The Israeli Embassy in Ukraine suspended work at its honorary consulate in Simferopol after the annexation of Crimea, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars Refat Chubarov wrote on his Facebook page.
Chubarov received a letter from the Israeli Embassy in Ukraine in response to his inquiry regarding information on the organization of an Israeli-Crimean forum in February 2015, which had been reported by Crimean media with the reference to Yan Epstein, who continues to describe himself as the Israeli honorary consul in Simferopol.
The embassy assured Chubarov that Israel had nothing to do with the abovementioned events, and said that Epstein had been suspended, thus he was no longer an Israeli Consul.
In this regard, Chubarov addressed Crimean journalists: “If you have to talk to Mr. Yan Epstein for professional reasons, and having presented himself as an honorary consul of Israel, he tells you about joint ‘Israeli-Crimean’ business projects in Crimea, you can refer to the official position of Israeli embassy on this matter…”
As reported, on May 20, 2013, the Israeli honorary consulate was opened in Simferopol. It was the first and only consulate of its kind in CIS countries. The opening of the honorary consulate was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of Israel’s independence.
