On the eve of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide, May 17, the art exhibition QIRIM İÇÜN / FOR CRIMEA was solemnly opened in the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The exhibition aims to draw parallels between the current events and those that preceded the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 from the Crimean peninsula. Through the thematic excursion material and accompanying texts, the artists outlined the tragic event of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as part of the general history of Ukraine and overcoming the consequences of genocide as the current decolonization aspirations of the Ukrainian people.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by representatives of state authorities, diplomatic missions, members of the Ukrainian Parliament, military personnel, human rights activists, public and cultural figures.
During the official opening of the exhibition, the following speeches were delivered by: Tamila Tasheva, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Iryna Vereshchuk, Vice Prime Minister-Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories; Mustafa Dzhemilev, leader of the Crimean Tatar people; Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people; Martin Harris, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ukraine; Mustafa Levent Bilgen, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Ukraine; Mavile Khalil, curator of the exhibition, psychologist and journalist. The event was moderated by Yevhen Bondarenko, Head of Information Support Department of the Mission.
“In this exhibition we are raising the issue of the pain not of one day, but of centuries. The destruction of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine has been going on for generations. And it continues today. But it is important not to hide the crimes, but to talk about them. Otherwise they will be repeated. Today, in the occupied Crimea, Russia is conducting massive searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars, arresting them and accusing them of fabricated cases. What it did not do in 1944, it is making up for today. And Ukraine is doing everything possible to return Crimea and put an end to Russia’s crimes. Now we see a continuation of the crime of deportation: after the occupation of the peninsula began, Russia illegally deported children and civilians. It is carrying out a hybrid deportation of Crimean Tatars. Yes, not in freight cars as in 1944. But the Crimean Tatars again have to flee from persecution, mobilization into the enemy army, leaving their homes again,” said the Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk noted: “Crimean Tatars have become one of the main targets of Russian aggression: human rights violations in the occupied Crimea have become systemic, abductions, imprisonment and torture, intimidation and persecution, restrictions on political and civil rights, forced imposition of Russian citizenship, conscription into the occupation army, restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion — this is not an exhaustive list of restrictions and, unfortunately, this has been the daily reality in the occupied Crimea for 10 years. War is the essence of modern Russia. Genocidal practices are its tool of “governance” in the occupied territories, and mass repression is the essence of its domestic policy. However, for all these long 10 years, the Ukrainian citizens have been resisting the occupier, fighting for our independence, for our choice to be free and choose our own path”.
Iryna Vereshchuk, Vice Prime Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, also addressed the participants and noted: “Today, history is looking us in the eye. It is looking at us through the eyes of women and children who 80 years ago were deported, dispersed, and destroyed without the right to return to their territory just because they were Crimean Tatars. Generations were crippled. History looks through the eyes of our grandparents, who defended Ukraine’s independence with arms, died of hunger, but fought. Finally, history is looking through the eyes of our current soldiers — defenders of Ukraine who are going to their deaths with arms in their hands, but do not give up.”
Speaking in the Crimean Tatar language, the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev, emphasized: “The Crimean Tatars became acquainted with the ideological narrative of modern Russia about the “Russian world” 240 years ago. However, the deportation and genocide of 1944 is quite different from the methods used by the tsarist authorities to displace the indigenous population. If they simply created unbearable conditions for the people to leave their lands and vacate them for Russian settlers, then in 1944 the task was quite obviously to “completely eliminate” these people.
“80 years ago, on the morning of May 18, 1944, armed soldiers of the Red Army, accompanied by NKVD officers, broke into every house where Crimean Tatars lived. This was the beginning of the exile. And this morning, May 17, “representatives” of the occupation FSB broke into the house of the editor-in-chief of the Crimean Tatar newspaper QIRIM Bekir Mamutov. They detained him and a well-known journalist, Seyran Ibrahimov. Three social catastrophes of the twentieth century, perpetrated by two human-hating regimes, Nazi Germany and the Communist USSR, swept through Ukraine. The Holodomor, the Holocaust, and the deportation – these catastrophes took the lives of millions of people. Until recently, it seemed that all these horrors were behind us, but not anymore. It is obvious that unpunished evil tends to return,” said Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, in his speech.
