Crimean Tatars, wary of Russia after Stalin deported their entire population from Crimea in 1944, are warning that any Russian annexation of Crimea could lead to a new "jihadi front."
There are roughly 280,000 Tatars in Crimea and Mustafa Jemilev, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, has warned that a number of them have approached him with promises they would fight any Russian occupation.
Guy Chazan, writing for the Financial Times, reports:
“We have Islamists, Wahhabis, Salafis . . . groups who have fought [with the opposition] in Syria,” [Jemilev] said in an interview in Simferopol, the Crimean capital. “They say: ‘an enemy has entered our land and we are ready’.
“We can’t stop people who want to die with honour,” he said, making he clear he did not endorse a jihadist campaign.
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