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Trouble Brewing In Crimea … Over Traffic Signs


Crimean Tatar organizations in Ukraine's Crimea are protesting a decision to introduce bilingual traffic signs on the peninsula's roads, according to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

The Supreme Council of Crimea adopted a law on April 22, according to which, by June 1 all traffic signs should be in two languages: Ukrainian and Russian. (At the moment, the signs are usually only in Ukrainian.)

Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Tatars' Assembly (Medjlis) Refat Chubarov told RFE/RL that Crimean Tatar organizations and ordinary Crimean Tatars consider the new law's adoption to be "discrimination and ignoring the rights and interests of Crimean Tatars."

Crimean Tatars were deported from Crimea to Central Asia by Josef Stalin in the 1940s.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union they started returning to Crimea. Now there are over 250,000 of them living in Crimea, around 18 percent of the peninsula's general population.

-- Ukrainian Service

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Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us at transmission+rferl.org

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