The team of the new president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, spoke about possible national autonomy in the Crimea. The corresponding clause in the country’s Constitution may appear shortly.
It was announced by Nikita Poturaev, the political adviser of Zelensky. According to him, a prototype of The Supreme Council committee on the occupied territories has already been created, which is divided into two subcommittees – on the Crimea and the Donbas.
“At the level of The Supreme Council committee, the prospect of creating the Crimean national autonomy is supported. And I support it too. I believe that the Crimean Tatar people deserved it. It is clear that they are worthy, but it is still appropriate to say that they deserved it: by the exploits of their representatives, including while they were part of the USSR, ” he stressed.
Poturaev also recalled that in the XVIII century, Russia “swallowed Crimea, the state wich remained independent for centuries.”
“It is wrong to regard the Crimea as a Turkish colony. It’s an artificial and fictional, propaganda discourse… The Crimean Khanate, as you know, was an ally of Ukraine during the war of liberation of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, ”added Zelensky’s advisor.
Naturally, the current Crimean authorities negatively perceived Poturayev’s words, calling such an approach “amateurish” and explaining it by their desire to continue exacerbating relations between Ukraine and Russia.
Earlier, Mustafa Dzhemilev, responding to a question about the need to amend the 10th section of the Constitution on the status of Crimea, noted that the team of the President of Ukraine is not yet sufficiently informed about this topic.
“For
a team of president Zelensky, it is rather a new theme. They are not
informed enough and not because they neglect. It is very important
for us with Zelensky himself, with his team to talk in detail about the
advantages of national-territorial autonomy for Ukraine, how much it will
satisfy the legitimate rights of the indigenous people of Crimea, including
the prestige of Ukraine, ”he said.
It is worth noting that it is not the first time when the Ukrainian authorities raise the topic of national autonomy in the Crimea. In December 2018, during the time of Petro Poroshenko, it was reported that the Supreme Council was prepared to introduce draft amendments to the country’s Constitution on the creation of a Crimean Tatar national-territorial autonomy within Ukraine. However, the question was not brought to its logical conclusion.
Therefore, it can be said that in this matter, the Zelensky team intends to continue the concept, the foundation of which was laid by the previous government. How far the motion in this direction will progress this time is still unknown. Some experts agree that this is another attempt to win the loyalty of the new authorities on the part of the Crimean Tatar population. On the other hand, the elections to the Supreme Council have already been completed and, following the voting, the Zelensky party won the majority of seats in parliament, therefore, to say that the current government is still in dire need of support from the Crimeans.
Osman Veli
