Akhtem Chiygoz (photo: RBC-Ukraine) Author: Ksenia Krikun
The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, people's deputy Akhtem Chiygoz, spoke in an interview with RBC-Ukraine about the events of 11 years ago, the reasons why the occupation of Crimea became possible, the inaction of Ukrainian military personnel on the peninsula and the path to returning Crimea.
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11 years ago, the so-called “referendum on the status of Crimea” took place, after which Russia occupied the peninsula. Akhtem Chiygoz is the deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and a political prisoner of the Kremlin. He actively tried to thwart Putin's plans to occupy Crimea, which is why he spent three years in a pretrial detention center.
In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Chiygoz recalled how events unfolded on the peninsula in February-March 2014 and when and why the “little green men” appeared there, told how the Russians persuaded him to cooperate, and reflected on the future of Crimea and the path to its return to Ukraine.
Watch the full interview on the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel, below in the text are the main points from the conversation .
Crimea in February-March 2014
11 years ago, Akhtem Chiygoz was the chairman of the Bakhchisaray regional mejlis. He recalls that in the winter of 2013-2014, the situation in Crimea became increasingly tense. It became especially tense after the then president Viktor Yanukovych fled from Kyiv.
On February 26, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea gathered for an extraordinary session, where they were supposed to adopt an appeal from Crimean deputies to the Russian authorities. In order to prevent this, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people called the residents of the peninsula to a rally against separatism under the walls of the Crimean parliament in Simferopol.
By midday on February 26, there were between 10,000 and 20,000 pro-Ukrainian residents of the peninsula and between 2,000 and 4,000 representatives of pro-Russian forces, led by Sergei Aksenov, outside the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea. As a result, pro-Ukrainian protesters entered the Verkhovna Rada building and disrupted the vote.
“We did our civic duty. We cleaned it out, went inside and did not allow the separatists to make such decisions. We hoped that what happened next was the state's business. Civil society could not fight the regular Russian army with shovel handles,” says Akhtem Chiygoz.
It was after the unsuccessful vote on February 26 that “little green men” appeared in Crimea. And the Ukrainian military did not even try to stop them, he recalls. “Plan A” did not work. There was no smooth political desire from the Crimean people.
“And that's why the GUR men came in and began actively seizing not only administrative buildings, but also airfields and crossings. And I want to remind you of this moment. Where were all the border guards at the Kerch crossing? The customs officers? And why didn't the Marines stationed in Feodosia, having weapons, come out and stop the column of barbarians, which was called the Russian army? What order (they were waiting – ed.)? To defend the homeland when the enemy came in? What order? What kind of nonsense is this – “there was no order”? Complete nonsense,” – the interlocutor notes.
At that time, there were about 20 thousand Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea. Pro-Ukrainian residents of Crimea supported them in every possible way, brought food and cigarettes to the blockaded units. And then they learned that most of them had already gone over to the enemy's side. At that moment, it became clear that Ukraine had lost Crimea.
At the time of the beginning of the occupation of Crimea by Russia, there were about 20 thousand Ukrainian military personnel on the peninsula, – Akhtem Chiygoz
“We were also emotionally indignant about why the new Kiev government was not taking any decisive action. But when you transfer the situation that was in Crimea to mainland Ukraine, we immediately felt that in Kherson, and in Odessa, and in Dnepr, and in Donetsk and Luhansk regions – the same situation was with law enforcement agencies,” he says.
According to him, the army that was in Crimea at that time was not really an army, but units that were going to defend their homeland. There were not many of them, and they took the direction that was the most important at that time – Donbass: Donetsk, Luhansk regions.
“You can't have illusions, – says Chiygoz, There were no processes that could have kept Ukraine at that time from such a brutal invasion as Russia, which for all 20 years of so-called independence was present in Ukraine, not only in Crimea. Physically, politically, and financially. It is an illusion that it would somehow resolve itself.”
