ZN.UA spoke with mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (SAM ARC) Aider Rustemov about Muslims in the context of the new wave of the war, the life of the Crimean Tatars during the ninth year of the occupation of the peninsula and the future of the SAM ARC.
“Has the role of soldiers – adherents of Islam – changed since Russia openly attacked Ukraine in February? How many Muslims are currently in the Armed Forces?”
“Of course, it has. When there is a full-scale invasion of the entire territory of Ukraine, when soldiers break into your house and rape children and women, people start to rethink everything. There is no precise statistics, but now many more Crimean Muslims are participating in the war. To begin with, we have a special unit “Crimea” under the Defence Intelligence, which today is fighting in the very hell in the east of the country. In addition, there is a battalion that consists of former fighters of the unit named after Noman Çelebicihan. If I am not mistaken, they are currently undergoing training in the center of Ukraine. I do not mention the number and names of the commanders on purpose, so as not to expose people to additional danger.
Let me summarize, since February 24, the degree of involvement of Crimean Tatars in the Armed Forces and other defense forces has increased significantly.”
“Is there, in general, a religious factor in this war?”
“There is, but it is definitely not predominant. The religious dimension is important for individual believers who fight. But they are a minority. If we talk about the Crimean Tatars, the issue of religion and war is extremely important for them. Because people, who left the peninsula, were the ones not accepting the status quo, having left their property and relatives there to fight the occupation.”
The peninsula now
“In 2016, it was estimated that since the beginning of the occupation of the peninsula, for one reason or another, from 9 to 20 thousand Crimean Tatar settlers have left. Do you have more recent data?”
“Undoubtedly, already more than 50 thousand. Currently, this number is increasing due to the Russian mobilization. Almost all these Muslims are part of our, “mainland” SAM ARC. In general, today we have 22 communities in different regions of Ukraine. Unfortunately, several of them are currently in the temporarily occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.”
“In what conditions do the Crimean Tatars live now?”
“People continue living the way they would always do. They have managed to adapt in eight years. They got their passports since they couldn’t but do it (although they put it off down to the wire). No passport means no pension, not even to mention that without a passport you need to issue documents for temporary residence every time, constantly leave the peninsula and enter it every three months. In addition, at a certain moment, many people felt disillusionment and disbelief that Ukraine would return. Eight years is a long period.”
“According to your public speeches, the topic of forced mobilization of Muslims in Crimea is very important to you. You stated that a Crimean Tatar who voluntarily joined the Russian army or on contract is a traitor to his people. Also, since February 24, you have been advising the Crimean Tatars to hide or leave the peninsula, because the Russians are deliberately mobilizing the Crimean Tatars (according to the WSJ, 90% of those mobilized belong to this particular people). Is there any data on how many Crimean Tatars have been forcibly mobilized? How many of them have left?”
“Unfortunately, there is no such statistics. But we know from separate personal appeals to us that mass summonses on the first day of the announcement of partial mobilization were sent specifically to the Crimean Tatars. They were massively taken from their villages. Therefore, approximately five thousand Crimean Tatars left Crimea. Unfortunately, most of them suffered on their way due to lack of documents. Perhaps even half of them returned to the peninsula. They left, then the threat of mobilization faded a little, and they returned.
I am also sure that the Crimean Tatars who remained on the peninsula are our potential to resist the Russians in a guerrilla warfare. Therefore, I encouraged them to be ready for a new wave of mobilization and partisan actions. These are the forces of resistance that the Ukrainian state can rely on. It is difficult to imagine the Ukrainian Crimea without the Crimean Tatars. I hope everyone has understood that. This war began with the occupation of Crimea, and it will, inshallah, end with its liberation.”
“How do you see the relations between Crimea and the “mainland” after the indispensable de-occupation? Will you insist on the Crimean Tatar autonomy?”
“I always insisted on it. It is obvious that the Crimean Tatars, as an indigenous people of Ukraine, have the right to self-determination. It is impossible to imagine Crimea as Ukrainian without Crimean Tatars. The first step already taken by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the definition of the Crimean Tatars as an indigenous people. The following two are ahead, i.e., the adoption of a separate law on the status of the Crimean Tatar people, and then the introduction of amendments to the Constitution.
