Young Political Leadership School Trains Young Crimean Tatar Leaders

The Crimean Tatar people, deported from Crimea in May 1944 by the Soviet regime of Stalin, were able to return to the peninsula only in the 90s, after Ukraine gained its independence.

For many years, the International Republican Institute (IRI) has supported training programs for Crimean Tatar activists. After Crimea was occupied by the Russian Federation in March 2014, training of young Crimean Tatar leaders grew even more important.

IRI’s Young Political Leadership School (YPLS) is a basic program for training young political and civic activists throughout Ukraine, including young Crimean Tatar leaders, on the principles of democracy, leadership, advocacy and political and civic engagement. Techniques for conducting pre-election and lobbying campaigns, developing civic organizations, drafting public presentations, and civic advocacy are only a few of the skills acquired by youth due to their participation in the YPLS program. IRI has implemented the YPLS program in Ukraine since 2003, training more than two thousand young people, including Crimean Tatars.

The knowledge obtained through the YPLS program is very important for representatives of the Crimean Tatar people. Graduates of the Young Political Leadership School who live in occupied Crimea actively participate in court hearings to defend political prisoners and hold meetings with people to help them to protect their rights. Activists who had to leave the occupied territory of Crimea, in connection with the persecution from occupying authorities, continue to work actively in mainland Ukraine by creating civic organizations and organizing dozens of cultural and social events. Also, after the future de-occupation of Crimea, there will arise a need for new personnel to serve in public administration and Crimean Tatar leaders should be prepared to actively participate in the region’s political and social life.

YPLS participants have already achieved certain successes and proved to be young, competent professionals.

Elvir Sagirman, a student of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University and an YPLS graduate, became a communications manager at the Crimean Tatar Resource Center. Elvir is responsible for the center’s media relations, preparing photo and video materials, moderating groups in social networks, and developing brochures for the organization.

In April 2015, Seit-Bekir Suleymanov and Yuriy Pohrebniak, graduates of the Young Political Leadership School, were among the initiators of the Kyiv city branch of the Crimean Tatar Youth Center, and in May 2016, they became co-organizers of the international youth forum “The Future of Crimea.” Currently, Yuriy Pohrebniak is director of the charity fund “Ribbon of Hope.”

Eleonora Bekirova, a YPLS alum, became an activist of the civic organization “Asker,” carrying out active work in the Kherson region, which is on the border with Crimea’s occupied territory. She helps Ukrainian citizens by providing assistance in addressing problems that may arise in crossing the administrative border.

Emir Bekirov, also a graduate of the Young Political Leadership School, conducted mass public events in Kharkiv on Crimean Tatar Deportation Day, Crimean Tatar Flag Day, and International Human Rights Day. Currently, he heads the training center of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center in the city of Henichesk, Kherson region. Emir provides legal advice to Crimean citizens from the occupied territory and the Kherson Regional Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

In addition, numerous graduates of IRI’s YPLS program, all activists of the Crimean Tatar Youth Center, continue to provide assistance to the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in the organization of public rallies in Kyiv, including a campaign in support of the Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR, Crimean Tatar Flag Day, and various flash mobs dedicated to support the Crimean Tatar people living in Crimea.

IRI’s Young Political Leadership School has contributed immeasurably to the preparation of a new generation of young Crimean Tatar civic and political leaders and their involvement in the development of political processes in the country.