MP Chubarov: Tatars won’t take up arms to oppose occupiers in Crimea

Crimean Tatars will not take up arms to oppose the occupying power in Crimea. 

Refat Chubarov, an MP from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in the Ukrainian Parliament and Chairman of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people said this on air on the 112 Ukraine TV channel.

"Crimean Tatars will not take up arms for many reasons, not only because the principle of non-violence has always been the most important principle of the Tartars. This is something that sets apart the Crimean Tatar national movement. Another reason is that they have no weapons, they live among people who have different attitudes to Russia and Ukraine," he said.

According to him, only 300,000 Crimean Tatars live among the 2.25 million people living in Crimea.

"They will continue to implement a mixture of factors and methods that will lead to the liberation of Crimea from the occupiers ... We will by all means convince our partners to step up the measures of economic pressure on Russia and our partners should help Ukraine to strengthen its army," Chubarov noted.

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