Turning the ARC into the “Crimean region” and leaving us limited in our rights? We are a people with our own roots. Our language is on the verge of extinction. All this does not suit us, because it threatens internal Ukrainian disturbances. Why is this for all of us? This is unwise and wrong.”
“On what basis do you see the restoration of the Ukrainian Crimea in general?”
“If you look at it through the prism of religion, then justice should prevail. The Russians are invaders and colonizers. By the way, in the classic Islamic literature, the following point is prescribed: even the prayer of an invader who has seized someone else’s territory is not accepted by Allah. Just as for 40 days, the prayer of someone who drank vodka is not accepted. Therefore, the Russians must leave the peninsula. Crimea must be decolonized from the “Russian world.” From the perspective of Ukrainian legislation, all property transactions of the Russians are invalid. I also think that Emirali Ablaiev and his colleagues should be treated in the same way as any other collaborator. Those people who deliberately publicly defended the right of the Russian Federation (online or offline) should be punished as severely as possible. People who distanced themselves from Russian politics and at the same time simply did their work, who continued to work in schools, hospitals, etc., shall not be brought to justice.”
Crimean Tatars in the south of Ukraine
“It is known that the SAM ARC communities were active primarily in the south of the Kherson region, close to the peninsula. How did the occupation affect the lives of Muslims in the already liberated territories and how does it affect the regions temporarily controlled by Russia? Are there cases of torture? As Rustem Asanov, the imam of the Birlik community, stated, religious activities have been terminated in the occupied territories of southern Ukraine. It is so?”
“Exactly. Rustem Asanov was tortured. When they did this, they asked him about another imam, Usein Tokhla from Novooleksiyivka. He left on time and took out widows and orphans, for whom houses were bought and who settled in almost before the invasion of Russia. After the escape of Asanov, imam of Henichesk, Edem Basnaev, who, fortunately, was lucky enough to not be subjected to torture, left. Dilshod Rakhimov, head of the Strilkovo community, was also tortured, but he did not leave – he was heavily intimidated, and he probably signed the papers as they demanded of him, just like Asanov. There is no connection with him. He stays at home and does not go out. The Melitopol community does not get in touch. Its leader Seit-Asan Ablayev only responds to my greetings. It is obvious that he is scared and does not want to communicate with me. Eskender Mustafayev, the imam of Nova Kakhovka, left with his family after the Russians occupied the region. They had lived in the basement for about a week and left under shelling. Scarcely left, to be honest. There is connection with them, and they are waiting for the possibility to return. Community leaders who left the occupied territory mostly settled in Kyiv and are trying to do anything, to help. Rustem Asanov and his family are in the capital. Some left for Europe. Those Muslims who remained were simply intimidated.”
Religion and politics
“What does the Islamic world know about the war in Ukraine? How does it get information about it? How does it assess the war?”
“The Islamic world is a huge front of religious diplomacy. In the Muslim world, the war in Ukraine is perceived from a completely different angle. They see it as an example of the confrontation between the West and the Russian Federation.
In addition, in some parts of the Muslim world, you can see sympathy for Russia, because it opposes the West. It is not even about its alleged decay or liberalism, but about the Palestinian issue and the memory of Iraq and Afghanistan. “The West has always fought against Islam.” And Russia is fighting against the West. Accordingly, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In order to explain this to spiritual persons, it is necessary to go to those countries, sit at the table, drink coffee and tea and communicate a lot. There is a need to discuss that the war unleashed by Russia is barbaric and is not a war in the international sense when humanitarian law is respected.”
“Why do foreign Muslim religious leaders avoid condemning Russian aggression or at least military violence?”
“Because the participation of Ukrainian Muslims in the war is hardly on the media agenda. Since nobody hears us, Russia influences the position of Muslim countries. Also, what Russian messages are broadcast? Mosques and Islamic schools are being built in the country (but everyone conceals the destruction of dissent). Foreign Muslims are shown that Islam is freely developing in the Russian Federation and that it is possible to help Russian Muslims. Of course, it works, because there are two million Muslims in Ukraine, and 20 million in the Russian Federation.
Since Crimea is occupied, we have lost most of the mosques. We have few of them on the mainland. Everything we do is started after the occupation, from scratch. No one helps us. But we are not complaining. We are satisfied with our country and happy to live in our native land. However, if we are talking about a political confrontation, then state support is really, really important. We just can’t do without it.”