Displaying items by tag: Tatars

The Crimean Tatar people have decided to support Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine's presidential election. They said, ‘The most significant criterion in assessing candidates for the presidency is their ability to mobilise Ukrainian society to rebuff Russian aggression against Ukraine and restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, which include the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.’ The Tatars have also called on Ukrainians in occupied Crimea to participate in mainland Ukraine polling stations, and urged diaspora to vote at foreign polling stations. Russia outlawed the Tatar parliament (Mejlis) for ‘propaganda, ethnic nationalism, and extreme hatred towards Russia’.