Mustafa Dzhemilev is a politician of Crimean Tatar origin, People’s Deputy of Ukraine from the European Solidarity faction, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (1991 – 2013), Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatar People (2014 – 2019).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on November 13, 1943 in the village of Ayserez, located in the Sudak district of Crimea. As a child, he was deported to Kazakhstan with his family.
From 1962 to 1965, he studied at the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Reclamation Engineers, but was expelled for “unworthy behavior”.
Persecution
In 1966, Dzhemilev was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for refusing to serve in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. After the sentence, he served his sentence in a camp near Tashkent.
From 1966 to 1983, he was arrested six times, and spent a total of 15 years in prison. The formal basis for the persecution was “propaganda discrediting the Soviet system.”
In 1972 – 1974 he worked as an engineer at a state farm. During one of the trials, in 1975 – 1976, he went on a hunger strike, which lasted 303 days, while in the Omsk prison. Due to his critical condition, he was force-fed through a tube.
In March 1979, while serving another term of imprisonment, Dzhemilev worked at an oxygen station.
In 1983, together with his wife and child, he returned to Crimea, but three days later they were forcibly deported, constantly moving from city to city. After a protest by the Crimean Tatars, he was released, and the family settled in Uzbekistan under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union.
In the same year, Dzhemilev founded and became the editor of the “Information Bulletin of the Initiative Group of the Crimean Tatars named after Musa Mamut”.
In 1986, he was finally released, and the next year he moved to Bakhchisarai.
Career
In 1961, Dzhemilev became one of the founders and leaders of the branch of the Union of Crimean Tatar Youth in Tashkent.
From 1987 to 1989 he headed the Central Initiative Group of the Crimean Tatar National Movement, and in 1989 – 1991 he headed the Organization of the Crimean Tatar National Movement.
In June 1991, the Kurultai was held – a general meeting of the Crimean Tatar people, at which the Presidium of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people was formed. Dzhemilev was elected chairman of the Mejlis and held this position until November 2013.
Since 1999, he headed the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar People.
He was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize – in 2009 and 2011.
Political Activities
In 1998, he became a member of the Verkhovna Rada, getting into the parliament from the political force “People’s Movement of Ukraine”. Four years later, he again received a deputy mandate, this time running on the list of the electoral bloc “Our Ukraine”, which included the “People’s Movement” party. In 2006, he received a mandate from the political force “Our Ukraine”. In the parliamentary elections held in 2007, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada as part of the “Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense” bloc. During this period, he was chairman of the subcommittee dealing with indigenous peoples, national minorities, ethnic communities and deported peoples.
In 2012, he again won a deputy mandate, this time running for the political force “All-Ukrainian Union “Batkivshchyna” and became a member of the Verkhovna Rada committee that took care of human rights, national minorities and interethnic relations.
Two years later, he became a people’s deputy, getting into parliament on the list of the political force “Petro Poroshenko Bloc”.
In 2019, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation, representing the European Solidarity party. During this period, he became a member of the parliamentary committee dealing with human rights, de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, and also became a member of the Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
In 2012, he again won a deputy mandate, this time running for the political force “All-Ukrainian Union “Batkivshchyna” and became a member of the Verkhovna Rada committee that took care of human rights, national minorities and interethnic relations. Two years later, he became a people’s deputy, getting into parliament on the list of the political force “Petro Poroshenko Bloc”. In 2019, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of the ninth convocation, representing the European Solidarity party. He became a member of the parliamentary committee dealing with human rights, de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, and also became a member of the Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
Marital Status
He is married to Safinar Dzhemileva, the head of the League of Crimean Tatar Women.
The couple has a daughter and two sons.