How the “referendum” on the status of Crimea took place on March 16, 2014
Akhtem Chiygoz still remembers the day of the “referendum”.
“The conditions were such that it was impossible to call it a referendum. Because these “little green men” were already everywhere, the self-defense, which behaved very brazenly, people were already disappearing from our country. It was a political imitation, the political intention of the Russian occupier to play a game that Crimea had finally returned to some kind of harbor. And “Vladimir the Great – the gatherer of Russian lands.” And in order to fit this concept, that this was not a seizure, but an expression of will, (they held a referendum – ed.),” he says.
The Crimean Tatars immediately decided that they would not participate in this “circus”, in this production. They had no problem understanding the situation, why this was being done and what the consequences would be.
“And we as a people, as a representative body of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, took responsibility and said that we would boycott. And not just boycott. Despite the circumstances, that there were a lot of FSB officers, Chechens had already arrived, I myself met with Kadyrov's representatives, and we not only did not go to the referendum, we actively demonstrated that this was a farce. And the consequences of this farce will be very, very terrible for everyone who in one way or another felt part of the Ukrainian people,” he says.
Akhtem Chiygoz himself then headed the Bakhchisaray regional Mejlis and was also deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
“There were a bunch of journalists from Japan, from Europe, there were Russians, but they didn't come up to me. I went with them to all the so-called polling stations and showed them: for example, 12 o'clock in the afternoon is the time of greatest activity in the general Ukrainian elections. And there are no people here. And I showed them that look, the ballot boxes are already full. That is, there is no expression of will or active participation of the people there,” he says.
Chiygoz recalls: first, the so-called referendum in Crimea was scheduled for May, then it was postponed to April, and then – to March 16. The Kremlin was in such a hurry with the vote because they knew that time was against them.
The “referendum” had to be held before the new government “got comfortable” in Kyiv and established connections with the regions. After all, the Crimeans themselves were not thrilled with the “Russian world” when they saw it up close.
“Everyone was scared. They saw “great Russia” on TV, and the Russian-speaking population, when they saw what a Russian boot was, was very scared. And then this fear dominated, because machine guns were handed out at every intersection. All the rabble that called themselves “Cossacks”, drunks and all these Afghan veterans gathered. People were already disappearing, girls were already being raped, all these self-defense fighters were behaving like bandits,” recalls Chiygoz.
The Mejlis called residents of the peninsula to the walls of the Crimean parliament in Simferopol for a rally against separatism (Getty Images)
According to him, the fundamental right was disappearing in Crimea at that time – the right to a safe life. Chiygoz is sure: there were no percentages either at the referendum or after, when the elections to the so-called “state council” were already underway. And in general, there is no concept of elections in the Russian Federation, there is nothing to compare the situation with. Therefore, in such conditions, he believes, there is no point in analyzing this.
“Under such conditions, they do not have a conscious expression of will,” notes Chiygoz.
How Russia Spread Its Influence in Crimea in 1991-2014
The creeping occupation of Crimea began not in the winter of 2014, but immediately after Ukraine declared its independence. The Kremlin spared no expense to ensure that the idea reigned in the minds of the peninsula's residents that they and the Russians were “one people.”
There were a huge number of Russian organizations operating in Crimea, branches of Russian universities were operating, and Crimean children were constantly taken to Moscow and St. Petersburg.
“For us, for the Crimean Tatars, this feeling of independence before 2014 was conditional. We were in a state that was not yet aware of its independence. Because throughout the entire period of the functioning of power in Kyiv before 2014, Russia influenced (all processes – ed.). And it was considered normal to cooperate with Russia. In Crimea, we were practically alone with them,” he says.
The Crimean Tatars saw that an enclave of communist, Stalinist ideology was beginning to form on the territory of Crimea. They clearly understood that this was a threat. They constantly appealed to the central government in Kyiv.
