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Tensions rise in Ukraine's Crimea amid competing claims for land
NTV Mir, Moscow
16 Apr 05
[Presenter] Tension is rising in Crimea, with more and more Crimean
Tatar tent cities and so-called Slav pickets. The unresolved land
issue is driving the peninsula towards a schism. Our special
correspondent Aleksandr Yakovenko reports from Crimea.
[Correspondent] A gathering at the tent where members of the Armenian,
Greek and German communities are mounting a joint guard.
[Video shows man reading out list of names]
[Correspondent] The Slav picket, and a roll call of applicants for
plots of land and for the duty night shift. On the same field Crimean
Tatars are also protesting. They also have a wagon here, and the same
demands.
[Man of Tatar appearance to correspondent] Everything's all right
here.
[Voice off-camera] Get out of here.
[Man] Why should I? I'm just talking to the guy.
[Voice off-camera] [Words indistinct]
[Man] I'm just trying to get my own land.
[Correspondent] The land debate in Crimea has moved on from the
newspapers and bureaucrats' offices and is now a tactical battle. Tent
and wagon cities, pitched along national lines, can now be seen among
the hills along the winding coastal road in the east of the peninsula.
[Yelena Belousova, board member of Association of Crimean Greeks] It's
all peaceful here, no fights or arguments, nothing like that. The
people are peaceful, they want land, not a war.
[Correspondent] The land issue arose after the Tatars returned to
Crimea from their deportation. The most prestigious and expensive land
on the southern shoreline is the main bone of contention. Here, in
Sudak District, each side, having exhausted the historical and
political arguments, has decided to advance its land claims by posting
round-the-clock guards.
[Vitaliy Sitnikov, elder of Slav Field Protest campaign group]
Residence permit, documentary evidence of family, evidence of living
conditions and that you have no land, photocopy of passport and ID
number, get all these together and keep them in your pocket so they
stay warm.
[Correspondent] How many applications have been submitted as of now?
[Sitnikov] Three thousand and fifty.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, their opponents are staging a picket
outside the Agriculture Ministry. New columns of demonstrators march
towards the tent city in the centre of Simferopol every day. Today,
members of the Crimean Tatar community spent an hour and a half
shouting the word Freedom.
There is no sign of any increased police presence on the streets. They
have long been accustomed to protests here. But according to a number
of members of the autonomous republic's parliament, the calm is
deceptive.
[Halyna Krzhybovska, member of Autonomous Republic of Crimea Supreme
Council] This will lead to destabilization of the situation in Crimea,
to the imposition of direct presidential rule, and to the collapse of
the Crimea Autonomous Republic.
[Correspondent] The local authorities have declined to comment. This
is a long-standing problem, and it seems they do not know how to solve
it. While those above are still thinking, those on the ground have
started to act.
The weather forecast for the peninsula is of a stormy spell ahead,
with thunder and rain. But nobody is willing to make political
forecasts. According to observers, the storm clouds are gathering over
the Crimean capital. One of the slogans of the demonstrators outside
the government building is "No land, no government". Various
gatherings and rallies are planned to take place in the next few days
in Yalta, Alushta, Bakhchysaray, Sudak and Simferopol.
NTV Mir, Moscow
16 Apr 05
[Presenter] Tension is rising in Crimea, with more and more Crimean
Tatar tent cities and so-called Slav pickets. The unresolved land
issue is driving the peninsula towards a schism. Our special
correspondent Aleksandr Yakovenko reports from Crimea.
[Correspondent] A gathering at the tent where members of the Armenian,
Greek and German communities are mounting a joint guard.
[Video shows man reading out list of names]
[Correspondent] The Slav picket, and a roll call of applicants for
plots of land and for the duty night shift. On the same field Crimean
Tatars are also protesting. They also have a wagon here, and the same
demands.
[Man of Tatar appearance to correspondent] Everything's all right
here.
[Voice off-camera] Get out of here.
[Man] Why should I? I'm just talking to the guy.
[Voice off-camera] [Words indistinct]
[Man] I'm just trying to get my own land.
[Correspondent] The land debate in Crimea has moved on from the
newspapers and bureaucrats' offices and is now a tactical battle. Tent
and wagon cities, pitched along national lines, can now be seen among
the hills along the winding coastal road in the east of the peninsula.
[Yelena Belousova, board member of Association of Crimean Greeks] It's
all peaceful here, no fights or arguments, nothing like that. The
people are peaceful, they want land, not a war.
[Correspondent] The land issue arose after the Tatars returned to
Crimea from their deportation. The most prestigious and expensive land
on the southern shoreline is the main bone of contention. Here, in
Sudak District, each side, having exhausted the historical and
political arguments, has decided to advance its land claims by posting
round-the-clock guards.
[Vitaliy Sitnikov, elder of Slav Field Protest campaign group]
Residence permit, documentary evidence of family, evidence of living
conditions and that you have no land, photocopy of passport and ID
number, get all these together and keep them in your pocket so they
stay warm.
[Correspondent] How many applications have been submitted as of now?
[Sitnikov] Three thousand and fifty.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, their opponents are staging a picket
outside the Agriculture Ministry. New columns of demonstrators march
towards the tent city in the centre of Simferopol every day. Today,
members of the Crimean Tatar community spent an hour and a half
shouting the word Freedom.
There is no sign of any increased police presence on the streets. They
have long been accustomed to protests here. But according to a number
of members of the autonomous republic's parliament, the calm is
deceptive.
[Halyna Krzhybovska, member of Autonomous Republic of Crimea Supreme
Council] This will lead to destabilization of the situation in Crimea,
to the imposition of direct presidential rule, and to the collapse of
the Crimea Autonomous Republic.
[Correspondent] The local authorities have declined to comment. This
is a long-standing problem, and it seems they do not know how to solve
it. While those above are still thinking, those on the ground have
started to act.
The weather forecast for the peninsula is of a stormy spell ahead,
with thunder and rain. But nobody is willing to make political
forecasts. According to observers, the storm clouds are gathering over
the Crimean capital. One of the slogans of the demonstrators outside
the government building is "No land, no government". Various
gatherings and rallies are planned to take place in the next few days
in Yalta, Alushta, Bakhchysaray, Sudak and Simferopol.