The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey in connection with the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and Circassians said:
“Türkiye continues to support the Crimean Tatars today, as in the past, to eliminate the suffering caused to them and ensure their life in safety, well -being and prosperity, preserving their identity on the lands of their ancestors”.
The ministry’s written statement recalls that the indigenous people of Crimea – the Turks -Crimean Tatars – were forcibly divorced from their homeland and were expelled in inhuman conditions.
The document notes that a significant number of exiles died as a result of the conditions in which they were. Although decades have passed, the usurpied rights of the Crimean Tatar people were not restored, and the illegal annexation of Crimea exacerbated the surviving suffering.
“Turkey continues to support the Crimean Tatars today, as in the past, in order to eliminate the suffering caused to them and ensure their life in safety, well -being and prosperity, protecting their identity on the lands of their ancestors. The expulsion of the Circassians is another tragedy that we recall with sadness. May 21, 161 ago, the peoples of the Caucasus were forced to leave their homeland in very difficult conditions, and many people died “.
Turkish Foreign Ministry shares the pain of the Crimean Tatar Turks and Bratsk Caucasian Peoples. Ankara respects the memory of those who died in these tragic events, who left an indelible mark in the memory of mankind.