The capital of Turkey hosted a scientific conference dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor

A scientific conference on the Holodomor took place in Ankara, Ukrinform reported. 

The conference was attended by Ukrainian and Turkish scholars, researchers and experts, representatives of the diplomatic corps of foreign states, accredited in Turkey, representatives of the embassy of Ukraine in Turkey, diaspora. 

The event started with a minute of silence. 

“85 years ago, Ukrainians who worked hard, died of hunger on their own land. Time passes, but not pain. Holodomor 1932-33 was one of the most brutal and greatest crimes of the Soviet regime against the Ukrainians. In this way, Stalin wanted to put an end to the “Ukrainian question”: to destroy our identity and desire for freedom”, said Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey Andriy Sibigha in his speech. 

The diplomat also noted that the memory of the Holodomor would prevent repetition of such crimes in the future. 

“Ukrainians resisted the most the transformations that the Soviet totalitarian regime carried out. On August 11, 1932, Stalin told Kaganovich that there was a threat of “losing Ukraine”. Then Stalin developed a punitive action, which consisted of confiscating of all food products in peasant homes, in January 1933, blocking peasants in villages and prohibiting displacement, as well as information blockades”, Professor Stanislav Kulchytsky, Doctor of Historical Sciences, emphasized in his report. 

“At a time when Ukrainian peasants were dying of hunger, the products taken from them were sent to other regions of the USSR and abroad. At the same time, Stalin’s regime denied the existence of a hunger in Ukraine and rejected proposals of provision from many non-governmental organizations, and in particular Ukrainians abroad”, – pointed out the crimes of the Stalinist regime a public figure, a lawyer-internationalist Volodymyr Vasilenko. 

During the conference two books on Holodomor by Stanislav Kulchytsky and Volodymyr Vasylenko first translated into Turkish were presented: “Holodomor in Ukraine 1932-33. How? Why?”and “Methodology of legal assessment of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine as a crime of genocide”.

We recall that in Turkey there was an action “Let’s burn a candle of memory!”