“You should look through the archives: at least 3-4 times a year, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people appealed to the president, the Verkhovna Rada, the SBU of Ukraine that pro-Russian forces are actively operating in Crimea, which are taking part in the formation of the “Crimean government”. All of them had very close economic and personal relations with Moscow, with Kuban, which is nearby,” Chiygoz points out.
At that time, they even joked that the biggest Ukrainians in Crimea were the Crimean Tatars. After all, the rest of the population of the peninsula lived for many years looking back at Moscow, and not at Kyiv.
“Representatives of the so-called elite of Crimea have always had an ideology to suppress the Crimean Tatar people and present them as a threat. We, fighting for our rights, national rights, realized them within the framework of the Ukrainian state. And that is why I have always said that our struggle helps Ukraine, and in some processes, initiates processes for all of Ukraine,” the interlocutor says.
For example, the Crimean Tatars appealed to European institutions so that international law would work on the territory of Crimea. However, it cannot work separately in Crimea. Therefore, they also appealed to all the EU ambassadors in Kyiv and to the authorities, held conferences together so that the connection with Ukraine would be felt.
Also, Crimean Tatars took the first steps in the creation of Ukrainian public associations in Crimea. For example, the Ukrainian House in the Bakhchisaray region, where Chiygoz himself and his wife worked, and where those Ukrainians who could not use their potential worked.
Long before the occupation in Crimea, the Crimean Tatars were practically alone with the Russians for years, – Akhtem Chiygoz
“There were 600 thousand ethnic Ukrainians living in Crimea, but they were Russian-speaking and mentally too (Russified – ed.). That is why we tried to involve Ukrainian public organizations so that it would be a joint struggle. We always said, there are 300 thousand of us, 600 thousand Ukrainians, and that is 900 thousand, almost a million, who can resist this Russian world. Unfortunately, it did not work. And in this matter I emphasize, there was always little Ukraine in Crimea, including physically,” Chiygoz adds.
Repressions in Crimea
Immediately after the “referendum” a great many Russians were resettled in Crimea. In the first six months alone, about half a million foreigners arrived on the peninsula.
“In Russia itself there is such a factor – not a law, not a right, but “revolutionary expediency”. Like in the times of early Stalin. With the emergence of Russia, we felt that all decisions were made from the point of view of “revolutionary expediency”. Decisions were made in a narrow circle, 5-6 people: Aksenov, Konstantinov, Poklonskaya, Sheremet, Belaventsev. And they determined who would live, who would not, who would be in prison, who in a colony, how to treat the Crimean Tatars, how to treat the Ukrainian church,” Chiygoz recalls.
Everything we were accustomed to: some legal norms, some state institutions that protect the Constitution, the law – all of this disappeared immediately after the occupation. And not only the Crimean Tatars felt this.
“We always knew it, but those who thought that they saw Russia on TV, how great it is, felt it, and then realized that its greatness is in the shit called terror,” says Akhtem. “Terror exists today in all territories of Russia, including Crimea and in those occupied territories that have appeared now, unfortunately. All illusions of the people of Kherson, Melitopol, and Mariupol have disappeared. The “greatness” of Russia is that it does not recognize a person as a person. For the authorities in Russia, for the tsarist bandit group, people are a tool, cattle.”
Chiygoz recalls: at first, the Russians tried to bribe the Crimean Tatars, to win them over to their side. And when that failed, some simply disappeared, others were arrested.
“In the early days, we clearly felt that they were preparing for us (the Crimean Tatars – ed.) a forced deportation, a forced departure from Crimea. This was stopped by the support of Turkey, personally Erdogan himself,” he recalls.
Akhtem says: modern Russian and Soviet political prisoners often compare their experiences in prison. And now the attitude towards “enemies of the people” is much worse than it was in the 60-80s of the 20th century. Today's Russian repressive machine can be compared with Stalin's model of the 30s. Those who end up in prison say: it has become different there.
