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New Straits Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Anwar's final day in Russia focuses on Islamic, tech and trade ties
KAZAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is set to deliver a keynote address at the Strategic Vision Group (SVG) Russia–Islamic World dialogue, on the final day of his official visit to Russia. The dialogue will be held at the Kazan Hi-Technology Park, a regional innovation hub that houses tech start-ups, research institutions and companies focused on digital transformation, smart manufacturing and halal innovation. The SVG, established in 2006, is a Russia-led initiative aimed at strengthening dialogue with members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It gathers political leaders, scholars, technocrats and religious figures to discuss peacebuilding, education, technology and joint development strategies. Following the dialogue, the prime minister will tour the park's key facilities, in a move underscoring Malaysia's interest in developing new partnerships in technology, Islamic finance and halal economy solutions. The park is central to Russia's ambition to position Tatarstan as a tech and halal economy leader within the Islamic world. Anwar is also scheduled to perform Friday prayers at the historic Mardzhani Mosque, one of Kazan's oldest Islamic landmarks. The mosque, built in the 18th century, stands as a symbol of religious coexistence in Tatarstan, where Tatars and Russians form a model of multiethnic harmony. At midday, Anwar will attend a working lunch hosted by Tatarstan Prime Minister Aleksei Pesoshin at the Tatarskaya Usadba, a traditional Tatar venue in the heart of Kazan. Talks are expected to centre on tourism, agriculture and bilateral education initiatives. The prime minister will then head to Kazan Expo, where he is expected to hold an exclusive interview with TV BRICS, an international media network that promotes news and cultural exchange among BRICS countries and partner nations. This will be followed by his keynote address at the plenary session of the 16th International Economic Forum "Russia–Islamic World: KazanForum 2025." Malaysia's participation in the forum is aimed at expanding trade, investment and halal supply chain linkages between Russian and Muslim-majority nations. Before concluding his trip, Anwar will hold an exit press conference at Kazan Expo to share key takeaways from the visit. The prime minister is scheduled to depart for Kuala Lumpur from Kazan International Airport at 6pm local time, marking the end of his four-day official visit which has included high-level engagements in both Moscow and Kazan.
Washington Post
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump envoy praises fraudulent Russian referendums as real
'They're Russian speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.' — Steve Witkoff, real estate developer and Trump special envoy, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, March 21 The emerging Trump proposal to end the war caused by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine calls for de jure (legal) recognition of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and de facto recognition of the Russian occupation of parts of four other Ukrainian regions during the conflict. The plan was largely developed by Witkoff, a close friend of President Donald Trump with no prior experience in diplomacy. This would be an extraordinary concession that conflicts with U.S. policy in place for generations — a refusal to recognize seizures of territory by other nations. Anyone growing up in the 1960s would remember that every atlas contained a notation that the United States did not recognize the absorption of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the Soviet Union. The same principle led the United States to organize a coalition of nations to oust Iraq from Kuwait after it invaded and renamed Kuwait its 19th province. In his interview with Carlson and in other statements, Witkoff has suggested that the people in these regions want to be part of Russia, citing as evidence referendums held under Russian occupation. Let's examine what actually happened. (A spokesman for Witkoff did not respond to questions.) On Feb. 27, 2014, Russian forces seized Crimea. Russia already had at least 12,500 troops at Sevastopol, a Crimean port leased by Russia and also used by the Ukrainian navy. Crimea had been an important part of Russia since Catherine the Great seized it from the Ottoman Empire in 1783. For reasons that remain a mystery, in 1954, Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev convinced the Supreme Soviet — which had the formal authority to ratify a transfer of territory — to make Crimea part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Historian William Taubman, in his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Khrushchev, said