Crimean Tatars Remove Millennial Crosses

Problems began in the summer of 2000 when Archbishop Lazar of Crimea and Simferopol (Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate) decided to erect 1000 crosses on the peninsula as part of the celebration of the new millennium and 1000 years of Christianity in Rus (Ukraine, Belarus and Russia).

Crimea’s Muftia declared that this one-sided view of the religious life and history of the peninsula insults Moslems’ religious sensibilities. In protest the Muftia left the interreligious council, «Peace – God’s Gift,» which was organized in Crimea a few years ago. Eight crosses had been placed by the end of 2000. Four of them were subsequently torn down. The Mejelise has claimed responsibility for taking down one of those crosses, a cross that had been erected near the Moslem cemetery in the village of Morske. Mustafa Dzamiliov, head of the Mejelise of the Crimean Tatars and a national deputy in Ukraine’s Parliament, condemned both the forced placing of the crosses on the peninsula and their forced removal. He thinks «crosses should not be so rashly placed in public places frequented by faithful of other religions.»

The tension was resolved only when Serhii Kunitsyn, prime minister of the Crimean Autonomous Republic, personally got involved in the case. Both sides agreed that a smaller cross will be placed in a different location, near the Christian cemetery. The eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate in Crimea has promised that they will no longer engage in activities which might provoke religious tensions there.