Rival demonstrations broke out Wednesday as Crimean Tatars and the local Russian population confronted one another in the region's capital Simferopol.
The Crimean Tatars gathered due to an emergency meeting of the Crimean Parliament and chanted slogans calling for maintaining the unity of the country.
In a press statement, Crimean Tatar National Assembly Chairman Rifat Chubarov said they had discussed the postponement of the parliamentary session after Parliament Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov rejected their proposal.
Chubarov said Konstantinov would make a statement after consultations with his party as they had demanded an immediate decision to avoid an escalation of the situation.
Chubarov said the Crimean Parliament had turned into a center of instability and added that Konstantinov should immediately postpone the session.
Following Konstantinov's statement, groups of Crimean Tatars gathered in protest in front of the parliament.
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