{"id":122055,"date":"2014-03-22T10:01:19","date_gmt":"2014-03-22T04:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=122055"},"modified":"2014-03-30T08:14:14","modified_gmt":"2014-03-30T02:44:14","slug":"self-determination-crimea-leads-the-way-for-other-ethnic-minorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/self-determination-crimea-leads-the-way-for-other-ethnic-minorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Determination: Crimea Leads The Way For Other Ethnic Minorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Veluppillai<\/a>

Veluppillai Thangavelu<\/p><\/div>\n

Crimea Leads The Way For Other Ethnic Minorities To Invoke The Principle Of Self-Determination\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

These days\u00a0newspaper pages are filled with news stories\u00a0related to two different subjects at two different parts of\u00a0the world.\u00a0 One is the annexation of Crimea as part of the Russian Federation by President Vladimir Putin\u00a0last Friday (March 21, 2014).\u00a0\u00a0 Russian President\u00a0signed into law\u00a0bringing the Crimea region into Russia, a move that has\u00a0met with strong condemnation by the West and by threats of further sanctions against Russia. The United States and European Union have already targeted dozens of Russian and Ukrainian officials linked to Crimea’s unrest with far reaching assets freezes and travel bans.<\/p>\n

The other news is about the disappearance of\u00a0Malaysian Boeing 777 Airlines Flight 370 that evaporated into thin air on March 10, 2014.\u00a0 Twelve days later\u00a0the missing plane has not been located despite air and sea search by ships and planes belonging to 26 countries covering\u00a0thousands of\u00a0sq. miles of land and sea. Former pilots and aviation experts\u00a0are having a field day expounding a multitude of theories about the plane’s fate.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full-blown 4\u00a0year old civil war in Syria\u00a0that began in 2010\u00a0has killed over 100,000 people, half of whom are believed to be civilians. Bombings are destroying crowded cities and horrific human rights violations are widespread. Basic necessities like food and medical care are sparse.<\/p>\n

The U.N. estimates that over 6.5 million people are internally displaced\u00a0out of a total population of 23 million people and\u00a0over 2.5 million Syrians have registered with the United Nations High Commission of Refugees, but hundreds of thousands more await registration.\u00a0 Most children have been out of school for months, if not years. More than 97% of Syria\u2019s refugees are hosted by countries in the immediate surrounding region. The number of Syrians registered as refugees or pending registration was 110,000 in Egypt, 168,000 in Iraq, 515,000 in Jordan, 716,000 in Lebanon and 460,000 in Turkey. According to the UN, more than half of all Syrian refugees are under the age of 18.\u00a0 At this rate, the UN predicts there could be four million Syrian refugees by the end of this year \u2014 the worst exodus since the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago. Syria once a stable country is now a burning inferno.\u00a0 Yet political turmoil\u00a0in Crimea and disappearance of\u00a0the Malaysian 777 Boeing flight 370 has overshadowed the civil war in Syria.<\/p>\n

On March 16 a referendum was held asking people to say yes or no\u00a0to\u00a0two questions on the Crimean referendum ballots.<\/p>\n

Question 1 – Are you in favour of Crimea becoming a constituent territory of the Russian Federation?<\/p>\n

Question 2 –\u00a0Are you in favour of restoring Crimea\u2019s 1992 constitution?<\/p>\n

According to the 1992 constitution, the autonomous Crimean\u00a0Republic was\u00a0part of Ukraine\u00a0and\u00a0relations with Kiev defined on the basis of mutual agreements.<\/p>\n

A few months ago no one would have dreamt Crimea will secede from Ukraine.\u00a0 President Yanukovych faced violent street protests and\u00a0the opposition called\u00a0for his resignation since refusing a partnership agreement with the European Union in November 2013. The president rejected the EU deal \u2014 which he had earlier agreed to in principle \u2014 because he said it would threaten the country’s close trade ties with Russia. Street protests turned violent\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0the agitation, backed by US and her allies\u00a0continued for about three months.<\/p>\n

As the movement grew and eventually became violent,\u00a0President Yanukovych introduced controversial anti-protest laws (later annulled) and\u00a0then took a short sick leave. Under intense international pressure to end the violence, Yanukovych and opposition leaders signed a deal on February \u00a021 to allow early elections, a new constitution and new unity government. However, parliament quickly voted to depose Yanukovych, who fled Kyiv. The interim government issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych accusing him of “mass killings” of protesters. Yanukovych resurfaced in Russia and said he planned to continue to fight for Ukraine. He claimed\u00a0 he is still the legitimate President of Ukraine and vowed to return. He dubbed his opponents ‘neo-fascists’ in\u00a0\u00a0 ‘neo-fascists’ in a defiant speech from Rostov-on-Don, Russia.<\/p>\n

