Turkish parliament members condemned the repression against the Crimean Tatar people by Russia, a statement made by Turkish deputies, members of the Turkish-Ukrainian parliamentary friendship group Tugrul Turkes, Lutfu Turkkan, Utku Cakirozer, and Ali Oztunc during a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation in Ankara, writes the Turkish portal QIRIM.News.
The Ukrainian delegation included the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar, the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Nariman Dzhelyal, and the Commissioner for the Rights of Residents of the ARC Crimea and the city of Sevastopol Elvin Kadyrov.
The organization Amnesty International believes that in recent years, the Russian authorities have increasingly used false, politically motivated charges of committing terrorist crimes. "The abuse of these charges reached a completely new level with the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022," human rights activists stated.
As reported by QIRIM.News, deputy Ali Oztunc stated that he opposes imprisoning people for their political views and condemned such a policy of Russia towards Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. His colleague Lutfu Turkkan noted that political prisoners have nothing to do with terrorism and added that the definition of terror and terrorism in the world should change. He added that the homeland of the Crimean Tatars is not only Crimea but also Turkey.
Deputy Utku Cakirozer assured that the issue of releasing the "Kremlin prisoners" will be discussed at the inter-parliamentary joint NATO committee within the framework of the Parliamentary Assembly of Alliance members.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Nariman Dzhelyal reported that currently, the number of Ukrainian Kremlin prisoners is 220 people, among whom are 136 Crimean Tatars. He specified that the prisoners opposed the Russian occupation and noted that Russia is exerting pressure on Muslims.
Previously, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center reported that during the period of Crimea's annexation, 362 political prisoners and persecuted individuals were recorded, of which 226 are representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.