Crimean Parliament Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov has said Russia is ready to solve the problems of the Crimean Tatars - the Turkic ethnic group which opposed the peninsula's referendum to join the Russian Federation.
Saying Ukraine had lacked investment over the last 23 years, Konstantinov told Anadolu Agency that $25 million will be invested this year in Crimean Tatars' villages, mainly in infrastructure.
But he added: “The problems were accumulated in such a way that it is now impossible for some of them to be solved.
"Crimean Tatar settlements are in terrible condition - there is no water, no gas, no streets, no electricity.”
- Forcible exile
He said Crimean Tatars had cultivated a prejudgment against Russia.
“There are some who are using the tragedy of these people for their personal interests,” Konstandinov said, adding that a new civil society must be created.
One of the most blatant examples of the Crimean Tatars' tragedies was when virtually their entire population was forcibly exiled to Central Asia by Stalin's Soviet government in 1944.
Approximately half of them died from hunger and disease in the early years of the deportation.
Konstantinov said Crimean Tatars will be best represented through the country’s decision-making institutions and he pointed out the group had deputy prime minister and minister.
- 'Violating laws'
The 280,000 Crimean Tatars living in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea constitute close to 13 percent of the total population, according to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry.
Crimean Tatars did not participate in the March 16 referendum in the peninsula to declare independence from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation after leaders of the ethnic group opposed the move.
Speaking about the ban on entering Russia on Crimean Tatar leader and Ukrainian Parliament member, Mustafa Abdulcemil Kirimoglu, Konstantivov said Kirimoglu was “violating Russian laws”.
“He is fortunate in not entering Russia, because if he did, legal action would be required in accordance with laws,” he said.
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