Estonia recognises the genocide of the Crimean Tatars

On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia (Riigikogu) approved the Statement on recognition of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by the Soviet regime as an act of genocide. 83 members of the Riigikogu supported the document.

Let us remind you that the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944 was recognised as an act of genocide by Latvia, Lithuania, Canada and Poland.

On May 18, 1944, by Stalin’s order, the deportation of the indigenous people of Crimea – the Crimean Tatars – from the peninsula began. They deported a total of 191,044 people from Crimea at that time. In total, about 238,500 people were affected by deportation, and the number of those who died in the first years was 46.2% of the number of all deported. In addition to physical destruction, the Soviet authorities tried to erase any mention of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea: geographical names, architectural and cultural heritage. Moreover, they excluded the Crimean Tatars from the list of peoples of the USSR. They were forbidden to learn their native language, and until 1989, the Crimean Tatar people were forbidden even to appear in their Motherland. The policy of genocide returned in 2014 – with the beginning of the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

Illustration – Crimean Tatar Resource Center.