Dissident and Chekist

"Hello Mustafa-Aga!" So began a conversation on the phone with the leader of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev, Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was all kind of courtesy, standing and political correctness. The conversation lasted about half an hour.

After the victory of the revolution in Ukraine, the Kremlin stubbornly evaded any contacts with Ukrainian politicians. With the beginning of the intervention in Crimea, Moscow generally began to ignore any Ukrainian proposals about negotiations or any other interaction. Yes, and what to talk about when the Russian armored personnel carriers are already twisted throughout the Crimea, and the GRU special forces occupy key military and civilian objects?

However, on February 18, a certain Russian official who arrived in Sevastopol handed over to Mustafa Dzhemilev that Vladimir Putin would like to meet him. It is not harmful to want, but the meeting with a small Russian president was not included in Jamillev’s plans. She could compromise him, especially since the political expediency of such a meeting was not at all obvious.

Here you need to understand who Mustafa Dzhemilev is. During the years of Soviet power, he was a dissident, the founder of the initiative group of human rights in the USSR created in 1969. Even then, he was one of the most famous figures of the national movement of the Crimean Tatars, who sought the return of the people to the Crimea, and later became a real national leader. Six times, the Soviet courts carried out their sentences to him, and he spent a total of more than 15 years in camps, prisons and links.

The meeting with Putin was for him, to put it mildly, optional. However, the Ukrainian authorities and Western politicians live in a dream of a dialogue with Russia, which supposedly will help resolve the situation in the Crimea. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and other Ukrainian politicians asked Dzhemilev not to evade meeting Putin. The same wish was expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.

On March 11, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mustafa Dzhemilev flew to Moscow. In the evening, he met with the ambassadors of Ukraine and Turkey in Russia, who also asked him to agree to a meeting with Putin. The intermediary and organizer of the contacts was the former president of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, who had previously repeatedly declared his intentions to help the fraternal Crimean Tatar people in every way.

On March 12, Mustafa Dzhemilev met with Mintimer Shaimiev in the representative office of Tatarstan in Moscow. After about an hourly conversation, Shaimiev went into another room alone, did not have ten minutes, and then called Dzhemilev and invited him to the phone.

Putin said mainly, setting out his position against Ukraine and Crimea. Dzhemilev was in some bewilderment - Putin operated on the concepts and arguments, as if copied from the programs of the central channels of Russian television. "Usually, the heads of states use serious and well -prepared analytical information, and not propaganda tracing paper," says Dzhemilev. However, he believes that Putin spoke sincerely.

Mustafa Dzhemilev outlined Putin his view of the problem, emphasizing that no matter what the solution of the Crimean issue was, the main thing is to maintain the integrity of the Ukrainian state. In response to this, Putin played nobility, saying that, protecting the sovereignty of his country, this is exactly what a decent person should say, and he, Putin, knows what a difficult life path Dzhemilev went, never doubted his high decency and respects him very much for it.

We talked about the fate of the Crimean autonomy. Dzhemilev said that the issue of expanding the rights of Crimean autonomy can be considered, but not at the time of the presence of foreign troops in the Crimea. He noted that neither Ukraine nor the international community recognize the result of the Crimean referendum appointed on March 16. In addition, the accession of Crimea to another state will be a gross violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the 1994 agreement, guaranteeing Ukraine the preservation of sovereignty in exchange for refusing nuclear weapons. Vladimir Putin in response rested on the need to know the will of the inhabitants of Crimea and offered to wait with all decisions until the end of the referendum.

The situation of the Crimean Tatars also addressed. Putin promised that all the rights of the Crimean Tatars would be restored quickly and effectively, and not as it was done in Ukraine. Cited the example of the happy life of the Tatars in Tatarstan. Dzhemilev noted that the situation in Crimea is explosive and provocations can be arranged against the Crimean Tatars at any time. Putin in response to this said: "Let them only try!" He added that he had already given orders so that the Crimean Tatars would not be caused by any damage.

Thus, in fact, Putin recognized the presence of Russian troops in the Crimea outside the Black Sea Fleet bases, since to whom he can still give orders, as not his subordinates. In addition, Dzhemilev repeatedly spoke about the presence of Russian troops in the Crimea during the conversation, and Putin has never denied or corrected him.

The conversation ended with Putin’s proposal not to lose contacts and contact him at any time using Shaimiev’s mediation.

What was it? Mustafa Dzhemilev has not been in Russia since 1986, not counting transit stops at the airport. He has never been a partner for Russian politicians. He does not occupy responsible posts in the Ukrainian government, remaining an ordinary deputy of the parliament. Currently, he does not hold any posts even in the Mejlis - the informal national parliament of the Crimean Tatars. Why did the Putin administration initiated his conversation with the president and what are they counting on? What do they want? Why are they showing every disposition towards him, perfectly realizing that Mustafa Dzhemilev is not the person with whom you can agree at the expense of the interests of the Crimean Tatars or Ukraine?

After all, it was necessary to arrange such a meeting in Moscow - on the flight field, from the ramp of the plane, bypassing all border and customs formalities, accompanied by a police escort with flashing lights! Not in the autozak, in handcuffs and in Lefortovo, as it happened before, but with all the warning to the Radisson Ukraine hotel. During a conversation with Putin, Dzhemilev protocolly thanked him for his warm welcome, to which Putin replied: "Well, how should it be still otherwise."

Jemilev himself believes that Putin wants to achieve a neutrality of Crimean Tatars in a current troubled situation. Obviously, the most sharp events are still ahead. The Kremlin clearly understands that Crimean Tatars are the only real and well -organized political force in Crimea. Its active opposition to Russian expansion can violate all Moscow plans. Apparently, therefore, the Kremlin is interested in contacts with Mustafa Dzhemilev. You can make another conclusion. Moscow fears a military response in the Crimea, even if it is a civil conflict or a partisan war.