The opposition parties that took control of the government made an extremely foolish and provocative move to abolish the use of\u00a0Russian language in the semi-autonomous region of Crimea. This infuriated\u00a0the people of Crimea and gave an excuse for\u00a0Russia to intervene\u00a0to save the\u00a0besieged Russians in Crimea who constituted 58%\u00a0of the population.\u00a0 Crimea is the cradle of the Russian Orthodox religion, and the Russian empire came into existence as a result of the struggle for the Crimea and adjacent areas, to understand the complex problems facing Crimea we should look at the complicated history of the country’s past. Before that here is a snapshot of Crimea.<\/p>\n

\u2022Territory\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Crimea
\n\u2022Status \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Semi-autonomous region of Ukraine
\n\u2022Status \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Autonomous republic within Ukraine
\n\u2022Population \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 – \u00a0 \u00a0 2 million
\n\u2022Capital \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0– \u00a0 \u00a0 Simferopol
\n\u2022Area \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 – \u00a0 \u00a0 26,100 sq km (10,077 sq miles)
\n\u2022Languages \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 – \u00a0 \u00a0 Ukrainian (official), Russian, Crimean Tatar
\n\u2022Ethnic groups\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – \u00a0 \u00a0 Russians 58%) Ukrainians (24%)\u00a0 Tatars (12%) others (6%)
\n\u2022Religion \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0– \u00a0 \u00a0 Christianity 33.16%, Islam (3.1%) Non – religious (62.5%)
\n\u2022Main industries\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – \u00a0 Tourism, agriculture, ore, mining, chemicals<\/p>\n

The semi-autonomous Republic of Crimea\u00a0earlier\u00a0part of Ukraine lies on a peninsula stretching out from the south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is separated from Russia to the east by the narrow Kerch Strait. (See map)<\/p>\n

Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine The Great in 1783 and remained part of Russia until 1954, when it was transferred to Ukraine under the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev who was a Ukraine by birth.\u00a0 Under Greek and Roman influence for centuries, in 1443 Crimea became the centre of a Tatar Khanate, which later fell under Ottoman control.<\/p>\n

Rival imperial ambitions in the mid 19th century led to the Crimean War when Britain and France, suspicious of Russian ambitions in the Balkans as the Ottoman Empire declined, sent troops. Given autonomous republic status within Russia after the Bolshevik revelation Crimea was occupied by the Nazis in the early 1940s. Stalin accused the Tatars of collaborating with the German occupiers and deported them en masse to Central Asia and Siberia in 1944. Many did not survive and a million people perished due to famine.<\/p>\n

Only after\u00a0the collapse of the Soviet Union they were allowed to return.\u00a0 By the time over a quarter of a million did so in the early 1990s, it was to an independent Ukraine where they faced very high unemployment and extremely poor housing conditions. There were persistent tensions and protests over land rights, and allocation of land to Crimean Tatars was a contentious issue.<\/p>\n

After Ukrainian independence, political figures from the local Russian community sought to assert sovereignty and strengthen ties with Russia through a series of moves declared unconstitutional by the Ukrainian government. The 1996 Ukrainian constitution stipulated that Crimea would have autonomous republic status, but insisted that Crimean legislation must be in keeping with that of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Crimea has its own parliament and government with powers over agriculture, public infrastructure and tourism. The Crimean Tatars have their own unofficial parliament, the Mejlis, which states its purpose as being to promote the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars.<\/p>\n

The port of Sevastopol is a major naval base and has been home to the Black Sea Fleet since Soviet times. Following the collapse of the USSR, the fleet was divided up between Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The continuing presence of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol has been a focus of tension between Russia and Ukraine. In 2008, Ukraine – then under the pro-Western President\u00a0 Yushchenko – demanded that Moscow not use the Black Sea Fleet during the conflict with Georgia.<\/p>\n

Both countries had agreed to allow the Russian fleet to stay until 2017, but after the election of the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as president in 2010, Ukraine agreed to extend the lease by 25 years beyond 2017, in return for cheaper Russian gas.<\/p>\n

Crimea had a troubled relationship with Ukraine right through out. Ukraine is the largest country in Europe next to Russia. It ranks as the\u00a044th largest country in the world. It has an area of 603,550 sq km\u00a0and a population of\u00a045.1 million (UN, 2011).<\/p>\n

