Kazan photographer praises “non-aggressive and disciplined” Crimean Tatars
Simferopol, June 12 (Navigator, Evgeniy Andreev) – Kazan photographer Rifhat Yakupov, who has repeatedly visited Crimea and photographed Mejlis events, sets the Crimean Tatars as an example to the Volga Tatars.
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“I have always felt comfortable in Crimea, although the Crimean Tatars are different from us. We are close relatives, although the ancient Romans and Greeks took a large part in the formation of the Crimean Tatars. Our mentality is significantly different from the mentality of the Crimean Tatars. The language of the Crimean Tatars is different from ours, it is 80 percent similar to Turkish,” Yakupov noted in an interview with the Kazan publication BUSINESS Online.
In his opinion, the Crimean Tatars are “more politicized.”
“Perhaps fate made them this way; their acute pain does not go away. For several generations they have been experiencing many problems. They have not come to terms with them and will not come to terms with them. While the Kazan Tatars are successfully eroding their national identity, the Crimean Tatars are doing just the opposite.
Russians from Crimea can leave for Russia, Ukrainians can go to Ukraine. Where should the Tatars run? They defend their homeland,” reflects the photographer who married a Crimean Tatar activist in Crimea.
The policy of the Majlis, Yakupov is convinced, “is a peaceful confrontation, pickets”:
“Crimean Tatars are non-aggressive, but disciplined and self-organized. There are no heavily armed people there,” the photographer praises the “pacifists” who, without hesitation, released military poison gas towards Simferopol residents in mass clashes on February 26.
But the ex-head of the Mejlis, Mustafa Dzhemilev, made a special impression on Rifkhat Yakupov:
“This man served many years in Soviet prisons, and while still a young man, a freshman, he began the fight for the return of his people to their historical homeland. He is small in stature, with a quiet voice, but you can feel his power, intelligence and will. He is a leader by nature,” the Kazan photographer is touched by the bright image of the leader.
Kazan Photographer Praises "Non-Aggressive and Disciplined" Crimean Tatars