Estonian parliament recognizes deportation of Crimean Tatars as genocide

Estonia’s national legislature recognized the Soviet Union’s deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 during World War II as an act of genocide on Oct. 16, according to Estonian public broadcaster ERR. 

Eighty-three out of 101 members of parliament supported the decision.

The statement condemns both the extermination of Crimean Tatars and their mass deportation from the Crimean Peninsula to Central Asia in March 1944. Lawmakers said that this forced relocation was a planned action executed by the totalitarian Soviet regime.

“The Russian Federation has continued its policy of genocide against Crimean Tatars since the occupation of Crimea in 2014, aimed at destroying their identity,” the statement said.

Known as Riigikogu, the parliament urged the international community to express solidarity with Crimean Tatars, to persist in condemning the occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea, and to demand the restoration of Ukraine’s state sovereignty.

The statement, titled “Recognizing the Mass Deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as an Act of Genocide,” was submitted by a group of 54 lawmakers.

Vira Konyk, the head of the Congress of Ukrainians of Estonia (CUE), noted that Professor Yevhen Tsybulenko, an expert in international law and CUE member, contributed to the drafting of the statement.

Additionally, an exhibition titled “For Crimea,” dedicated to the deportation of Crimean Tatars, was on display in the parliament building. 

“The event was organized by the Crimean Platform, with the Congress of Ukrainians in Estonia assisting in the translation of texts,” Tsybuelnko said.