Hundreds of Crimean Tatars have gathered in Simferopol, the capital of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and expressed their solidarity with pro-EU protesters in Kyiv.
The activists held placards on December 10 saying, "We are for Ukraine's EU-integration!"
The leader of the Crimean Tatars' National Congress (Mejlis), Refat Chubarov, told journalists that the rights of Crimean Tatars can be fully restored only if Ukraine becomes an internationally supported member of the civilized world.
Crimean Tatars organize the gathering each year on December 10, International Human Rights Day.
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the mass deportation of 180,000 Crimean Tatars from Crimea to Central Asia in 1944.
Crimean Tatars were rehabilitated by the Kremlin in 1957.
The majority of them say they still have no proper housing after returning to Crimea in the late 1980s and '90s.
The activists held placards on December 10 saying, "We are for Ukraine's EU-integration!"
The leader of the Crimean Tatars' National Congress (Mejlis), Refat Chubarov, told journalists that the rights of Crimean Tatars can be fully restored only if Ukraine becomes an internationally supported member of the civilized world.
Crimean Tatars organize the gathering each year on December 10, International Human Rights Day.
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the mass deportation of 180,000 Crimean Tatars from Crimea to Central Asia in 1944.
Crimean Tatars were rehabilitated by the Kremlin in 1957.
The majority of them say they still have no proper housing after returning to Crimea in the late 1980s and '90s.
