The ‘Crimea Platform’ is going to convene in Kyiv on August 23, 2021. The Ukrainian government intends to place the issue on top of the global public opinion agenda by inviting representatives of European countries and the US to the convention. The convention’s aim is to set those international mechanisms in motion, which will put pressure on Russia. The Platform states as long term target to enable the return of Crimea to Ukraine.
Turkey has also been invited to this ‘Crimea Platform’ convention initiated by the Ukraine. Turkey’s participation at the summit has been supported by Ukrainian lawmaker Rustem Umerov and Crimean Tatar National Assembly member Gayana Yüksel in statements made to the Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansı.
United World International has received important information about the organizers of the Crimea Platform and their connections to the US and the Fethullah Gülen Terror Organization (FETO). Rustem Umerov heads the list of the concerning people.
“America’s children”
Local sources in Ukraine that spoke to United World International pointed out that Rustem Umerov is directly connected to the US. They also inform that Umerov spends part of the funds he receives from foreign governments on personal purposes. The Ukrainian Member of Parliament Umerov has in his young days participated in the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program of the US Department of State, as open sources indicate.
While Crimea was part of Ukraine, Umerov also received education in a boarding school, opened for high talented kids by the Crimean Ministry of Education and financed by the FETO.
His brother Ruslan Umerov, in official documents running as Aslam Ömer Qırımlı, has also been educated in this school and has connections to the FETO. Both brothers are well known in Kyiv as “America’s children”.
Support from the US NED foundation
Iskender Bariyev from the Crimea Tatar National Assembly is organizing funds from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) foundation, which itself is funded by the US Congress. The founders of the NED openly state that the foundation was established during the Cold War to finance CIA programs to “support democracy”.
NED is accused in intervening in domestic affairs of various countries globally. It is well known that the foundation finances several press organs in Turkey, with directing them to make publications against the government. The NED was closed down in China following the US-supported protest actions in Hong Kong.
This triad constitutes the most important names in the US influence network working on the Crimean Tatar community in Ukraine. The fact that these names are connected to the FETO clearly shows that the Crimea Platform is a trap set for Turkey.
Participation of Emine Erdoğan
Local sources also informed United World International that the Emine Erdoğan, wife of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to participate in the Crimea Platform summit in Kyiv. Her participation is planned to be organized within the framework of presenting TİKA (Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency). But the government of Ukraine is preparing to present to the global public opinion this visit as symbol of Turkey’s unconditional support for Kyiv.
The Crimea Platform’s international patrons will use Turkey’s participation in the summit to fire up a broad geopolitical conflict between Moscow and Ankara. Moscow evaluates the Crimea Platform as an extremely hostile initiative that violates its territorial integrity. The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zaharova had announced before that Russia would consider any state’s participation in the Crimea Platform as well as in other plans of Ukraine as a direct violation of her country’s territorial integrity.
From Moscow’s perspective, there is a difference between not recognizing the Crimea’s inclusion into Russia on the one side and participating actively in an event that Moscow considers a direct and open challenge to itself on the other. It is evident that such a step will cause serious consequences for the Turkish-Russian relations.
Another fact that draws attention is that Pete Buttigieg, US Secretary of Transportation and an LGTB activist will represent the US, which has been Ukraine’s ally since 2014, in the Crimea Platform. As the main power supporting Ukraine’s Crimea initiative, the US will present Turkey as driving force, while remaining itself in the shadows.
Fingerprints of FETO
It is a very dangerous development that people connected to the FETO participate in the Crimea Platform and provide FETO influence over the Crimea Tatar National Assembly. This incident will have the effect of legitimizing the FETO and present these actors as equal participants of international matters. FETO’s arguments may come to be perceived as Turkey’s stances in the international arena.
Moreover, the situation that Turkish government representatives or possible Emine Erdoğan take part in the same platform as members of FETO bears serious problems. There is no surprise in that the US-guided government of Ukraine pursues good relations with the FETO. But it is without doubt that, if Turkey falls into that trap, Ankara’s national and international struggle against FETO will be affected negatively.
Opportunities in front of Turkey
On the other side, Turkey faces very important and positive opportunities in these days, when the US is fleeing from Afghanistan and has shown itself to the world as the least reliable partner. While a multipolar world is erected, Turkey faces strong potentials for alliances to serve its national interests, from Syria to the South Caucasus, from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Black Sea and Afghanistan. It is an imperative for Ankara to mobilize this international cooperation.
This imperative is presenting itself also in the matter of resisting the Atlantic attack by approaching the Cyprus and Crimea issues jointly and hand in hand with Moscow. The combined solution of the Cyprus and Crimea issues is important for two reasons: Firstly, to provide Turkey’s security in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea; secondly, to prevent the US from establishing the circumstances fertile for Washington’s plans by causing a conflict between Turkey and Russia.
United World International will continue to present the facts and the truth on the Crimea Platform in the coming days.