The details of the plan are elaborated in a letter marked as “Secret” sent by first deputy head of the occupied Crimea’s office of the FSB Rustem Ibragimov to the Kremlin's protégé on the peninsula Sergei Aksyonov on April 28, 2015, which was published by LIGA.net, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
The letter stated that the leadership of the Mejlis opposed to the "accession" of Crimea to Russia, "has anti-Russian sentiments" and "continues Ukrainian propaganda." It is also noted that the leadership of the Mejlis refused to cooperate with the occupation authorities.
Therefore, the FSB proposed Aksyonov to declare the Mejlis "radical extremist organization that poses a threat to Russia" and to officially ban it.
Read alsoRaids against Crimean Tatars continue in occupied Crimea (video)According to the FSB, "the Mejlis leadership has no plans to return from mainland Ukraine to Crimea," while Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov run the body through their confidants.
Ibragimov proposed a plan for the 2015-2018 to put pressure on local leaders of the Mejlis and push it to cooperation with the pro-Russian "authorities."
In particular, the FSB a year ago proposed to activate Russian “patriotic organizations” which radically oppose the Crimean Tatars.
Aksyonov suggested "filtration" on a de-facto border with mainland Ukraine in order to prevent departure of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea.
Read alsoMosque raided in occupied Crimea under pretext of ID check (video)Ibragimov also offered conducting searches, raids and cleansing "under the guise of searching for criminals" in public places favored by Crimean Tatars. He advised to prohibit mass meetings of Crimean Tatars, even on the occasion of religious holidays.
In addition, according to the document, it was decided to carry out media campaigns aimed at “discrediting the Mejlis and its leaders."
Read alsoNew round of repression in occupied Crimea: Mejlis member missing The FSB hoped to gradually "replace" the Mejlis with other Crimean Tatar organizations, loyal to the Russian authorities. In particular, the organization named Kyryim led by Remzi Ilyasov was assigned the role of an event organizer.
"Successful implementation of this plan will provide for taking control over the activities of public and political organizations of national minorities and ethnic groups..." Ibragimov wrote to Aksyonov.
The signs of the plan being in fact implemented by the occupying authorities in Crimea have been quite obvious.
After the annexation of the Crimea in 2014, Russia has been systematically oppressing and persecuting the Crimean Tatars.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the so-called Supreme Court of Crimea on April 26 banned the Mejlis on the Russian territory recognizing it an extremist organization.
In May 2016, the Crimean Tatars were barred from holding the events to commemorate victims of mass deportation of 1944. The only venues the Crimean Tatars were allowed to attend on May 18 were those where the “government”-organized events were held.
