DW: Chubarov on the Crimea referendum
Some extracts from the interview:
We have not only appealed to the Crimean Tatars, but also to various other ethnic groups and denominations in Crimea. We’ve called on them to actively boycott the referendum, not to take part in the voting, because the referendum is illegal. It is against current Ukrainian law. It is being carried out even as foreign troops have occupied the whole of Crimea. People are in a state of fear about their future - and their present.
…
I’m not even going to talk about insignificant details like the fact that the referendum was announced 10 days before it was carried out, and the fact that there was no opportunity nor any provisions for people to calmly discuss the questions that are being put forward in the vote. We are sure that our position is the right one in this case, because the international community considers this referendum to be unlawful.
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The forceful annexation by one government of parts of another country under the cover of a simulated referendum - especially since this is a simulation that is being carried out at gunpoint - is the most horrible act of political speculation that could take place in the 21st century. It is a threat to the entire world order.
Russia claims a very high turnout and a total landslide including votes from 40% of Tatars, who at least in Sevastopol supposedly backed Russia. They are satisfied to state these figures and attribute them to some Tatar spokesperson we never heard of, a Lenur Usmanov (rt.com).
NATO allies are not about to invade Crimea, and Ukraine is not about to win it back. So Ukraine’s friends should offer Crimea’s Tatars and other objectors asylum before it is too late. Please.