Crimean Tatar media outlets allege incitement to religious enmity on the state television channel “Krym”
The Crimean Tatar radio station “Meidan” and channel ATR have addressed an open letter to the speaker of parliament of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, Anatoly Hrytsenko.
The group of journalists write about the screening on the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company “Krym” [“Crimea”] a television documentary entitled “Brides of Allah” from the cycle “Sovershenno sekretno” [“Top secret”] of the Russian TV channel NTV. The film was broadcast on 2 November at 22.00.
The film contains numerous pieces of footage from the war in Chechnya, and (according to the letter) is accompanied by subjective and not always adequate assessments from its authors. The Crimean Tatar journalists consider the film to be manipulative and say that it creates grounds for further political speculation on the topic of Islam and the Muslim community in the Crimea.
The journalists state that the broadcasting of this film does not assist in strengthening inter-ethnic harmony in the Crimea, and on the contrary exacerbates the already complicated situation with regard to inter-ethnic relations.
The authors of the letter put several questions to the Speaker of the Crimean Parliament. Why did the management of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company “Krym”, financed from the state budget, include this film in its program? Under what conditions was it broadcast? Why was a film made in Russia several years ago deemed to be topically specifically now?
Copies of the letter have been sent to the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Crimea Gennady Moskal and to the Chair of the Council of Ministers of the AR of the Crimea Viktor Plakidi.