Poroshenko calls deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 genocide

16:30, 18.05.2016 1 min read

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has qualified the deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide.

"What was done to you in 1944 has an absolutely clear definition: this is pure genocide. One of the gravest crimes against humanity," Poroshenko said at a requiem concert commemorating the victims of the deportation of Crimean Tatars in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Despite a delay of ten years, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada earlier passed a resolution on recognizing the Crimean Tatar genocide and on commemorating its victims on May 18, Poroshenko said.

"It is clear that Kremlin has kept information about facts of slaughterous deportation of entire nations under lock and key," the president said.