Today at 01:45
Dear Ukrainians,
Dear Crimean Tatar people,
Honorable participants of the fourth summit of the International Crimea Platform, our distinguished guests: President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Siliņa.
Honorable Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Parliament Mr. Vystrčil, Chairman of the Moldovan Parliament Mr. Grosu, Honorable Mr. Dzhemilev, members of the diplomatic corps, our warriors.
Dear guests, ladies, and gentlemen!
Today, we stand in a special place.
Not long ago, this was the square of the Chekists. And none of you need an explanation of who they were. In your countries, their horrific, utterly terrible crimes are known and remembered—the crimes and deeds of the totalitarian Soviet system as a whole.
How they killed, tortured, and carried out violent deportations.
Today, we have gathered here to commemorate one of the most terrible tragedies in Ukraine’s history—the tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people. Genocide and deportation. Absolute evil, which the Soviet authorities, including the Chekists themselves, committed in 1944. Today, in this place, we unveil a memorial to honor the memory of the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. And as a symbol that tyrants and dictators will inevitably lose.
We unveil this memorial at a time when history is repeating itself, when Crimea has once again become a battleground for freedom, dignity, and the right to live—live on one’s own land.
This memorial is not just a tribute to the past. It is a symbol that we neither forget nor forgive. Thousands of Crimean Tatars were forcibly displaced from their homes, thousands died somewhere on that dreadful long road, somewhere in foreign lands. They were uprooted from their native soil, but that root has grown in the hearts of their descendants, in each of us. We stand here today to emphasize to the world: Crimea is Ukraine! Crimea is our home! We must move forward until the invaders leave our home.
Today is a special day. We unveil this memorial as part of the fourth summit of the International Crimea Platform. It is a symbol of our unity and determination to restore justice. This is so important! We see how Russian occupation has once again brought sorrow to Crimea. Today, our brothers and sisters—Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians, activists, and all brave people—sit in Russian prisons for speaking the truth, for not submitting to the occupier. Lenie Umerov, Server Mustafayev, brothers Aziz and Aisan Akhtemov, and hundreds of others, descendants of the previously deported, now face persecution again. But the occupiers will not break us, just as they did not break those deported in 1944.
Crimea is not just a territory. It is a part of our soul, a land where our people lived in peace, in harmony with their culture, language, and traditions. We are not just fighting for the return of Crimea—we are fighting for the restoration of justice, for the right of every Crimean to return home, to their Crimea, free from Russia and free from fear.
Today, we open the Ukrainian National Memorial dedicated to the commemoration of the tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people. And one day, such a memorial will inevitably appear in our free Crimea. It is a symbol of indomitable will. It reminds us of three tragic stages in the history of the Crimean Tatar people: the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire in 1783, the deportation in 1944, and the occupation in 2014. But at the same time, it gives us hope—hope for the future. We are confident that Crimea will be free. This is our shared mission, and the whole world stands with Ukraine in this fight today.
Memory compels us to act. The Peace Formula plan is also a plan for the return of Crimea. It is a plan for restoring the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, the rights of Ukrainians, and all those who live on this land. We believe that this memorial will become a place where both Ukrainians and our allies will gather—all those who share our struggle for our Ukrainian Crimea, all those who share the philosophy of memory, the memory of past tragedies to prevent them from happening again, all those who have no doubt: Crimea is Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
