Today, 18 May, Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide. A commemorative event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea was held in Lviv at the Territory of Terror Memorial Museum of Totalitarian Regimes.
“Today we honour the memory of the Crimean Tatars who were forcibly expelled from their homeland in 1944. As a result of this brutal exile, 46.3% of the Crimean Tatar people died,” the Territory of Terror museum said.
The event began with a prayer, a minute of silence and the performance of the Crimean Tatar anthem and the anthem of Ukraine. Afterwards, members of the Crimean Tatar community and representatives of Ukrainian NGOs and government organisations spoke. There were also performances by the bands Chayir and Yuşan-Zillia.
The event featured an exhibition of posters dedicated to the 1944 deportation by the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre and an exhibition of Qurans that survived the deportation by the Muhammad Asad Islamic Cultural Centre.
The memorial event was organised by the Crimean Tatar Cultural Centre in Lviv.