In Kyiv, members of the Mejlis are being persuaded to give up claims even to a virtual republic
Politicians in Kyiv are trying to persuade members of the Mejlis to give up their claims to their own republic in the new version of the Constitution of Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada deputy Mustafa Dzhemilev spoke about this on Channel 5.
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“We are now working on the wording. The tenth chapter, which concerns the autonomous republic. Regarding the term “republic,” some political forces have suggested that Ukraine is a unitary country, today there is Crimean Tatar autonomy, tomorrow Hungarian, Romanian, and as a result the state may disintegrate.
But these people apparently do not understand that a state can fall apart for completely different reasons. Completely unitary states. Let's say Pakistan collapsed into Bangladesh and Pakistan at one time - it doesn't depend on that. The fact that you narrow the rights of people does not strengthen the state. And expanding the rights of citizens in no way leads to the collapse of the state.
That's a moot point. Now the working commission is saying: “maybe we shouldn’t use the term “republic”, but simply “Crimean Tatar” autonomy?” For example, I believe that there is no need to be afraid of the term “republic”. Let it remain as an autonomous republic. It is not necessary to call it “Crimean Tatar”, let it be “Crimean Republic”, “Autonomous Republic of Crimea”, but it should be in the preamble of the Constitution of the republic that this is not some kind of amorphous phenomenon, but as a form of expression of the indigenous people in self-determination in the form of an autonomous republic within the framework of the state of Ukraine...
Some leaders of our factions came up to me and said: “Why do you need this republic? Is it better to create cultural-national autonomy there? Will it be better? I say: “Guys, do you want to tell me what is best for the Crimean Tatar people? You know more than me, do you want to teach me?”
...If we want to decide fairly, in accordance with international standards, with the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, then we need to talk about the right to self-determination of the Crimean Tatars,” Dzhemilev emphasized.
When asked by the TV presenter when the Verkhovna Rada can vote for amendments to the Constitution on Crimea, Dzhemilev replied:
“We expected to submit our formulations to the Constitutional Court even at the end of September or October. I think, since many members of the working group have expressed doubts about the appropriateness of using the term “republic,” we will present two options. One – “republic” – is more correct from our point of view. And the second is simply “Crimean autonomy” or “Crimean Tatar autonomy”.
In Kyiv, they are trying to persuade the Mejlis members to abandon their claims even to a virtual republic.