<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/27/does-he-know-anything-crimean-tatar-leader-mustafa-dzhemilev-on-trumps-plans-to-legitimise-russian-annexation>
"When Mustafa Dzhemilev read the news about Donald Trump’s plan for a peace
deal between Russia and Ukraine, he could not believe his eyes. Part of the US
administration’s peace plan, say recent reports, would involve Washington
recognising annexed Crimea as legitimate Russian territory, among other
concessions to the Kremlin that Trump hopes might stop Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“The whole world knows what happened in Crimea … It would be such a damage to
the reputation of the US that it will be hard for them to recover. It would be
shameful,” said Dzhemilev, a Soviet-era dissident turned Crimean Tatar
political leader, in an interview at his office in Kyiv.
Back in March 2014, during the Russian annexation, Dzhemilev was asked for his
public declaration of support for Moscow’s takeover by Vladimir Putin himself.
The Russian president spoke by telephone to Dzhemilev, promising money and
support for the Crimean Tatar community in exchange for his backing. “He
explained how we’ll be so happy under Russian rule,” Dzhemilev said, recalling
the conversation with disdain.
Dzhemilev turned down the deal, saying that after centuries of oppressing the
Crimean Tatars, the Russians were unlikely to change, and telling Putin the
best thing he could do was remove his troops from the peninsula. A month later,
when returning to Crimea from Kyiv, he was stopped at the new Russian frontier
and told he was banned from entering. He has lived in exile in Kyiv ever
since."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
