On the eve of the Peace Summit in Switzerland, the Supreme Mufti of Crimea, Aider Rustemov and Mufti of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, "Ummah" Murat Suleymanov, called on the governments of Muslim countries to support Ukraine's efforts to establish "comprehensive, just and lasting peace".
This was reported by Krym.Realii.
In his appeal, the Supreme Mufti of Crimea stressed that the Muslims of Ukraine, the Crimean Tatars, have become "victims of the savage war Russia wages" since 2014.
"We, the indigenous people of Crimea, were expelled from our land, from our homes. Those who remained living in the occupation have been subjected to violence, torture, imprisonment, kidnapping and murder for these 10 years. Their children are forced to sing the Russian anthem and march in Russian military uniforms in kindergartens and schools and then are mobilized into the Russian army to be expended as cannon fodder. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Crimea do not live in peace. They live in war," Rustemov stated in his address.
Mufti of the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine "Ummah" Murat Suleymanov noted that the Muslim community of Ukraine became one of the "biggest victims of this war", for after the annexation of Crimea, Russia invaded Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where large communities of Muslims (Kazan Tatars) lived.
"Over the years of the great war, several Ukrainian mosques have been hit by Russian bombs and missiles, some of them were completely destroyed. But we, Ukrainian Muslims, remain here and continue to fight for the sake of weak men, women and children, as the Ayat says. And we urge everyone to support Ukrainians," the Mufti emphasized in his address.
Murat Suleymanov noted that the way to establish a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is to implement the Ukrainian Peace Formula and publicly support this path through participation in the High-Level Peace Summit.
The conference, which the Ukrainian government calls the Global Peace Summit, will take place on June 15-16. About 100 countries are expected to attend the meeting at the Burgenstock resort near the city of Lucerne. According to the latest data from the Office of the President of Ukraine, 107 countries and international organizations have confirmed their participation.
Russia, which was not invited to the summit, said that the peace talks in Ukraine scheduled for June in Switzerland would be meaningless without their participation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that any actions regarding Ukraine that "ignore Russia's position" are "detached from reality."