Assembly of Crimean Tatar Organizations established in Nuremberg

The constituent congress of the Assembly of Crimean Tatar Organizations, a new structure designed to represent Crimean Tatars in the international arena, took place in Nuremberg.

This was reported by Krym.Realii.

The Assembly unites seven organizations, as well as initiative groups and activists from Germany, Belgium, Poland and Estonia. The event was attended by about 40 people. The main tasks of the new institution include strengthening the position of Crimean Tatars in Europe, lobbying for their interests in national parliaments and European structures, creating a fund to support education, culture, and human rights projects, and establishing a Crimean Research Institute.

German organizations supported the creation of the ACO. Crimean Tatar activist Elvis Cholpukh was elected president of the assembly. The symbol of the organization is a red flag with a golden tulip, a traditional ornament of Crimean Tatar culture that symbolizes dignity, revival, and continuity of generations.

In his comments to the media, Mejlis Chairman Refat Chubarov noted that now, when some people are forced to leave the occupied peninsula, coordination among Crimean Tatars is extremely important.

We were happy to learn about the intention to create an organization abroad. At the same time, we made several comments so that its activities do not contradict the system of Crimean Tatar national self-government that we have been building over the past 34 years," he said.

Chubarov reminded that this system includes the Kurultai, the Mejlis and the World Congress of Crimean Tatars. He emphasized that all public organizations must adhere to the principles enshrined in the 2015 Charter of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars, which states that in their activities they recognize the Kurultai and the Mejlis elected by it as the highest representative bodies of the Crimean Tatar people.

According to Chubarov, the organizers of the ACO took into account the Mejlis's comments, but the details of their decisions will become known after they have read the documents. He added that competition between initiatives is permissible if their activities do not contradict each other.

Today's life of Crimean Tatars and what it will be like in 10 years are radically different. Fevzi Mamutov, head of the NGO "Crimean Tatars of Odesa Region", champion of Ukraine and Europe in Greco-Roman wrestling, deputy of the Odesa Regional Council, spoke about fears, resistance, the role of a historian, and dreams about Crimea and Odesa. Watch the full version of the interview, and read the shortened version on Intent.

Анна Бальчінос