May 9 – Victory Day, May 18 – Mourning Day!

Since 1993 Crimea has been commemorating the victims of the deportation on May 18. Today when a lot of efforts are made to restore justice, including in Crimea, many ask: what the accusation of Crimean Tatars in betrayal was based on? It is clear that these kind of provocative rumors and misinformation were spread by certain forces trying to slander and humiliate Crimean Tatars.
At the sane time Russia doesn’t want to recall those who were forgotten long ago, for example the twice heroes of the Soviet Union – Ametkhan Sultan, as well as the hero of the Soviet Union – Petay Abilov, Teyfuk Abdula, Uzeir Abduramanov, Abdureim Reshidov, Seitnaf Seitveliev and many other Tatars from Crimea. Could they ever imagine fighting against the Nazi Germany that later on another Nazi regime would sweep off their people from Crimea?
How could they be the traitors? First, Crimean Tatars never entered the Russian Empire on their own will, as well as Kazan Tatars that didn’t swear allegiance to Russian Tsar, it means that it is up to them who they should fight for or against. Second, the question is who was a real traitor? In fact, the WWII began on September 1, 1939 in a week after the ratification of the Pact of Molotov-Ribbentrop. It began after Adolf Hitler’s troops invaded Poland. Already 17 days later Iosif Stalin’s troops invaded Poland. Hitler and Stalin divided Poland the first one in the West the second one in the East. Thus, Stalin fought on Hitler’s side, and later on Hitler and Stalin fought against each other.
What was the difference between the Soviet and Nazi German totalitarian regimes? Was it the mere fact that one criminal misanthropic regime won over another?
The mass extermination of peoples and nations, including the destruction of the Soviet soldiers from generals to common soldiers was one of the elements of the general plan of the genocide of the population of the USSR and creation of concentration camps (GULAGs).
We would remind you that many peoples lived through this terrible tragedy. The deportations of the social groups and the whole people were constantly practiced by the Bolshevik regime. These processes strengthened since the 30's. Up to 50’s 15 peoples and more than 40 ethnic groups were subjected to the deportations. Around 3.5 million people were exiled from their native land. Many of them died during the deportation.
In November 1943 the general replacement of “people-betrayers” from the North Caucasus started. Stalin – “father of peoples” declared Ingushs and Chechens people-betrayers and Nazis’ allies. Every repressed people of the USSR was accused of this without exclusion.
May 18, 2013 is the 69th anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars from their native land –Crimea, committed by the Communist regime. 69 years ago Moscow Kremlin committed the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. They were sure that they “cleansed” Crimea from its indigenous people forever. The exile of Crimean Tatars started on May 18, 1944 in the morning and finished by the evening on May 20. According to different data from 180 to 200 thousands Crimean Tatars were deported. The majority of them were exiled to Uzbekistan.
The inhuman conditions of the commandant’s regime that lasted 12 years – from 1944 to 1956, hunger, epidemics and hardships in special settlements resulted in mass losses among Crimean Tatars mainly old men, women and children. During the first years alone 46,2 % Crimean Tatars died in exile. At this very time the majority of men (35.000) fought in the Soviet Army against Germany. After the war all of them - soldiers and officers, were also exiled despite their military merits and medals.
We would remind that in June 1945 the last group of Crimean Tatars from fishing village Choqrak, located in Arabat Spit was loaded on a ship and drowned at sea. According to one of the versions, the officials “forgot” about the inhabitants of this village while deporting the whole Crimean Tatar people in 1944. Therefore the decision was made to hide the traces of such "forgetfulness" in this barbaric way.
In exile tens of thousands of victims during the first years of the deportation, the decades of repressions and hardships didn’t crush the Crimean Tatar people. People got united, held out, fought and returned to their homeland – Crimea, despite those who tried and is trying to prevent the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people. Presently the population of Crimea numbers around 2 million people, including 300 thousand Crimean Tatars.
Let’s draw a parallel between two holidays – Victory Day in Russia, May 9 and Day of Memory and Sorrow in Crimea, May 18. Russia draws all state bodies to celebrate this holiday, spending billions. Mass Media keep telling about it 24 hours a day from kindergartens to public offices, patriotic events are held. This holiday is also marked with laud drunken feasts. Everyone is treated with buckwheat porridge and front 100 grams of vodka. In addition the war veterans are awarded with expensive presents. Annually on May 9 from the high tribune traditionally the speeches are pronounced about the heroism of the Russian people. A lot of words are pronounced about the patriotism, but there is no word about tens of millions of exterminated and deported peoples.
Similarly every year on May 18 the Crimean Tatar people gathers in the mourning meeting, making prayer in the memory of our nationals. The participants of the meeting recall again and again the tragedy of the past and those who died prematurely, and those who remained in immense steppes of the Central Asia, Siberia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. On that day they are united by the fight for the rights of their people. They are sure that there will be no revival of the national self-consciousness without the restoration of the history. And it is hard to achieve the unity and cohesion of the people, the organizers of this action think. The Mourning Day is not a kind of a bought action. Crimean Tatars come to the square united by their tragic history.
We, Kazan Tatars are sincerely grateful to Crimean Tatar people for the assertion of your national rights and your leaders for the fight it the severest conditions. It is a fine example of an unmercenariness and cohesion. In particular, we are grateful to the Leader of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Jemilev and his deputy and MP of Crimea Refat Chubarov.
The leaders and patriots of the Tatar people in Tatarstan make the public and political work, aimed at uniting the Turkic, Finno-Ugric, Altay and other peoples, ex-Chairman of VTOC – Zinnur Agliullin, Leader of Milli Mejlis of the Tatar people – Fauziya Bairamova, candidate of historical science – Refael Muhametdinov, the Honored President of MOTM – Talgat Ahmadishin, public figure, writer, the former MP of Russian Federation – Fandas Safiullin. We hope that our joint efforts could promote the consolidation of Kazan and Crimean Tatars. Our common history proved that Kazan Khanate and Crimean Khanate cooperated with each other in the political and economical areas.
We hope that the heads of governments: the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, the Prime Minister of Turkey – Recep Erdogan, the President of Kazakhstan – Nursultan Nazarbaev, the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, the President of Azerbaijan – Ilham Aliev, the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnihanov, the President of Bashkortostan Rustem Hamitov, Head of Chuvash Republic – Mihail Ignatev, as well as the representatives of the UN, Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic states, Islamic Conference Organization and League of Arab States will take part in the Day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people.
We all know that the heads of tens of states come together annually on “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust” timed to Holocaust. For the last 60 years Germany paid about 60 billions US Dollars to Jews – victims of Nazism. After the example of Germany, Russia - the successor of the Soviet Union, must also pay compensation to the Crimean Tatar people and other deported peoples. We hope that the heads of the governments of Turkic states could come together and support the Crimean Tatar people.
We sent this letter to Ukraine, (Kyiv, tel.: +380963775026) to the political immigrant Nafis Kashapov to be spread in Russian Mass Media, as well as in the near and far abroad. At the same time we would like to ask you to translate this letter to Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, Kazakh, Uzbek, Azerbaijan, English, Turkish and Arab languages.
We wish Crimean Tatars to find their deserved place in the brotherly family of nations of the world!
This address was adopted at the city’s meeting of Naberezhny-Chelny branch of TOC on April 15, 2013.
The Chairman of TOC Rafis Kashapov on behalf of city’s meeting. 
The Secretary of the meeting – Sergei Vishnyakov. http://tatar-centr.blogspot.ru/2013/04/9-18.html