Ironically President Putin used the principle\u00a0of\u00a0right of self-determination of people. The Crimean referendum held on March 16, 2014 became direct expression of the will of people that have the right for self-determination according to the UN Charter” President declared. \u00a0This is a 180 degree about turn \u00a0since the days of Kosovo’s\u00a0referendum based on the same principle. Russia opposed the referendum while US and NATO countries supported it. Now the roles have been reversed without anyone apologising. People have the right\u00a0to\u00a0\u00a0 self-determination, \u00a0if they have a well defined territory, a\u00a0common language\u00a0and culture\u00a0and\u00a0who view themselves as a distinct nation and vote for independence in a referendum.<\/p>\n

It is under this principle\u00a0Britain claims sovereignty over Falkland Islands and \u00a0South Sudan and\u00a0East Timor became independent.\u00a0 Falklands voted at a referendum\u00a0held in 2013 in\u00a0which 99.8% voters voted to remain a British Overseas Territory on a 92% turnout.<\/p>\n

Crimea and Kosovo is there any parallel between the two? Are they similar or different?<\/p>\n

Vladimir Putin’s key argument justifying Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia is the West’s acceptance of Kosovo’s declaration of statehood in 2008.<\/p>\n

Kosovo and Crimea both sought independence against the wishes of their central governments but the two situations have many differences.<\/p>\n

With the strong support of the United States, the ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo seceded from Serbia over Serbia’s strong objections. Russia, a historic Slavic ally of the Serbs, at the time argued that the Kosovo declaration was a serious breach of international law that could lead to a series of statehood claims elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n

Enter Crimea, Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea peninsula. After Crimean residents voted overwhelmingly Sunday to secede and join Russia, Putin is invoking the precedent of Kosovo to justify the vote while the West insists the ballot is invalid.<\/p>\n

There are similarities as well. \u00a0 Both Kosovo and Crimea have a majority who belong to an ethnic minority. Just as Kosovo Albanians feared Serbian repression during the autocratic rule of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Russians living in Crimea feared the Ukrainian nationalists who came to power in Kiev in February.<\/p>\n

Both the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and the ethnic Russians in Crimea voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession, while the Serbian minority in Kosovo and the Ukrainian and Tatar minorities in Crimea mostly boycotted the vote.<\/p>\n

There was foreign military intervention in both regions with NATO intervening in Kosovo and pro-Russian troops seizing control of Crimea ahead of the vote.<\/p>\n

There are differences. NATO intervened in Kosovo in 1999 only after significant evidence of Serbian abuses against ethnic Albanians, including mass killings and deportations. Pro-Russian forces intervened in Crimea with no major abuses or violence reported against ethnic Russians by Ukrainians.<\/p>\n

The West didn’t annex Kosovo after driving Milosevic’s forces out of the former Serbian province, but sent in peacekeepers. Russian troops\u00a0took control of Crimea before its referendum was held.<\/p>\n

Kosovo declared independence but did not join its ethnic brethren in neighbouring Albania in a single state. Crimea, which has a majority Russian population, signed a deal to join Russia two days after the vote.<\/p>\n

Kosovo declared independence nine years after Serbia lost effective control over its former province and only after a long diplomatic process when it was virtually an independent state. Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine only weeks after the country’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, fled to Russia.<\/p>\n

In July 2010, U.N.’s highest court ruled that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was legal but did not endorse Kosovo’s claim to statehood. Kosovo remains unrecognized by the UN because of Russia’s veto powers.<\/p>\n

“Our Western partners created the Kosovo precedent with their own hands,” Putin said on March 18,\u00a0when he signed the treaty to incorporate Crimea into Russia. “In a situation absolutely the same as the one in Crimea, they recognized Kosovo’s secession from Serbia as legitimate while arguing that no permission from a country’s central authority is necessary for a unilateral declaration of independence.”<\/p>\n

The moral of the story? It is the familiar argument might is right.<\/p>\n

Tibet is reeling under the jackboot of China since\u00a01950. Chinese government troops invaded Tibet on October 7, 1950, and\u00a0 captured the town of Qamdo (Chamdo) on October 19, 1950.\u00a0 The UN General Assembly condemned the Chinese invasion of Tibet on November 18, 1950 but beyond that nothing was done. No country, including US, is prepared to go to war with China over Tiber. That is the sad reality.<\/p>\n

Crimea’s decision to join Russia after voting in a referendum shows people of the same ethnicity tend to join their cousins for security and cultural reasons. Crimean example gives impetus to other ethnic minorities\u00a0like Kurds, Tibetans,\u00a0Kashmiris, Thamils who suffer persecution to ascertain their own independence and sovereignty\u00a0by invoking the same principle of self-determination\u00a0and R2P.\u00a0 May be not today, but in the future it might be possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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