fight for their rights and freedoms until the ultimate end of Crimea’s occupation.

Irena Lasota, a president of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE), gave her expert assessment of causes behind the repressions of the Soviet regime against the Crimean Tatars. According to her, the driving force of present discriminatory policies of Russian authorities in occupied Crimea remain the same. Irena Lasota underscored that Kremlin regarded the Crimean Tatars’ democratic traditions and unity as a threat because of lack of occupation power’s control over the decision making process inside the indigenous people’s community. Therefore, the Russian Federation chose the tactics of and “squeezing” the Crimean Tatars from their native land and accusing them falsely of fundamentalism. Irena Lasota called for more active support of nonviolent resistance of the Crimean Tatar people and bring this issue to various international for a as often as possible.

The discussion was framed by screening of “Crimea: March of the Tatars”, a video by VICE News about the challenges which the indigenous people of Crimea endured in the aftermath of last year’s illegal referendum.

Photo: Andrew S. Weiss, a Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Charge d’Affairs of Ukraine in the USA Yaroslav Brisiuck, L.Muslimova, Assistant deputy of MP of Ukraine Mustafa Dzhemilev and President of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe Irena Lasota