Ukraine has a new defense minister. Roustem Oumerov, known for being a particularly committed advocate for the return of Crimea to the bosom of kyiv, as well as a tireless activist for the defense of his community: the Tatars. A nomination welcomed with measured hope within this population in Crimea.
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This is one of the many signs of the fear that reigns within the Crimean Tatar community. Of the appointment of Rustem Oumerov to the Defense portfolio in Ukraine, have only received reactions by written and brief messages, under strict cover of anonymity. No question of voicemail, let alone interviews on the phone.
Read alsoUkraine: Rustem Oumerov appointed new Minister of Defense by President Zelensky
” He knows us well and we know him well are the first words of a Tatar activist from the annexed peninsula. Roustem Amarov is indeed first and foremost, for this activist, someone who knows intimately, because that is what his family has experienced, what decades of repression mean.
Roustem Amarov may be a tenacious advocate of the return of the peninsula to Ukraine, another activist is doubtful. ” The situation in Crimea will not change without a complex scenario she said cautiously. A statement that may also be due to a fear that affects her. ” The Crimean Tatars would be the first victims if the Ukrainian army approaches them “, she explains.
From this minister, reputed to be a skilled negotiator, who has already successfully participated in sensitive negotiations on prisoner exchanges, a community activist said he especially hoped for even more support to negotiate the release of members of the community.
Constant pressure
The last raid by the Russian security forces in Crimea barely dates back to August 24, with major searches and the putting behind bars of militant figures accused of “terrorism”. The next day, the trusted man of the Kremlin installed at the head of Crimea, Sergei Axionov, spoke on his Telegram channel: the arrest of six members of a cell of an international terrorist organization banned in Russia » and added that « such cells pose a serious security threat” because “they are accomplices of the enemy “.
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Tatars are indeed essentially perceived and described by the authorities as disloyal to Russia. Nine years that this is worth to the figures of the community but also to simple members a surveillance and a constant pressure. And since the Russian offensive in Ukraine and particularly since the summer of 2022, Tatar human rights activists on the spot describe an amplification of this phenomenon.
Read alsoUkraine: Crimean Tatars try to flee mobilization
A little over two months ago, an activist from the north of the peninsula argued that ” since February 2022, at least 12 more Crimean Tatars have been imprisoned for terrorism”. And according to her, “The latest criminal cases concern entire families. They were stopped after a bombardment along the Sea of Azov, when a Russian military base was destroyed. Naturally, those responsible were not found. But some time later this group of families was arrested and Russian media linked this detention with this event and said that the Crimean Tatars are Islamic radicals who work in the interest of the Ukrainian security services “.
Islamist radicals, the subject is repeated ad nauseam in Russia. On Monday, a few hours before the Putin-Erdogan meeting in Sochi, the reputed political scientist close to the Kremlin Sergei Markov even went so far as to formulate this (false) accusation: “ Rustem Umerov is associated with Fertullah Gülen’s organization, which Erdogan considers a terrorist organization and the main organizer of the 2016 military coup attempt “.
“We are called “accomplices of Ukrainian nationalists” »
With the new turn in the conflict and the announcement of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, life has become even more difficult for the Crimean Tatars. The activity of the security forces now regularly targets very broadly, well beyond identified militants.
A Tatar activist takes stock: “ Over the past few months, from February to June, searches of Crimean Tatars began to occur with even greater intensity. And since the beginning of the attacks on the railway line, it’s two or three times a week and every week. Just recently, we recorded at least 18 searches, all in a very short period of time. “. The general atmosphere has further hardened: On the Telegram channels of Z bloggers, the Crimean Tatars are called “jdouny”, [un mot péjoratif pour dire “ceux qui attendent”, NDLR], to say that we are only waiting for one thing: the arrival of the Ukrainian army. We are called “accomplices of Ukrainian nationalists” or “traitors””, says a professor.
In this climate of suspicion and repression, the partial mobilization a year ago also affected the Crimean Tatars. As in Moscow or Vladivostok, some fled to escape, but others had to join the front to fight in the uniform of the Russian army.