CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS IN CRIMEA

Crimean islamists see red when they encounter a Christian cross. In 2000, illegal Crimean Tatar “parliament”, the medjlis, launched a campaign of tearing down crosses installed by roadsides by believers to commemorate the two thousand years of Christianity. None of those numerous crosses survived: all of them were destroyed by Tatar militants.
Now, a group of islamist in the Crimean city of Pheodosia staged a protest and disrupted works of erecting a monument to Apostle Andrew the First Called. They said they could not tolerate a statue holding a cross in its hand. The incident occurred May 10, three days before the scheduled unveiling of the monument. Local authorities got scared and the unveiling was postponed.
On May 18, the medjlis will be marking the 62-nd anniversary of the Tatars deportation from the Crimea by Soviet authorities on the accusation of collaborating with the Nazis. The deportation day is often used by the Tatar leadership to promote its political agenda. The Slavic population of the Crimea is worried by the upcoming nationalistic event on May 18. Deportation days are fiercely anti-Russian with insults and abuse shouted at the Russian speaking majority. The medjlis claims that the Crimea belongs to Tatars and only they are legitimate rulers of the peninsula. Kiev rejects this claim but collaborates with the medjlis hoping, as many believe, to hold the Crimea under its control by pitting Tatars against Slavs.

(Based on the report by The Tavrichesky Kurier: www.freecrimea.org)