Yushchenko pledges to help forcibly displaced Tatars

In an address to the nation on the 62nd anniversary of the Tatar deportation, Victor Yushchenko has declared he would spare no effort to help the Crimean Tatars and hoped the new Verkhovna Rada would effectively settle all their painful problems, “which are now being resolved too slowly.”

“Ukraine has to cope with the aftereffects of one of the world’s worst national tragedies alone, but we try to resolve the problems of the deported. We have already launched economic, social and humanitarian projects,” he said, President's press office reported.

“It is quite natural that the Tatars feel the support of Ukrainians, who have also survived famines, repressions and totalitarian pressure. The names of Petro Hrygorenko and Vyacheslav Chornovol, these two prominent sons of the Ukrainian nation, have been perpetuated among the Crimean Tatars.”

Yushchenko added that, together with all the citizens of Ukraine, he mournfully honored dozens of thousands of the innocent victims.

The Head of State said he was convinced that ethnic peace and stability would help the autonomy and the whole country successfully develop.