The Battle of Simeyiz

Last week the Crimea saw renewed unsanctioned seizures of land by Crimean Tatars. This time the object was laurel-tree groves in the Yalta Mountain Forest Preserve.

It will be recalled that several groups of Crimean Tatars pitched tents last July in the vicinity of Yalta and Hurzuf and in the area owned by the Krymbolharpivdenservis company in Simeyiz (in the photo). On July 23, Yalta Mayor Serhiy Braiko and Crimean Tatar Majlis Chairman Mustafa Dzhemiliov signed a protocol on settling the dispute over the provision of land to the Crimean Tatars in Greater Yalta. This done, the tents of protest were dismantled in Yalta and Hurzuf. However, neither party in the conflict was satisfied with the way the agreement was being fulfilled. Those who committed the unsanctioned seizure at the Yalta preserve (Simeyiz) are now demanding that repatriates be given land plots on the territory of Greater Yalta.

Crimean Supreme Council Chairman Borys Deich has condemned the seizure by the Crimean Tatars. He instructed the Crimea’s police and prosecution chiefs to closely examine this incident. Krymbolharpivdenservis General Manager and Crimean Supreme Council Deputy Mykola Yanaky raised this question.

The President’s permanent representative in the Crimean Autonomous Republic, Oleksandr Didenko, also said the frequent instances of land seizure on the Crimea’s southern coast are inappropriate and unlawful. “Any action of this kind must be immediately addressed by law enforcement, irrespective of the offender’s ethnicity. The authorities cannot accept dictates and blackmail as a method of dialog, and those who organize these actions should know this,” he said and instructed experts to urgently conduct a general analysis of land management on the Crimea’s southern coast.

But most probably, this analysis will only show how deep the problem is. For example, the Crimean Republic Agricultural Committee quotes the Crimean News Agency as reporting that out of the 109,000 Crimean Tatars living in the countryside, 29,800 have no farmland plots. 79,200 Crimean Tatars have received or are receiving 180,400 hectares in land plots. 21,900 former deportees have received land of 120,800 hectares. About 300 Crimean Tatars have set up farms on a total 5,000 hectares. 3,400 have joined new large-scale farming enterprises covering 9,500 hectares. Another 19,200 hectares have been given to 22,200 people to set up personal farms, while 31,400 Crimean Tatars are preparing technical documentation to receive 25,900 hectares for this purpose.

In addition, 1,100 former deportees have been given 1,000 hectares of land for cattle grazing, hay, and vegetable gardening. The Crimea’s land reserves, last inventoried in June, still comprise 193,400 hectares of undistributed land suitable for cultivation, including 54,500 ha of arable land and the land sown over with durable plants. Moreover, 59,200 hectares of cultivated lands have been leased out to legal entities and individuals for farming purposes. When the lease period expires, these lands can be distributed among the Crimean Tatars and employees in the social sphere. The repatriates have been supplied with farmland on an average of 1.65 hectares per person.

But in this case the question is not about farmland but about lands on the Crimea’s southern coast to build houses on. For before the deportation Crimean Tatars accounted for 65% of Yalta’s and 80% of Alushta’s population. Today, they account for about 1% in each of these regions. There is a waiting list of over 3,000 Crimean Tatars who wish to reside in each of these cities. About 1,000 plots have been given to repatriates on the southern coast over the past ten years, but half of these still remain unoccupied because they are not fit for housing. After the July events, the Yalta authorities promised to make available 500 plots to build houses on, but the issue drags on.

The Crimean News Agency reports that the Crimea’s southern and eastern coasts are teeming with lands not controlled by either city or village councils. The absence of land owners and uncontrolled land management provide fertile ground for all kinds of machinations.

Last Thursday Yalta hosted a meeting between Mayor Serhiy Braiko, Supreme Council Deputy Chairman Ilmi Umerov, and the Majlis leader, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Mustafa Dzhemiliov. They passed a new resolution aimed at thwarting land seizures and bringing the whole process into conformity with the law. The meeting resolved that the Yalta City Council would have a full discussion of the land provision question within a certain period of time. Crimean leaders Borys Deich and Serhiy Kunitsyn plan to meet village council chairpersons of the southern coast, where land distribution is a particularly acute problem. These three officials reached a consensus that the land provision problem must be solved lawfully.

As Mr. Umerov told The Day, “The situation is tense, but we see that Yalta’s authorities are willing to solve the problems legally. Serhiy Braiko and chairpersons of the southern coast villages are now working quite constructively, and we believe that the problem will be solved. All we have to do is lift tension. I think the Crimean Tatars who seized land in Simeyiz must show good will, as the authorities have done, and vacate the plot. We will do our best to solve the problem in a legal manner...”