In the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people

Our information: The Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people attached to the President of Ukraine was established by the Ukrainian President's Decree № 518/99 “On the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people”. All of the 33 members of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people entered in this Council. At the same time, the Chairman of the Mejlis, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Mustafa Dzhemilev, was appointed as the Chairman of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people. In 2000, three meetings of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people with participation of the President of Ukraine were held ¹.

On August 20, 2000, in Yalta, the second meeting of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people was held. During this meeting, the participants discussed the course of realization of the decisions which were adopted at the previous meeting. At this meeting, the Land issue was one of the main questions. During the discussion it became evident that the representatives of executive power of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, from one side, and the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, from the other side, have quite different approaches to solving this very urgent problem.

The President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, summing up the meeting, expressed his dissatisfaction with the activities of the bodies of executive power of the ARC in providing lands for Crimean Tatars. And he gave instructions to the Council of Ministers of the ARC and the heads of regional administrations of Crimea to consider the issue of allocating agricultural lands to Crimean Tatars in each region.

The President of Ukraine gave instructions to the Ministry of Finances of Ukraine to include into state budget of Ukraine a financing of expenses connected with return and resettlement of Crimean Tatars in 2001, at the same level that it was in 2000.

On November 10, 2000, the third meeting of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people in Bakhchisaray was held. Special Working Group headed by the first prime minister of Ukraine Yu. I. Yekhanurov consisting of Ministers and responsible persons of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and officials of the Administration of the President of Ukraine arrived in the ARC to take part in this meeting.

At this meeting, four actual issues were discussed: participation of Crimean Tatars in land- sharing; financing of the program of return and resettlement of the Crimean Tatar people in the current year and in 2001; representation and participation by Crimean Tatars in the work of governmental bodies of the ARC, and the problem of humanitarian area - education, culture, and inter-confessional relations.

The vice-prime minister of Ukraine, M. G. Zhulynskyi; Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the ARC, S. V. Kunytsin; the Head of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, M. Dzhemilev; the deputy of the Head of the Council, R. Chubarov; the Minister of Finance of Ukraine, I. A. Mitiukov; the Minister of Labour and Social policy of Ukraine, I. Ya. Sakhan; the Minister of Education of Ukraine, V. G. Kremen; the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, S. R. Stanik; and member of the Council, and chairman of the Inspection Commission of the Kurultay of the Crimean Tatar people, A. Mustafayev analyzed a course of solving issues of return and resettlement of Crimean Tatars.

The Chairman of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, M. Dzhemilev, and his deputy, People’s Deputy of Ukraine R. Chubarov, noted in their reports a significant level of dialogue and joint efforts aimed at collaboration between the Council and the leadership of the Council of Ministers of Crimea and permanent representatives of the President of Ukraine in the ARC. At the same time, they strongly criticized the focused efforts of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea and its chairman, L. Hrach, to instigate inter-ethnic strife on the peninsula.

The chairman of State Committee on Land Resources of Ukraine, A. S. Danylenko, the chairman of Security Service of Ukraine, L. V. Derkach, vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea S.Velizhanskyi, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, L. I. Hrach, and people’s deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine took part in the meeting.

President of Ukraine, L. D. Kuchma, and Chairman of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, M. Dzhemilev summed up the meeting of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people. (See below the instructions given by President of Ukraine following the meeting with the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar People from 10 November 2000).

The visit of the President of Ukraine, L. Kuchma, to Bakhchisaray and meeting of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people were widely covered by all-Ukrainian and Crimean Mass Media.²

¹ Documents on the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, including the information on first meeting of Council see: in “Krimskii Studii”, № 1, p. 57, № 4, p. 54.

² See as well newspapers: “Avdet”(“Return”), № 20, on November 10, 2000.; “Krimskaya gazeta”, №210, on November 11, 2000.; “Krimskii izvestiya”, №210, on November 11, 2000.; “Day”, №208, on November 14, 2000.