Ayder Asanov: a dialogue is the most important thing in the Crimea!

International consent is the major task for new authorities of the Republic of Crimea whom the peninsula inhabitants elected on the elections which passed quite recently. There are a lot of problems in this sphere today and the representative of the Foundation for Research and Support of Indigenous People of the Crimea Ayder Asanov tells about them:

- The Foundation for Research and Support of Indigenous People of the Crimea is the international public organization according to the status. We are engaged only in that is written down in the charter of the organization which was registered in the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. It is about assistance and support of indigenous people of the Crimea. First of all, we speak about legal support and position designation at the international level. Mostly it was done by the president of the Foundation for Research and Support of Indigenous People of the Crimea Nadir Bekirov, of course. He is the expert of the UN for many years, more than once participated in Assemblies of the UN, devoted to indigenous people problems.

We act on different levels. For example, as to the lawyer I often should protect people in lawsuits free of charge. Of course, there were the contacts with the authorities when the land question was resolved or when the matter was about dispersal of the Crimean Tatars action. It was necessary to assert the rights of our people in court and in various interdepartmental commissions.

- «Indigenous people» is already accepted term. What people of the Crimea do you add to the indigenous?

- You know, in this respect today there are a lot of most different opinions; especially various pseudo-experts are zealous, who appeared from anywhere. But there is after all an international law in which everything is accurately recorded. It is enough to look in the Declaration on the rights of indigenous people adopted by the U. N. It is told about the autochthonic people, that is, about the people who were created in a certain territory and not having statehood anywhere outside this territory.

In the Crimea the Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Krymchaks and Urums (Greek-Tatar) are related to indigenous people.

— Your foundation started working when the Crimea still was under control of the Ukrainian jurisdiction. What is it possible to tell about this period?

- We were registered in 1997 when everything was still rather liberally. And then there were problems. We began to feel various forms of pressure. For example, began to explain to us that though we are public organization, but have to pay income tax! Explanations thus were given very strange: you publish the books on grants and aid, so you have a profit … And it isn’t taken into account that we distribute these books free of charge. And, free distribution of the books having educational character just is also a condition of granting!

But the Ukrainian officials didn’t want to go deeply into this. The Crimean officials thus referred to the instructions coming from Kiev. We were forced if we don’t want to pay mythical profit on book publishing, so to withdraw the point from the organization charter where it is told about opportunity to be engaged in the books edition. It was like marasmus: three years in a row we hand in the income statement though simply had no it.

— Now the Crimea is the Russian region. Will something new appear in your work?

- It is difficult to say. It is necessary to clear a number of the legal moments, first of all. For example, if we want to work further, have to do it in a legal field of Russia and we just work on it now. But the status of the international organization remained in the territory of Ukraine — it needs to be considered. Tasks remain former: interests protection of indigenous people of the Crimea.

Now a lot of things aren’t clear to us; you keep on a situation and see what occurs. Big indignation was caused by the story which happened with the Nadir Bekirov in September.

- — When he was stopped by unknown?

- Yes, that case. Dear representative of the Crimean Tatar people took a cab to Dzhankoy to change the train and further to appear in New York on assembly of the UN on indigenous people problem. Suddenly near the Amurskoe village the cab was undercut by the car, some people jumped out of it. They pulled out Nadir-aga from the car, but took not money, but only phone and the passport … It was clear for what it was made — that the president couldn’t act on assembly. And so it happened in a result.

I understand that different forces could be interested in it but if the power worked, we would understand it. It was no power. But who it was? We can only guess it. I will notice only that as a result Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov acted in the U. N. By the way, the Nadir-aga often spoke at such actions, he was given 10 minutes. Besides the translator wasn’t necessary to him as he perfectly speaks English. And Dzhemilev appeared on such tribune the first time half a year ago and was given only 2 minutes …

You know, what fashion is at similar forums: it is necessary to love Ukraine! And here on assembly Dzhemilev and Chubarov broadcast about indigenous people, glorifying thus Ukraine. Of course, this is their right, but a question arises: what occurred, why do you suddenly started talking in a different way? You never so well spoke of Ukraine and always reminded that Ukraine didn’t recognize indigenous people!

- How do you think, what have the authorities to do that in the Crimea there would be friendship between all people living in the territory of the republic?

- There is nothing difficult here and it is necessary to think out nothing. That there would be an effective cooperation in such rather delicate sphere, it is necessary to communicate for a start! But to communicate not by the principle «I am the chief, you are the fool», but as equals. The relations of the parties have to be partner. And otherwise how it is possible to understand each other problems? Today we are told that there are representatives of the Crimean Tatar people in power. Yes, there are; but look at these representatives! These are those people who recited the oath to Ukraine, who sit in bossy offices for 10−20 years. They simply unsinkable and there is no advantage of them, and in the Crimea they won’t bring something positive to Russia. It is necessary to get rid of such people in power structures — instead of them it is necessary to invite those to whom the people really trust.

- The personnel problem is very important in the Crimea today?

- Of course, it is important. But most important, that we would have a dialogue. And as the lawyer I will tell that it is necessary to rely on norms of international law at the solution of the important questions touching a subject of an international consent. While we see that the people don’t care about it in the Crimea.

I will give an example. Earlier we had a representative body which was called as the Supreme Council. Today we have the State Council — it is already the legislature. It adopted the constitution of the Republic of Crimea. There it is written down that there are three state languages in the Crimea: Russian, Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian. Is it good? Of course, good! And sounds so pleasant! But when you approach the building of the State Council and you will see that there is only one inscription in Russian. By the way, when the Crimea was part of Ukraine, there were plates in three languages on this building!

Why did I give this example? Promises need to be kept. The word needs to be kept. People will believe the new power in the Crimea only when see that words will be followed by real affairs. Then we should have no problems in the sphere of the international relations.