Draft resolution on recognizing the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944 as genocide approved in the Czech Republic

The Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security Committee of the Czech Senate has approved a draft resolution recognizing the 1944 deportation as genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. The country's parliament will consider it at a regular meeting in December this year.

According to Suspilne Krym, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said this at a meeting with representatives of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

"The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Czech Senate unanimously approved a draft Senate resolution recognizing the criminal deportation of 1944 as genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. This resolution is to be considered at the next meeting of the Senate in December this year," the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people was quoted as saying by the media.

In October, a side event was held at the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia (Riga): "Deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944: from the recognition of genocide to the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatars in the Ukrainian state" within the framework of the Third Parliamentary Summit of the Crimean Platform. The participants of the event focused on the international recognition of the deportation as genocide, including the involvement of the member states of the International Crimean Platform in this process. In addition, the speakers discussed the extent and consequences of the losses suffered by Crimean Tatars as a result of the deportation, as well as the role and place of international organizations in ensuring the rights of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, including the right to self-determination within a sovereign Ukrainian state.

In 2022, the House of Commons of Canada unanimously recognized the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars as an act of genocide. The deportation of Crimean Tatars was also recognized by Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Canada, and Poland.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appealed to the governments and parliaments of foreign countries, international organizations, and parliamentary assemblies to recognize the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944 as an act of genocide.

In July, the Polish Sejm adopted a resolution to commemorate the victims of the genocide of Crimean Tatars in 1944, when they were deported from the Crimean peninsula by the USSR. The resolution of the Sejm of Poland emphasizes that on the morning of May 18, 1944, the Soviet Union authorities began deporting Crimean Tatars from the Crimean peninsula and deported almost 200,000 people to Central Asia and Siberia within three days. It also states that "the deportation of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea in 1944 and its consequences were an act of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people."

Earlier, Odesa journalist, editor of Intent Yevhenia Henova took part in the event"Life Together: Odesa Region at the Crossroads of Cultures," where she spoke about the genocide and eviction of Crimean Tatars. She spoke about the commonality of the histories of our peoples, the lack of involvement of Ukraine, and the imposition of a history that is not ours.

Олеся Ланцман