the onetime party boss of Ukraine had long tried to expand its territory and even tried to take Crimea for Ukraine 10 years earlier, in 1944. Crimea was populated mostly by Tatars until Russian dictator Joseph Stalin deported the whole population in 1944. According to the last official Ukrainian census, in 2001, 60 percent of Crimea's population was Russian, 24 percent Ukrainian and 10 percent Tatar. Despite that majority-Russian population, Crimea voted to join Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, though it was approved by a narrow majority (54 percent) compared with other areas of Ukraine. It's also worth recalling that a cache of more than 1,000 strategic nuclear weapons were on Ukraine's soil when the Soviet Union dissolved. That instantly made Ukraine the world's third-biggest nuclear power, with more weapons than Britain, France and China combined. In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, Russia, along with the United States and Britain, agreed to 'refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine' in exchange for Ukraine's joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and giving up the weapons. Putin's seizure of Crimea violated that agreement. During his first term and in a recent interview with Time magazine, Trump claimed that President Barack Obama handed Crimea to Russia — when, in fact, Obama rallied European leaders to sanction Moscow. In 2014, just days after Russia's action, Trump had a different take. In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump extolled Putin for the 'smart' idea of invading Crimea after the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, had concluded. Trump acknowledged that Putin seized the territory. 'You know he didn't want to do it during the Olympics,' Trump said on March 6. 'Boom. The day after. Saw our athletes leave, we all leave and the day after. And you know when he goes in and takes Crimea, he's taking the heart and soul because that's where all the money is. I was surprised I heard that the other day they were saying most of the wealth comes right from that area. That's the area with the wealth. So that means the rest of Ukraine will fall and it's predicted to fall fairly quickly.' On March 16, a referendum was held on whether Crimea should become part of Russia. But it's ludicrous to say the results were valid. The referendum took place only nine days after it was announced, with television broadcasts by Ukrainian channels blocked. Moreover, there was no option to vote 'no' and return to the preinvasion status quo. Instead, the two options were to join Russia — what the ballot called 'reunification' — or become a quasi-independent state beholden to Russia. A McClatchy news report at the time reported serious irregularities. Tatars and the local Ukrainian community announced a boycott of the vote, but witnesses described a convoy of Russian minibuses and cars crossing the border and heading to polling stations in Tatar areas to cast ballots. Putin claimed 82 percent turnout — for a 96 percent 'yes' vote — but McClatchy said data sent by local officials to the Russian FSB intelligence agency showed that only 34.2 percent of the Crimean population took part. The referendum also did not comply with existing laws. The Ukrainian constitution, in Article 73, said that 'alterations to the territory of Ukraine shall be resolved exclusively by the All-Ukrainian referendum,' described in Article 72 as a national referendum called either by the parliament or the president, or as a popular initiative with 3 million signatures from at least two-thirds of administrative districts known as oblasts. The Crimea referendum, set up by local authorities, met none of those conditions. Under the Ukrainian constitution, Crimea, as an autonomous republic, had specially designated powers. But Article 134 states: 'The Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be an integral constituent part of Ukraine and shall resolve issues relegated to its authority within the frame of its reference, determined by the Constitution of Ukraine.' Russia also claimed overwhelming support in sham referendums held in regions occupied by Russian forces, which it then used to justify the claimed annexation of the regions its forces partially occupied. As a matter of international law, an occupying military power is not permitted to gain sovereignty over occupied territory, but instead is supposed to preserve the status quo ante. Thus the referendums, held between Sept. 23 and Sept. 27, were illegal. The U.N. General Assembly condemned the annexation by a vote of 143-5. The referendums essentially offered one question: Do you approve of joining Russia? Votes were often collected by election officials going door-to-door with ballots, accompanied by armed soldiers, according to news reports and videos, with votes taken verbally by household. Human Rights Watch