Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an appeal on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars.
The head of state published a corresponding post in his account on the social network.
“On the 81st anniversary of their deportation of our brothers of the Crimean Tatar Turks from my homeland, I mourn their suffering with sorrow. I wish the Almighty the Almighty to our compatriots who died during the deportation. Turkey will continue to protect the rights of our Crimean brothers and sisters and always stand on their side,” the appeal said.
The deportation of the Crimean Tatars was held by the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR on May 18-20, 1944 by decision of the State Defense Committee signed by its chairman Joseph Stalin, and was completed on June 4, 1944.