Leader of the Crimean Tatars: The Crimea will return to Ukraine within our lifetime
Refat Chubarov, Member of Parliament and the Speaker of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, believes that the Crimea will return to Ukraine during the lifetime of the present generation.
"I always say very confidently here: it will happen much sooner than the Kremlin would like. It will be within our lifetime. We will return to the Crimea; it cannot be otherwise," he said in an interview with Apostrophe news website.
However, he believes that it will happen as a result of diplomatic, rather than military, actions.
"A number of powerful players will decide the future fate of the Crimea: these include the United States, the European Union, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Romania, and Bulgaria. And why not? These are Black Sea countries ... They will all have different weight. A large number of countries or even regional organizations are established through a different formula. The same with the EU or, let’s say, NATO. And each of these players will announce their approaches, principles. And some will bring motivations as to why the Crimea should belong to this or that country. The discussion will be about Ukraine and about Russia,” said Chubarov.
He believes that Ukraine’s most important argument for the Crimea will be a return of the right of the indigenous people, that is, the Crimean Tatars, to self-determination.