You're reading: Deputy: Come Crimean MPs shocked to hear colleagues giving speeches in Crimean Tatar language

Some of the members of the Supreme Council of Crimea have delivered speeches in the Crimean Tatar language for the first time, First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and a member of the Crimean parliament, Refat Cubarov, has said.

“Today, for the first time at a session of the Crimean parliament,
speeches in the Crimean Tatar language were delivered and translated
into Russian… Some [of the deputies] were shocked, but in general [our] colleagues took this just fine,” Cubarov wrote on his page on Facebook.

Earlier, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Mustafa
Jemilev stated that the Crimean Tatars would strive to achieve the
official use of the Crimean Tatar language in Crimea, regardless of the
language law.

“When we speak about the Crimean Tatar language, we don’t need such a
law. We think that the Crimean Tatar language has to be one of official
languages in Crimea due to the fact that we are the native people of
the peninsula. We will strive for official functioning of the Crimean
Tatar language on our territory, regardless of the language law,” he
said.

As reported, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, passed the
language bill on July 3, 2012. According to it, a language may be
provided with the status of a regional language if the number of people
considering it their native language exceeds 10% of the total population
of the region.

The Crimean parliament instructed the Crimean government to draw up
and submit for consideration its proposals on the implementation of the
language law by October 10, 2012.