Halya Coynash
In Soviet times it was Holodomor, the Terror and Gulag that many western
visitors to the USSR chose not to see, this time French politicians
particularly betrayed Crimean Tatars and all others suffering persecution in
Russian-occupied Crimea
It’s the same as if during World War II some
international mission had visited a Nazi concentration camp and asked the
prisoners if they were content with the conditions. This was how Crimean
Tatar leader Refat Chubarov described the visit by 10 French politicians to Russian-occupied
Crimea.
Expressions of “shock” and “regret” from the French
Foreign Ministry seem scarcely enough to compensate for the betrayal to Crimean
Tatars and others in Crimea who have suffered directly under Russian
occupation. There is also damage to France’s reputation when French politicians
behave like obedient dogs on a lead, doing tricks on demand. The
propaganda benefit to Russia was enormous, and well-worth any price which
many observers have suggested was paid for the French politicians’ services.
France’s official position can be understood.
The men are free to travel where they choose. The head of the delegation
- Thierry Mariani – used this freedom to visit Saddam Hussein in 2002, while
another member of the delegation from Nicolas Sarkozy’s party Jacques Myard
visited Bashar Al-Assad and members of the Syrian leadership at the beginning
of the year. It seems likely that they assured those leaders as well that
they would bring their message to the French nation, as they did in
Crimea.
The French politicians have the right to travel
freely, however they did enter Crimea illegally since they had not gained
Ukraine’s permission. They also showed support for and effectively
repeated verbatim Russian President Vladimir Putin’s line on annexation,
despite this being in flagrant breach of international law.
While some of the politicians, including Mariani, are
well-known for their unfailingly pro-Kremlin line, the story told to Kommersant was that others were visiting Crimea in order to find
out what the situation was and how ordinary Crimeans live.
Who they didn’t see
There were people whom the French deputies could not
have heard, even if they’d wanted to. They include:
those murdered, like Crimean Tatar Reshat Ametov or
the civic activists and also a number of young Crimean Tatar men who were
abducted and / or have disappeared without trace;
those banished from their homeland, like Crimean Tatar
leaders Mustafa Dzhemiliev ; Refat Chubarov, and rights activist Sinaver
Kadyrov; as well as the roughly 20 thousand Crimeans who left Crimea, many
having experienced physical violence and harassment;
those imprisoned on legally absurd charges, like
Crimean Tatar leader Akhmet Chiygoz, Maidan activist Oleksandr Kostenko; film
director Oleg Sentsov and civic activist Oleksandr Kolchenko and many others.
They could have spoken to members of the Crimean Tatar
Mejlis [representative assembly] or Ukrainian civic activists, but did
not. Instead they met with only representatives of the Crimean occupation
government and any individuals chosen by the latter.
All reports in the Russian pro-Kremlin media – and
there were many – were effusive. The trip was hailed as a “breakthrough”
heralding a change in western attitude and lifting of sanctions. Most
importantly, western politicians were seen to be presenting Moscow’s version of
events and history with respect to Crimea.
Thierry Mariani: “Crimea is Russian. From the point of view of
history, culture, demography. Even despite the fact that for 20 years the
peninsula was part of Ukraine. Crimea always remained Russian. And I think that
if Crimea had not returned to Russia, then today it would be the same as in
Donbas.”
“What we want to say is that the majority of people we
have met, various contacts, seemed happy to be back in Russia, ” . Russia Today reported him to have said.
During a press conference in Yalta, Mariani stated
that “during our visit to the parliament, we asked how things are with
representatives of the Crimean Tatars. The Deputy Speaker Mr Ilyasov was
present at that meeting. He confirmed that the interests of the Tatars are
observed, that the culture of national minorities is integrated into the life
of the country. And since there are three official languages, diversity of
languages is legislatively affirmed. That is a specific example of information
which was not provided in Europe” (details about the language situation here).
Claude Goasquen: “”It’s time to accept that Crimea is a region
at peace even if USA would like war to break out there”.
Goasquen also told the TASS news agency that former French President
Nicolas Sarkozy “fully approved of the trip by members of his party” and that
it was “quite realistic” that Sarkozy would himself visit.
Jérôme Lambert whom TASS presents as deputy chair of the French parliamentary commission
on foreign affairs used his time in Crimea to publicly express opposition to
sanctions against Russia and Crimea.
There were a few independent Russian media that saw
little cause to wax lyrical. Yury Safronov, writing for Novaya Gazeta, pointed to some of the curious links, statements and
friends cultivated by the members of this delegation. Mariani appears to
be a close associate, and have common business interests with Konstantin
Malofeev, whom the Financial Times describes as “a key figure linking the pro-Russia forces on the
ground in Ukraine and the political establishment in Moscow”.
Nicolas Dhuicq’s views must in all ways be music to
the Kremlin leader’s ears. In 2012, Safronov reports, he stated in parliament
that terrorism and single-sex families are linked. In 2015 he demonstrated
his prowess as a psychiatrist by asserting that Ukraine is deeply “traumatized
and divided”, and one should not therefore support its “façade of unity”.
Jacques Myard is equally homophobic, and also supports
the reinstatement of the death penalty. He called on Europe to recognize
Crimea as Russian, but to warn Russia that it shouldn’t behave like that with
the other parts of Ukraine.
Refat Chubarov is convinced that the French politicians are doing what is required
of them in payment for loans received from banks under Putin’s control.
He noted a telling analogy. “after the first annexation of Crimea, when Catherine the Great was on a
trip to the newly obtained territory, Potemkin organized fake villages.
Now, after almost two and a half centuries, the Russian occupiers are
demonstrating the same Potemkin pretence”.
He could have also added the large number of
westerners from Soviet times, like Romain Rolland and George Bernard Shaw, who
were more than willing to shut their eyes to evidence of Holodomor [the manmade
Famine] in Ukraine, Stalin’s Terror and multiple other crimes. Each of
these “useful idiots” had their motives, as do the French politicians.
The uses Moscow makes of them remain unchanged.
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