MP Wrzesnewskyj Welcomes Crimean Tatar Leader Mustafa Dzhemiliev to Canada

Ottawa – Liberal M.P. Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre) welcomed to Canada the legendary human rights figure and Chairman of the Mejlis (Parliament) of the Crimean Tatar People Mustafa Dzhemiliev. Wrzesnewskyj paid tribute to the Dzhemiliev who is also a member of Ukraine’s Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and a recipient of the UN Nansen Prize recognizing his outstanding contribution to the cause of refugees. Dzhemiliev led the return of the Crimean Tatar people from Central Asia to their ancestral homeland in Crimea during the 1990s. Speaking on the floor of the House of Commons, Wrzesnewskyj stated:

HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATES • STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 • 3RD SESSION • 40TH PARLIAMENT • VOLUME 145 • NUMBER 113
MUSTAFA DZHEMILIEV

Mr. Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, in the past this House has hosted legendary figures who have distinguished themselves in the battle for human rights. Today, Mustafa Dzhemiliev is here in Ottawa. At the age of 6 months he and his family and the entire 200,000 Crimean Tatar people were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral land and deported en mass to Central Asia by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Forty percent of their population died.
As a young man speaking out for the rights of his people to preserve their culture and language, and their right to return to their ancestral home, Mr. Dzhemiliev spent 18 brutal years in the Soviet gulag. In the 1990s he led the return of his people to Crimea and today is Chairman of the Mejlis (Parliament) of the Crimean Tatar People.
His harrowing personal story and that of the Crimean Tatars is an inspirational triumph of the human spirit over evil. On behalf of the House of Commons, I welcome Mr. Dzhemiliev to Canada to share with us his vision of peace for his people and for Crimea.
“It was extremely moving to witness the spontaneous outpouring of respect for Mr. Dzhemiliev when Members of Parliament from all parties rose in unison to give a prolonged standing ovation in his honour following my statement. This gesture by Members of the House of Commons speaks to the high regard with which Mr. Dzhemiliev is held,” stated Wrzesnewskyj.

MP Wrzesnewskyj first meet Mr. Dzhemiliev in August 2010 when he traveled to Simferopol, Crimea. At that time he extended an invitation to Mr. Dzhemiliev to come to Canada. Wrzesnewskyj arranged Dzhemiliev’s visit to Canada and his meetings in Ottawa and Toronto. While in Ottawa Dzhemiliev held meetings with: the Speaker of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Official Opposition Critic for Foreign Affairs, Official Opposition Critic for Aborignal Affairs, members of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, members of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, a number of Ambassadors from the diplomatic corps stationed in Ottawa, and senior Ukrainian Canadian Congress officials.
Following the Ottawa portion of his trip, Dzhemiliev travelled to Toronto where he gave an address at the KUMF Gallery on the geopolitical situation of Crimea, particularly as the potential location of the next post-Soviet conflict and as a guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
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For further information: Borys Wrzesnewskyj, MP (613) 947-5000
Attached photographs: 1) with the Speaker of the House of Commons, left to right: Arsen Zhumadilov (Assistant to Mr. Dzhemiliev), Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Mustafa Dzhemiliev , House of Commons Speaker Honourable Peter Milliken, MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, and Rustem Umerov (Mr. Dzhemiliev’s Assistant for Economic Affairs) from December 7, 2010; and, 2) MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj welcoming Chairman Mustafa Dzhemiliev at the beginning of his Ottawa visit (December 6, 2010).

MUSTAFA DZHEMILIEV
Mr. Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, in the past this House has hosted legendary figures who have distinguished themselves in the battle for human rights. Today, Mustafa Dzhemiliev is here in Ottawa. At the age of 6 months he and his family and the entire 200,000 Crimean Tatar people were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral land and deported en mass to Central Asia by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Forty percent of their population died.
As a young man speaking out for the rights of his people to preserve their culture and language, and their right to return to their ancestral home, Mr. Dzhemiliev spent 18 brutal years in the Soviet gulag. In the 1990s he led the return of his people to Crimea and today is Chairman of the Mejlis (Parliament) of the Crimean Tatar People.
His harrowing personal story and that of the Crimean Tatars is an inspirational triumph of the human spirit over evil. On behalf of the House of Commons, I welcome Mr. Dzhemiliev to Canada to share with us his vision of peace for his people and for Crimea.