Akhtem Chiygoz was arrested on January 29, 2015, in the so-called “February 26 case,” that is, for participating in pro-Ukrainian rallies in Crimea.
“At first there was such harsh pressure. Then they tried to negotiate again. Then isolation again. Why? Because I didn't sign anything – from time to time they brought some proposals for me to leave. But I was surprised by our last meeting with the presidential administration (Putin's – ed.), when I was supposed to have a sentence in two weeks,” Akhtem notes.
The trials had been going on for three years already. And Chiygoz was very active in prison and in the trials, he was a symbol of the struggle of the Crimean Tatars during the occupation. Once they came to him and offered cooperation.
Akhtem Chiygoz was arrested in Crimea and held in pretrial detention for three years
“I was surprised,” he recalls. “I said, 'Listen, I have a term tomorrow, you'll give me 10 years.' And he said, 'Consider starting from scratch.' That's all there is to Russian justice. That is, you've been in prison for three years, so many trials have passed, and it doesn't matter. They said that they needed 'their own Kadyrov' in Crimea. 'The people respect you, we need you.' I said, 'The people really do respect me. But as soon as I say 'yes,' in 15 minutes they'll curse me, my children, and my grandchildren.' They don't understand things like that. It's a different world, a different dimension.”
A Russian court sentenced Akhtem Chiygoz to 8 years in a maximum security prison colony. However, after several months he was extradited to Turkey and released from serving his sentence.
“When I got out of prison, I didn't stay in Turkey, having the opportunities and conditions. I returned to Kyiv, because I have a way home from Kyiv. I told Erdogan this to his face when he offered me to stay there. So many years have passed, this is the first time I'm talking about it,” Chiygoz says.
What is happening on the peninsula now?
Now the family of Akhtem Chiygoz continues to live in Crimea. They meet a couple of times a year on the territory of “neutral” countries.
“My children and grandchildren live only in hope that this will end, and they will have a future. Do you understand? Everything there works for this. We all live here and there in hope. And this hope gives confidence that we are fighting, continuing the fight. I emphasize once again – in our hearts, in our words, and in our thoughts – with Ukraine,” Chiygoz adds.
Crimea itself has changed a lot even during the full-scale invasion.
“There are no resorts anymore, and there is no military base. There is a transit territory. Crimea has changed its concept. It is a transit territory for the military, weapons, “meat”, well, I mean human flesh, to the mainland,” he describes the current situation on the peninsula.
To this day, most Crimean Tatars consider themselves Ukrainians. Resistance to the occupation, both physically and especially politically, has been a great burden for the Crimean Tatar people. And the Crimean Tatars are proud of it.
Akhtem Chiygoz's compatriots believe that this is natural.
“We ourselves made this choice when we said that Crimea is Ukraine. And we must answer for this and live like this. Our people are now answering for this and living by this. And when I hear that the situation with Crimea is difficult and, apparently, it should be taken out of the equation in the negotiations, it is not only me who starts behaving aggressively. This is disrespect for the Crimean Tatars. And when it comes from the mouths of representatives of the Ukrainian government, we cannot accept it at all. We have been (under occupation – ed.) for 11 years, we cannot hear that it could be another 10-12 years or more, 15. This is an insult to us. You cannot speculate and manipulate a half-million people,” he assures.
To this day, most Crimean Tatars consider themselves Ukrainians (Getty Images)
Chiygoz is convinced that when it comes to liberating the peninsula, the Crimean Tatars will not watch these events from the couch.
“Ukraine is not the same as it was in 2014. Ukrainians have been through a lot. And we have the strength and the ability to defend our interests against anyone. The main thing is who represents these interests on behalf of the Ukrainian people. When we have dealt with many of the narratives of this schizophrenic Putin, I do not think that Trump or anyone else will be a problem for us. I emphasize once again: the most important thing is who will represent our interests in international negotiations,” the interlocutor emphasizes.