As part of his “peace plan”, US President Donald Trump is willing to permanently recognize the annexed Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea as Russian territory. In Ukraine, DW talked with representatives of the Tartars of Crimea, the inhabitants from the Peninsula, to know their opinion.
“This fight will continue”
“We know perfectly what Russia is. It is the successor of the Soviet Union, who once deported my mother and my grandmother,” says a woman who now lives in Crimea and prefers to remain anonymous. “It took us half a century to return to our homeland and we will not leave again. We will wait here for the return of the Ukrainian state,” he says.
“Our people have fought for the right to live in their own land. That is why this struggle will continue, regardless of the political situation,” says another resident of the Peninsula who also prefers to remain in anonymity. He points out that the oppression of the indigenous population began with the conquest of Crimea by the Tsarist Russia.
He continued under the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution, and in 1944, the Tartars of Crimea were deported to Central Asia. They were only allowed to return to their homeland in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and receive permission from Ukraine, which had obtained independence. In 2014, Crimea fell under Russian occupation and many crime tartaros were persecuted for their proucranian position and forced to abandon their homeland.
At that time, says the second anonymous woman, the Tartars of Crimea were disappointed because the Ukrainian government had not fought “to maintain the peninsula as part of Ukraine.”
Today, he says that he would feel relieved if a political decision ended the daily deaths of the war in Ukraine. “On the other hand, many believe that if Ukraine recognized the territories occupied as Russians, all those lives would have been sacrificed in vain in defense of independence and the condition of the state of Ukraine.”
In his opinion, the peace treaty that is being discussed legitimized territorial concessions to Russia. And he fears that in that case people in the occupied territories could become political prisoners because there would be Russian legislation there.
United States, “leader in the protection of human rights and a bastion of democracy”
The debate on giving territory to Russia “of course generates a negative reaction, both in the mind and in the heart,” says Nariman Dzhelyal, first vice president of Mejlis, the representative organ of the Tartars of Crimea, and political express.
“During the years of Crimean occupation and Russian aggression, we have depended on the United States. For most Ukrainians and certain residents of Crimea, the United States has always been a leader in the protection of human rights and a bastion of democracy. And now we are experiencing a radical change, a commercial pragmatism,” he explains.
As the central executive body of the Tartars of Crimea, the Mejlis was classified “extremist organization” and prohibited by the Russian Federation in April 2016.
Dzhelyal highlights the position of the beginning of the Ukrainian government, which refuses to recognize Crimea as part of Russia. “Ukraine, in reality, can do little for the local population. Therefore, symbolic acts such as the statements that he will not recognize the annexation of Crimea and that he wishes to reintegrate it to Ukraine are the most important link between our people and the free territory of Ukraine,” he explains. “Accepting Trump’s proposal and his representatives would break this link.”
“Fear Peninsula”
“Our people will never trust the Russian Empire,” says Seydamet Mustafayev, a refugee from Crimea, who speaks of a “fear peninsula.”
“I don’t see any peace agreement with Vladimir Putin. I’ve always been pacifist and I want to live in peace. But I don’t understand how you can negotiate with this person when your goal is to destroy Ukrainian identity,” he declares DW.
Mustafayev expects the Russian-Ukrainian war to end with the liberation of Crimea, as it began with the occupation of the Peninsula. He believes that a peace agreement with territorial concessions would inevitably lead to World War.
“I don’t fight for that”
For the Ukrainian Tartar Soldiers of Crimea with whom DW spoke, the conditions for the end of the war depend largely on Ukraine. A “Tataryn” soldier says that no one can press Ukraine to make territorial concessions.
“Ukraine now has an army that arrested the Russian army in 2022 and destroyed its potential. Now fight not only thanks to US weapons, but also with their own,” he says. Recognizing the Russian annexation of Crimea would sit a dangerous precedent that could trigger armed conflicts over territorial claims worldwide. “You can give up everything, but not your own country. I don’t fight for that.”
An agreement does not mean abandoning the principles
“The sovereignty, the territorial integrity and the rights of the Ukrainians under occupation are undeniable,” says Tamila Tasheva, deputy of the Ukrainian Parliament. He was a permanent representative of the president of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from 2022 to 2024. “Recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would not only mean giving the territory, but also denying the experience of persecution, arrest and deportation suffered by the Ukrainians and the Tartars of Crimea in the Peninsula,” he says to DW.
In his opinion, a just peace agreement would be based on international law. However, a “realistic agreement,” he says, would not necessarily imply renounce the principles, but could be a gradual process. “We are willing to dialogue to find solutions, but we will never recognize occupation as normal.”
(r/dzc)
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