Trumps Ukraine deal will not bring peace

The human rights organization Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) is shocked by US President Donald Trump’s recently announced “deal” with Russia, warning of the consequences for the Indigenous population of Crimea.

“Following the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, German and European politics failed: Instead of decisively opposing Russia, the relations to Russia were – in part – even strengthened. Economic cooperation was prioritized, to the detriment of the inhabitants of Crimea – especially the indigenous Crimean Tatars, the Karamen, and the Krimchaks. Since 2014, they have been suffering from systematic persecution, displacement, and oppression. Leaving the field to Putin and Trump will not bring peace, but will cement the unspeakable failure after 2014,” warned Sarah Reinke, head of human rights work at the STP.

“An illegitimate recognition of Crimea as a Russian territory would be a betrayal of the Indigenous peoples of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, who have been suffering from oppression by the Russian occupiers for years. Also, it would cause irreparable damage to the international legal order and the international security architecture – accelerating a Russian attack on the EU or NATO member states,” warned Viktoria Savchuk from the organization Berliner Info-Point Krim.

“No one has the right to make decisions about our fate without us. Our people have consistently fought – under the most difficult conditions rights under Soviet totalitarianism – for their rights, and we will continue our path of peaceful yet determined resistance and assertiveness,” stated Elvis Çolpuh, Chairman of the cultural center KERMEN.

“The rights of the local people of Crimea, the Crimean Tatars, are inviolable and cannot simply be changed at the will of Trump and Putin. A recognition of Crimea as a Russian territory is out of the question, as the Mejlis, the democratically elected body of the Crimean Tatars, and President Selenskyj have made clear,” said Emil Ibrahimov from the Crimean Tatar media platform Ceemat. “Before discussing another possible status for Crimea – which could only be done by elected representatives of the Crimean Tatars – Russia will have to take responsibility for crimes of the past: the genocide crimes against the Indigenous Crimean Tatars in 1944, the crimes in connection with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the crimes committed during the large-scale invasion into Ukraine in 2022.”

“We have been subjected to multiple waves of expulsion – from the Tsarist Empire to the Soviet Union and to the current Russian occupation regime. The attempt to colonize Crimea, to suppress the Indigenous character of the peninsula, to destroy the cultural heritage of the Crimean Tatars and our sacred sites is part of an ongoing ethnic war. Against this background, the recent statements from the United States about a possible recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crime are cynical,” explained Elvis Çolpuh.
 

Sarah Reinke is available for further questions: s.reinke@gfbv.de or +49 551 49906-13.

We will be happy to put you in touch with the Crimean Tatar representatives quoted.