Stop Politicizing Crimean Tatars Issue - Crimean Parliament Vice-Speaker

The Vice-Speaker of the Crimean parliament has warned against political speculations on the life of Crimean Tatars in Russia's Crimea Peninsula, saying that outside attempts to drive a wedge between the peoples of Crimea are doomed to failure.

Remzi Ilyasov, Vice-Speaker of the Crimean parliament, has cautioned against politicizing the Crimean Tatars  issue, saying that  outside attempts to drive a wedge between ethnic groups within Crimea are doomed to failure, Russian sources said.

"At last, hope sprang with the Crimean Tatar People in Russia that their opinion will be reckoned with. Actions taken by republican and federal authorities since Crimea's reunification with Russia offer hope that the Crimean Tatar problem will be resolved within a short period of time", Ilyasov, who is also head of the Crimean Tatar People movement Crimea, said. 

He added that only under Russian rule have the Crimean Tatars for the first time in many years obtained the real possibility of a complex restoration of their rights, including in political, cultural, socio-economic, humanitarian and other spheres.

At the same time, Ilyasov stressed that internationally, no one is allowed to speculate on the Crimean Tatar problem without asking their opinion about the situation on the peninsula.

The Crimean Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group that settled in the Crimean Peninsula in the 13th-17th centuries. 

In 2014, the all-Crimea census recorded 277,000 Crimean Tatars living on the peninsula. They are now believed to be Crimea's third-largest ethnic group after Russians and Ukrainians.