Representatives of diplomatic missions also addressed the participants, including Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ukraine Martin Harris and Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Ukraine Mustafa Levent Bilgen.
“80 years ago, the Soviet authorities committed a terrible crime against an entire people. The Crimean Tatars were deported from their homeland, deprived of their rights, and subjected to unimaginable suffering. But despite the difficulties they faced, the Crimean Tatars preserved their identity, culture and traditions. In 2014, another dark chapter in Crimea’s history began – the illegal annexation of the peninsula by Russia. The Kremlin’s actions now, as 80 years ago, are designed to instill fear, break the free spirit of the people, and undermine historical culture and identity. They failed then and they will fail now. It is important to understand the history and culture of Crimea and the indigenous people of Ukraine who live on the peninsula in order to enable its liberation and ensure its future reintegration as an integral part of Ukraine. I am proud that the UK, through the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Fund, is supporting this exhibition in cooperation with the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, underlining our continued international solidarity and unity with Ukraine, including in support of the people of Crimea. Crimea is Ukraine,” emphasized Martin Harris, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ukraine.
Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Ukraine Mustafa Levent Bilgen added:
“The Crimean Tatars who survived the deportation were forced to live in desperation and inhumane conditions, yearning for the day when they could return to their homeland. But they have also become the bearers of hope for oppressed peoples around the world by demonstrating their patience, resilience, and courage.”
Mr. Mustafa Levent Bilgen also mentioned the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Dzhelial, who is illegally detained by Russia. We wish he was here with us today; we sincerely hope that he and his friends will return to their homes and be reunited with their families and friends as soon as possible. This is also a call to all Crimean Tatars in detention. I am also here to recognize the heroic contribution of the Crimean Tatars to Ukraine’s ongoing struggle against the aggressor”.
“The exhibition QIRIM İÇÜN / For Crimea is our need to talk about the pain we still carry within us. This is our opportunity to talk about the bricks that make up our identity, how we see ourselves and our history. QIRIM İÇÜN / For Crimea is also our way to put the deportation in the context of time, to tell about the colonial history of Crimea and to reflect on the consequences,” said the curator of the exhibition, Mavile Khalil, inviting the guests to join the tour.
The guests of the event had the opportunity to get acquainted with the art objects and exhibitions. Among them were the installation Deportation and sketches about key periods and events in the history of the Crimean Tatars, created by Anton Logov, an artist, author of paintings, objects, and installations; paintings by Crimean Tatar artists; old color photographs of Crimean Tatars from the early nineteenth century; installation Doquz, which consists of various household items of the Crimean Tatars, created by the Crimean Tatar ceramist Rustem Skybin; deportation diary Butterflies of Paradise, based on real stories of deportation survivors, by Mavile Khalil. The exhibition also features paintings by Sadykh Adzhy Selim, the only documentary visual works created during the deportation. In addition, an important element of the exhibition is an installation dedicated to the current Russian-Ukrainian war, as well as portraits of military personnel of Crimean Tatar origin, which tell about their connection with their native land, and their ancestors who survived the deportation.
This year marks 80 years since the Soviet totalitarian regime deported the Crimean Tatar people from the Crimean peninsula. In 2015, Ukraine recognized the crime of forced deportation as an act of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people, guided by the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, condemning the totalitarian regime’s policy of oppression of the indigenous people of Ukraine.
We thank all the participants of today’s event. The art exhibition will run until the end of June 2024. To visit it, please follow the announcements on the Mission’s pages.
Organizers and partners:
Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
Office of the Crimea Platform
United Kingdom Embassy in Ukraine
National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. Memorial Complex
Creative realization of audiovisual content: FeelCan production studio
This exhibition is supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.