The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) is very concerned that our member organisation Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People has been outlawed as an extremist organisation by the decision of the Supreme Court in Russian-occupied Crimea on 26 April 2016.  The court in Simferepol (Akmescit) issued an arrest warrant for the Crimean Tatar leader and the former Chairman of the Mejlis Mustafa Jemilev (Mustafa Abdülcemil Kırımoğlu). 

We regret and strongly condemn this decision which is a part of systematic campaign of suppression and discrimination against the Crimean Tatar people. Our member organisation, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People is the representative and the decision-making body of the Crimean Tatar People. The Mejlis is guided by democratic norms and principles and advocates the rights of the Crimean Tatar people as an ethnic minority in Crimea. The advocacy for the rights of an ethnic group on a peaceful and democratic basis cannot be defined as extremism neither in Crimea nor anywhere else in Europe. 

As the highest representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, the Mejlis must be able to continue its activities.  

We support and show our solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people. We call for international organizations and the broader international community to focus their efforts to urge de facto authorities in Crimea for a reversal of the ban on the Mejlis.