Speech by the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat Chubarov
On 20 March 2026, the exhibition What We Talk About When We Talk About Crimea was opened at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art. It was organised by the memory culture platform Past / Future / Art, commissioned by the Ukrainian Institute, with the support of the “Partnership for a Strong Ukraine” Programme.
During the opening, we had the honour of hosting the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat Chubarov. Below we publish the text of his speech:
- Ladies and Gentlemen, dear organisers and guests of the exhibition,
- “Crimea has always been a gateway between great civilisations,” the organisers of the exhibition tell us — and they are absolutely right.
- A gateway implies movement in both directions — an exchange of ideas, cultures, and meanings.
- Crimea as a gateway is a place where East meets West, Islam meets Christianity, and the steppe meets the sea.
- Historically, Crimea connected Ukraine and Central Europe with the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East — and vice versa. It was a space where differences never became an obstacle, but instead transformed into a source of unique cultural synthesis.
- This synthesis of cultures, beliefs, and traditions not only shaped the Crimean Tatar ethnos — it forged a people whose identity became a living link between worlds. The uniqueness of the Crimean Tatars lies in a profound distinctiveness that enriches human civilisation as a whole and forms an inseparable part of global cultural diversity.
- However, Russia — which for centuries has grown in strength by feeding on the lands and lives of its neighbours — has never needed a “crossroads of worlds”; it has needed a “foothold”.
- A free and multifaceted Crimea has always stood in the way of Moscow’s aggressive ambitions. This is precisely the reason behind the destruction of the Crimean Khanate and the annexation of the peninsula in 1783, as well as the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people carried out by the Soviet regime in 1944.
- Today, Russia is desperately trying to erase the memory of three hundred and forty-two years of Crimean Tatar statehood — the Crimean Khanate — replacing centuries of continuity with artificial myths about an “eternally Russian Crimea”.
- Therefore, Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea in February 2014 is not merely an act of territorial plunder. It is an assault on the very nature of human civilisation as an open system.
- When Russia represses the Crimean Tatar people, it attempts to tear from the body of humanity a living organ responsible for dialogue, memory, and the very essence of freedom.
- This is why the issue of de-occupation of Crimea is:
- the defence of the world’s right to diversity and the restoration of global balance, for the “gateway” that is being walled up must once again become a place of encounter, not a front line;
- a moral duty to the future: to prove that identity and the right of indigenous peoples to be themselves are stronger than imperial ambitions of uniformity and domination;
- an opportunity for the Crimean Tatar people to preserve themselves on their own land and to develop freely within a united European family of free nations.
- And so today, looking at the works of our artists, we see that this “gateway” is still open — in our hearts and minds. Our task is to ensure that it once again becomes a reality.
- Yaşasın Qırım! / Long live Crimea!
- Qırım — Ukrayinadır! / Crimea is Ukraine!
- Glory to Ukraine!
