Crimea. News. Top-5 (February 1-8)

Grenade thrown at Mejlis branch in Kherson

– A grenade blast blew out a metal door in a building housing Kharkov’s Mejlis branch on the night of February 6-7.

-According to Mejlis senior members, the blast is a deliberate provocation perpetrated by the pro-Russian forces and aimed at destabilizing the situation in southern Ukraine, and more specifically, in the Kharkov region.

-Abmeszhit Suleimanov, a Mejlis representative in the Kherson region, believes the incident is linked to the Crimean Tatars reporting some media outlets in the Kherson region to Ukraine’s Security Service for inciting interethnic hatred.

-Some media outlets in the Kherson region carried reports claiming that Crimean Tatars are out to seize a part of the Kherson region with the support of Turkey. News in Russian:

Сулейманов: Взрыв у здания Меджлиса связан с разжиганием межнациональной розни

Стали известны обстоятельства взрыва в Херсоне

В представительство Меджлиса в Херсоне кинули гранату

European Parliament adopts resolution on Crimea

– On February 6, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Russia to pull out its troops from Crimea and condemning violations of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians’ rights on the peninsula.

– The European Parliament urges the Russian authorities to grant unrestricted access to Crimea to international institutions and international experts from the OSCE, UN and the Council of Europe, as well as members of any human rights organizations or media outlets wishing to visit Crimea for the purpose of appraising the situation on the ground and presenting a report on their findings.

– By condemning unprecedented high levels of human rights abuses in Crimea, European MPs sent a message to Russia that it, as an occupying state, bears responsibility for ensuring security of the population of Crimea. Hence, it should investigate in an effective, transparent and impartial manner all cases of disappearances, torture and human right abuses perpetrated by police and paramilitary formations since February 2014. News in Russian:

Резолюция Европарламента готовит Крым к возврату домой (ТЕКСТ)

ЕП: В Крыму беспрецедентный уровень нарушения прав человека

Crimeans outraged at not being able to vote for Jamala on Eurovision 2016

– Residents of annexed Crimea are outraged at having been denied the right to vote at the national selection for European song contest Eurovision 2016. On their community’s Facebook page called ‘Let’s support Jamala at Eurovision’, they ask “STB” and “UA: First” TV Channels the question: “Is Crimea part of Ukraine?”

– On February 6, Jamala, a famous Ukrainian pop singer of Crimean Tatar descent, won by a landslide in the first semifinal of the national selection for Eurovision 2016 after being given the highest score by the jury and TV viewers.

– Jamala made it to the final of Eurovision 2016 thanks to a song about a tragic plight of her family who survived a cruel deportation from Crimea to Central Asia ordered by Stalin in 1944. News in Russian:

Джамала выиграла первый тур Нацотбора Евровидения-2016 (ВИДЕО)

Крымчане возмущены, что не могут проголосовать за Джамалу на отборе Евровидения

Mothers of children expelled from Crimean kindergartens grow discontented

– Women on maternity leave in Crimea are getting increasingly discontented.

– The women are frustrated by late child care payments which are causing their children to get expelled from kindergartens. According to them, kindergarten fees have soared since New Year, while child care subsidies remained unchanged.

– As a result, a lot of women have no way of paying their kindergarten fees. It is common knowledge that the unemployment situation in Crimea is very serious. News in Russian:

В Крыму бунтуют мамы выгнанных из детсадов детей (ФОТО)

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry: Turkey should take part in negotiations on de-occupation of Crimea

– According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine is suggesting that negotiations on de-occupation of Crimea are held in the Geneva plus format with participation of Turkey and international organizations.

-“As a basis, the Geneva format is acceptable, but there should be other representatives there as well,” Pavlo Klimkin told a news conference after sitting on the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs in Kiev on Friday.

– “It is likely that the proposal is given serious consideration on a visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Ukraine, which is scheduled for late February. It will be little wonder if Turkey, which has always claimed to care about Crimea due to sharing a common faith, culture and language with Crimean Tatars, will become a full-fledged participant at the negotiations”.

Будет ли привлечена Турция к переговорам по Крыму?