collected quotes about the process. Witkoff made a fortune in real estate and appears to view a peace agreement as a real estate deal. But in accepting the orchestrated Russian referendums as real — 'the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule' — in effect, he's allowing squatters to determine what kind of building should be built. We doubt that would be considered acceptable in his business dealings. The referendums were conducted under martial law, with dubious or coercive election procedures, and offered no real choices. Despite his desire to end the war, Witkoff shouldn't pretend these referendums were conducted in ways that would be allowed in the United States. He earns Four Pinocchios. (About our rating scale) Send us facts to check by filling out this form Sign up for The Fact Checker weekly newsletter The Fact Checker is a verified signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network code of principles
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Brave like Ukraine': Citizens, allies rally for nation in third year of war with Russia
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, citizens of the war-torn nation and its allies gathered at a Myrtle Beach park Sunday to support and honor those who have lost their lives during the conflict. Russian forces crossed over the Ukranian border on Feb. 24, 2022 — escalating a pattern of aggression that began nearly a decade earlier. 'It started from the Revolution of Dignity (in 2014), when Ukraine showed its desire for democracy,' said Anastasiia Sliusarenko, an organizer of Sunday's demonstration at Plyler Park. 'Today, here we have with us some Tatars who were kicked out of their homes, and their homes right now are occupied by Russia.' Over more than 200 rounds of peace talks with Russia since 2015, Sliusarenko said the past three years have brought countless drone and missile attacks targeting Ukrainian cities and towns. 'Last night, Russia shot a record number of drones on the Ukranian capital, and other cities as well,' she said. On Sunday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he'd step down if doing so would bring lasting peace for his country under the protection of NATO's military alliance. His comment appeared to be aimed at recent suggestions by President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that elections should be held in Ukraine, despite legislation prohibiting them during martial law. Natalia Merolle, who spoke at Sunday's gathering, said Russia's assault wasn't just an attack on Ukrainian sovereignty, but the nation's fundamental values of freedom, democracy and human rights. 'I can't wrap my heart, I can't wrap my soul, I can't wrap my head around any of what's happening, and I'm here to just show them for the third year in a row that I'm here with them,' she said. Merolle spoke after traditional Ukranian music and prayers were held. 'For me every single day, I just want to be brave like Ukraine. The choice they've made, the unity they've shown, they strength,' she said. Information from The Associated Press was used in this story. * * * Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Al Jazeera
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
The Crimean Tatar imprisoned by Russia, promoted to high office by Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine – Seventeen years in jail for 'smuggling explosives' and 'organising a diversion' to blow up a natural gas pipeline. That's the sentence Nariman Dzhelyal, a Crimean Tatar community leader in the annexed Black Sea peninsula, was handed in 2022 after a year-long trial that Ukraine decried as 'trumped-up' and orchestrated by the Kremlin. Dzhelyal, 44, denied all of the allegations against him. He said he could have been charged with anything from 'separatism' to 'attempts to undermine Russia's constitutional order'. These are the accusations thousands of Kremlin critics and Muslims have faced in Chechnya, Dagestan and other mostly Muslim regions. But in Dzhelyal's case, he and other Tatar activists believe the Kremlin chose 'diversion' as a possible pretext for wider persecution of activists of the Mejlis, the informal Tatar parliament, and the entire Tatar community. The Kremlin labelled the Mejlis an 'extremist' organisation' in 2016. 'Through my case, there was a possibility – and there's still one – to proclaim the Mejlis not just an extremist, but a terrorist organisation, and spread harsher persecution to all of its activists,' Dzhelyal told Al Jazeera in the Kyiv office of the Mejlis. He was released in a prisoner swap in June 2024, arriving in Kyiv to be greeted by his family, dignitaries and reporters. Had the Mejlis been branded 'terrorist', anyone displaying its insignia – including the tamga, a blue flag with a yellow seal that is ubiquitous among Tatar drivers – would have faced jail. The tamga dates back to the Muslim dynasty that ruled Crimea as part of Ottoman Turkiye until Russia annexed it in 1783. However, the Kremlin appears to have opted against widening the crackdown. Observers say the reasons may vary from pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the conflict of interests among Russian law enforcement agencies and political clans. 