Mejlis condemns ‘political’ dismissal of Lenur Islyamov
Lenur Islyamov
Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, has called the dismissal of Lenur Islyamov from post of acting ‘deputy prime minister’ of the Crimea a purely political move.
Islyamov was dismissed on May 28, with his place being taken by Ruslan Balbek, a Crimean Tatar in opposition to the Mejlis which represents the vast majority of Crimean Tatars.
“The dismissal of highly-professional and multi-faceted manager Lenur Islyamov, well-known for many successful projects both in Moscow and in the Crimea and his replacement with a person who has not worked in government administration and has never shown any talent in management at all leads me to assert that the reason for today’s staffing decision lies totally in the realm of politics, not management”, Chubarov commented.
He says that it is obvious that even the new reality has been powerless to change the old style demonstrated by the Crimean authorities, where personal loyalty is ranked as more important than any other motivation in making appointments.
The deputy head of the Mejlis, Akhtem Chiygoz told Radio Svoboda’s Crimean programme that the dismissal and substitution demonstrate a lack of will by the authorities in the Crimea to establish dialogue with the Crimean Tatars.
“All declarations about how the Crimean Tatars in their native land will have the opportunity to defend their interests, including political-legal; cultural; social and economic do not reflect the real situation”, Chiygoz says. Nor do the ‘authorities’ now in government have any intention of engaging in dialogue to resolve Crimean Tatar problems.