Some delegates of the Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people gathered at the Qurultay delegates' conference in Kyiv on 12th November, 2018. The participants of the conference supported the statement on the extension of the powers of the Qurultay, Mejlis and other bodies of the national self-government of the Crimean Tatars. They want to prolongate the powers of these bodies till the new Qurultay elections in the Crimea and the election of new members. As some delegates of Qurultay could not leave the occupied Crimea to participate in the conference, they are invited to join this statement through signing it within two months.
The representative body of the Crimean Tatars — Qurultay is meeting every 5 years and elects the Mejlis, which is the executive body. Last time Qurultay gathered in the autumn of 2013 in the Crimea — before the occupation. Accordingly, the term of office of the Majlis has come to an end. Taking into consideration that the activity of the Mejlis is prohibited in the Crimea, where it is declared an extremist organization, it is impossible for the Qurultay to meet in the Peninsula and to elect new members of the representative body. Following the conference, the leaders of the Crimean Tatar people took part of the Qurultay delegates to the controlled territory in order to at least partially ensure the legitimacy of their actions.
Crimean Tatars are citizens of Ukraine, therefore their position is important for consolidating efforts of the Ukrainian nation to return the Crimea to Ukraine. Also, the position of the Crimean Tatars is important for Ukraine in the context of involving Turkey and other Muslim countries in the process of restoring Ukraine's sovereignty over the Crimea.