'There's no reasonable logic; there are uncoordinated and not-always-compatible interests and views of various agencies,' Kyiv-based rights advocate Vyacheslav Likhachyov told Al Jazeera. However, Moscow still singles out Tatars, whose community of 250,000 comprises only 12 percent of Crimea's population. Out of what rights groups have termed Crimea's 208 'political' prisoners, they say 125 are Tatars. Many arrested Tatars await trials for months or even years, and those sentenced to jail on charges ranging from 'terrorism' to 'discrediting Russia's military' often end up in distant Siberian prisons. 'People are jailed for nothing. These people didn't blow up anyone, didn't kill anyone, did nothing of the kind,' Dzhelyal said. Tatars once dominated Crimea, but these days, the majority of the peninsula's population are ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, whose forefathers arrived after the 1944 deportation of the entire Tatar community. Soviet leader Josef Stalin accused them of 'collaboration' with Nazi Germany, but experts say the real reason was Crimea's geographic and cultural proximity to Turkiye – only 270km (170 miles) across the Black Sea and sharing hundreds of years of history. The Tatars were deported to Central Asia in cattle cars, with little food or water, and almost half died en route. 'One day won't be enough, one or two books won't be enough to tell how they tortured us. When we die, our bones will remember it,' an elderly villager who survived the deportation told this reporter in 2014, just days before the Moscow-organised 'referendum' that made Crimea part of Russia. Dzhelyal's father, Enver, was six in 1944. His family ended up in the sun-scorched Uzbek city of Navoi, where he would work at a chemical plant and meet Nariman's mother. He died in 2022, and Nariman was not allowed to leave jail to attend his funeral. 'Not being able to say farewell wasn't easy,' Dzhelyal said. 'But it was Allah's will; I perceive it the way a Muslim should.' The community dreamed of returning to Crimea, but Moscow allowed it only in the late 1980s – without compensation for lost lives and property. Tatars mostly settled in arid northern Crimea, while locals demonised and ostracised them, and regional authorities did not allow them to hold jobs in law enforcement and administration. When Moscow flew in thousands of soldiers and organised pro-Russian rallies in Crimea in February 2014, Tatar leaders immediately understood the danger. They knew how Moscow handled 'extremism' in the Muslim-dominated areas in the North Caucasus and the Volga River region. Dzhelyal recalled a conversation with a Chechen man who pleaded with him not to 'let them treat you the way they treated us'. 'They killed as many Chechens as there are Tatars,' the man told him. The Mejlis chose a Gandhian policy of non-violent resistance. 'Russia was provoking a conflict. They just needed one, because it would justify the presence of the Russian army as 'peacekeepers',' Dzhelyal said. Tatars stayed away from altercations with taciturn Russian servicemen and 'self-defence' units that were put together and trained by Russian officers. Dzhelyal and other Tatar leaders claimed that Moscow specifically brought in Serbian ultra-nationalists who had participated in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide of Muslims. In March 2014, this reporter saw four armed Serbians patrolling a road in southern Crimea. The non-violent resistance helped prevent turning Crimea into another Chechnya, where Moscow's 'counter-terrorist operation' morphed into a war, analysts said. 'There is no counter-terrorist operation because the Tatars' resistance is essentially non-violent. And the religious factor is less' significant than in other Muslim regions of Russia, Maksym Butkevych, a Kyiv-based human rights advocate and serviceman, told Al Jazeera. However, blood was spilled. According to activists, a Tatar protester was abducted before the 'referendum', and his tortured body was found with his eyes poked out. Dozens of Tatars were abducted and are presumed dead. Hundreds have been arrested, or have had their houses searched by armed men who often broke in at dawn, frightening children. Tatar businessmen face pressure, blackmail and expropriations. However, Dzhelyal is adamant that 'Ukraine is doomed to be independent' from any Russian meddling. 'Sooner or later, we will get some preferences for [Tatars], and it will always displease Moscow,' he said. On December 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Dzhelyal Ukraine's ambassador to Turkiye.
