Mustafa Dzhemilev

"My life plan from early childhood included everything, depending on the books I read and movies I watched, but political activity. Furthermore, it was clear to me that there was no political future for Crimean Tatars under Soviet rule. Under the Soviets, political activity meant zealous service to the Communist Party and unequivocal approval and praise of everything that was happening in the country. This was simply not compatible with my religious identity and national dignity."

"Everybody understands that in order to liberate Crimea and restore trust in the international law peacefully, one has to implement effective economic sanctions, which would compel the aggressor state to return the occupied territories and operate within the framework of the existing international order."

"Russia has once again demonstrated that not a single memorandum or agreement signed with it guarantees security and territorial integrity. Since Ukraine is not likely to have military capabilities equal to Russia’s, due to the difference in the size of the country, human and natural resources, Ukraine will have to join NATO or any other regional defense alliance of collective security. Ukraine’s relations with Russia may only be settled after Russia withdraws from the occupied territories and compensates for the damages caused to Ukraine. However, under the current regime in the Kremlin it is highly unlikely that the situation will change."

"Until the occupation of our land is over, we cannot make any deals."

"The occupation of Crimea must prove to be increasingly costly for Russia. There is a notion that Crimea won’t be de-occupied while Putin is in power because that would signal his political death. But, if the sanctions for international damage are powerful enough, then it is quite possible that Crimea will be freed even under Putin."

"First of all, we do not trade with our loyalty expecting whose bid will be higher. We have decided a long time ago. To say the least, we don’t have a great deal of trust in Russians."

"If you have hurt even a single innocent person, even if you remain independent, that struggle for independence will never be considered a victory."

"The main merit of the Crimean Tatar national movement is that we avoided bloodshed in our struggle. We have shown that putting human life first, talking about one's rights and the rights of others, one can get out of difficult situations without blood."

"I knew from an early age that we had been vilely evicted from the Crimea, and that the Soviet government was bad."

"If a person is to think about the future of his own children, he must first have a homeland. If he does not have a homeland, that nation will not have a perspective. This is the first reason, but apart from that, our fathers and grandfathers always talked about Crimea. Even though we did not see it, we always knew that the Crimean Peninsula was our homeland and that we would return there eventually. That's why our national movement was one of the strongest movements in the Soviet Union."