Around two hundred Crimean Tatars called for the expulsion of Russian Consul Vladimir Andreyev in Simferepol after he made what they called offensive remarks toward them in a historical reference to events dating to World War II.
The protesters carried posters that read, “Andreyev is Stalin’s best friend” and “Andreyev – out of Crimea,” and waved the national flags of Crimean Tatars. They called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to recall the consul, and on Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych to make Andreyev persona non grata.
On May 21, Andreyev gave an interview to a local television station during which he called the Crimean Tatars “traitors” and criticized them for recently releasing the first Crimean Tatar movie Khaitarma, which tells the story of the Stalin-era deportation of Crimean Tatars to Central Asia. The Soviet authorities in 1944 maintained that deportations came in retaliation for collaboration with Nazis during World War II.
“The theme of collaboration and complicity with the invaders should always be present” when talking about deportation of Crimean Tatars, Andreyev was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.
Earlier Andreyev also called on World War II veterans to ignore the premiere of the movie on May 17 in Simferopol. For Crimean Tatars, May 18 is the official mourning day for remembering the victims of deportation, and is considered the most painful page in their history.
Crimean historians say that by 1956 almost half of Crimean Tatars (46.2 percent) died of harsh living conditions in a foreign land. It wasn’t until 1989, when the Soviet policy relaxed, that Crimean Tatars were allowed to go back to their native land.
Rafat Chubarov, deputy head of Medzhlis, the ruling body of the Crimean Tatar people, called Andreyev “a person who wants to go back to the past.”
“All the people here feel respect for Russia, but they can’t understand, why Russian authorities keep fascists as their diplomatic representatives,” Chubarov said during the protest.
Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv were also outraged.
On May 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Viktor Likhachov, senior advisor at the Russian embassy, to explain the official Russian position on the matter, and inform the Ukrainian government what their Russian counterparts planned to do about the diplomat.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also admitted the consul’s “lack of tact” in its comments to Interfax, but did not elaborate on the potential consequences for the loose-tongued consul.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
