Mr. Speaker, the legendary leader of the Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian MP, Mustafa Dzhemilev, is in Ottawa today to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the forced deportation of indigenous Tatars from the Crimean Peninsula by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. More than 230,000 people were deported in 1944, and 100,000 died.
Now history is repeating itself. Since the illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea by Russia, President Putin's thugs are targeting Tatars again. These corrupt Russian officials are abusing the rights of Tatars in Crimea. First, they attacked their freedom of religion and closed their mosques. Then they attacked their freedom of the press by shutting down their media outlets. Next, the Kremlin closed the Tatars' legislature, the Majlis, taking away their freedom of assembly.
The Tatars are now labelled enemies of the state. Mr. Dzhemilev has again been forced into exile and his son imprisoned.
Whether it takes five months or 50 years, Canada will always recognize Crimea as Ukrainian territory. Russia must get out of Ukraine.