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| Europe |
| Crimean Tatars Protest against 'Illegal' Referendum |
| 2014-03-15 |
| [An Nahar] Around 500 Crimean Tatars erupted into the streets after prayers on Islam's holy day Friday to protest against an "illegal" referendum on closer ties with Russia which they plan to boycott. Waving Ukrainian flags and chanting "Go away Putin" and "Russian soldiers go home", the protestors lined one of the main roads in Bakhchysaray, the biggest Tatar settlement in Crimea. The rally was held under the slogan "No to the illegal referendum!" to be held on Sunday following a decision by the Medzhlis, the Tatar parliament. Earlier, the Tatars were urged to resist "provocations" at Friday prayers at the 16th century Big Khan mosque, the town's largest. The demonstration was peaceful but watched from the other side of the road by around half a dozen pro-Moscow self-defense forces. One protestor, Fatima Suittarova, 40, came to the rally with her young daughter. "We don't even want to think about the possibility of joining Russia," she told AFP. "We see the future of our nation only with Ukraine." Another protestor, 63-year-old Said Umir, said he feared the prospect of Crimea -- currently an autonomous peninsula which is part of Ukraine -- joining Russia. "Every five years, Russia has war and we don't want our children to be fighting for them," he said. A few trucks carrying Russian forces were stationed on Bakhchysaray's main road out of the town on Friday morning, an AFP news hound saw, but they did not appear at the demonstration. A convoy of dozens of cars waving Russian flags and tooting their horns did drive by, drawing loud chants from the crowd. The Tatars are native to Crimea and were the main ethnic group on the peninsula until they were deported en masse by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin during World War II. They only started returning as the Cold War was ending in the late 1980s and currently make up some 12 percent of Crimea's mostly Russian-speaking population of two million people. Worshipers outside the mosque after Friday prayers spoke of their fears about the future. "Only Allah knows what will happen -- we just want there to be peace," said Haji Rasim Islam Settar Ogoli, 79. "Ukrainians, Tatars, Russians are brothers here. We already saw a lot of things because we are old and we want to live in peace." Another man, 83-year-old Rasim, said he felt unsafe due to the presence of Russian forces around the town. "How can you feel with armed people around? You don't expect something good," he said. "We're surrounded by the army so what can we do about it?" |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Envy? You are a Nazi bastard From. You going to cheer when they do Pogroms against the Jews too you racist POS? Because thats what happens. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-03-15 20:03 |
| #1 I await Russian response with bated breath---and more than a little envy. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-03-15 02:50 |