Deputy Chairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz, who were convicted in Crimea, have arrived in Turkey where they will be met by the Ukrainian ambassador, the Ukrainian president’s spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko has said.
“The plane with citizens of Ukraine Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz has landed in Ankara and on behalf of the president of Ukraine they will be met by our ambassador, who will facilitate their stay in Turkey,” he wrote on Facebook page.
The Ukrainian president’s envoy for Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Jemilev, told earlier the Ukrayinska Pravda news portal Chiygoz and Umerov were first brought to Simferopol, then a plane took them to Anapa, and about an hour ago an airplane with the Mejlis deputies left for Ankara.
“At about 10:30, defense lawyer Nikolai Polozov said that Akhtem Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov had been taken to the airport. FSB officers said that they were brought there allegedly for signing a protocol on the handover of Chiygoz and Umerov to the Turkish side in accordance with the agreements between Turkey and Russia… Then they went to Anapa. At 13:30 a text message came that the plane from Anapa was heading to Ankara. Then they will travel to Ukraine,” he said.
Jemilev said their return is the result of agreements reached during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Ukraine in early October. Jemilev also told the ATR TV Channel that Umerov and Chiygoz will go from Turkey to Ukraine.
Chiygoz’s lawyer Nikolai Polozov said the question of the two men’s fate was discussed during talks involving leaders from three countries: Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
“How that happened, and exactly which arrangements and conditions were reached, it is hard to say. No one invited me to these talks. I am aware that all charges against them have been dropped. No one showed us official documents, and if there were any decrees, we don’t know about them. The only thing I can say for sure is that neither Akhtem Chiygoz nor Ilmi Umerov wrote or signed any declarations or petitions for pardon or guilty pleas. No [prisoner] exchange was being planned [either],” Polozov said.
On Sept. 11, the Russian court in the annexed Crimea sentenced Chiygoz to eight years in high-security prison. On Sept.27, the Simferopol District Court sentenced Umerov to two years in low-security penal colony.
