Crimean Mission to Turkey to be Closed Down

New “orange” ruler of the Crimea Anatoly Matvienko announced his plans to close down the Crimean Mission in Turkey. Matvienko did not provide any specifics saying only that he had taken this decision “in response to the remarks by Crimean Deputies”. In fact, the Mission of the Crimea in Turkey has been doing nothing. It had been created to promote links between Ankara and the peninsula’s Tatars but Turkey has been ignoring these initiatives. Some Crimean politicians believe that the upcoming closure of the Mission is part of an overall plan to scrap the Crimean autonomy altogether. The statemen by Matvienko has coincided with the visit of the Turkish minister for external affaires Abdullah Gül who is in Kiev to meet with the new Ukrainian leadership and is expected ti visit the Crimea. On the eve of his arrival president of the Ukraine Victor Yushchenko suggested in a live television show that the illegal Crimean Tatar “parliament” the medjlis renounce the idea to create a sovereign Tatar state. The medjlis has rejected Yuschchenko’s appeal.