BALTIMORE, Maryland March 24, 2014 - A group of some 32 Crimean Tatars have crossed the border into Poland and have sought political assylum, the Polish Radio Web Site has revealed. Their actual arrival in Poland was one day after the Russian Duma formally ratified the annexation of Crimea into Russia. Russia invaded Crimea in early March and occupied the Black Sea Peninsula with over 20,000 troops. With the troops in the streets and on the coast of Crimea, a "referendum" was held on whether the people wanted to remain a part of Ukraine or become a Russian Province. Russia won, the Russian military announced. Western Nations including the United States, Canada, Poland, England, Germany, France and the Netherlands, have imposed sanctions on Russia. For its part, Russia has massed thousands of heavily armed troops on the Ukraine-Russian border, and reinforced those troops with heavy armor, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, fighter jets and armored helicopters.
The Tatars have lived in Crimea since medieval times. They are believed to be descendants of Genghis Khan's armies, which swept over much of Europe. The Tatars were then forcibly exhiled from Crimea by former Russian Strong Man Josef Stalin. Some Tatars returned to Crimea after Stalin's death. At the time of the Russian invasion, Tatars were said to make up 12% of the Crimean Population.
Many Crimean Tatars boycotted the recent referendum. There is a centuries-old population of Tatars in Poland, Polish One reported. The group that crossed the Polish border last week were believed to have been from the Yevpatoria area of Western Crimea. It is the largest group of Crimean Refugees to come to Poland since the Russian Invasion. The Polish Tatar community issued this statement:
"We, Polish Tatars and Muslims support the Crimean Tatars' inalienable right to a dignified life in their native land. We express our strong opposition to Russia's imperial actions, which violate all human rights and international law."
The leader of the Crimean Tatars, Refat Chubarov, had urged all Tatars to boycott the Crimean referendum. He called the referendum's results "predetermined." Some early printed ballots were said to have offered, as the only choice for voters, "Join Russia."
22,497 see Lech Poznan Defeat Lechia Gdansk, 2-1 Luke Teodorczyk and Szymon Pawłowski scored and a swarming Poznan defense shutout Lechia Gdansk until injury time as Lech Poznan gained the Vice-League Leader position in the standings. Patryk Tuszyński scored the Gdansk goal.
The match between Piast Gliwice and Legia Warszawa is getting under way as I post this. In other weekend scores, Slask Wroclaw and Gornik Zabrze battled to a 1-1 draw, Pogon Szczecin downed Ruch Chorzow, 3-1, Podbeskidzie and Cracovia Krakow drew at 1, as did Jagiellonia and Korona Kielce. Friday night, Zawisza Bydgoszcz beat back Wisla Krakow, 1-0 and Widzow Lodz and Zaglebie Lubin played a scoreless draw. These are the standings pending the outcome of the Legia Warszawa v. Piast Gliwice match:
1. Legia Warszawa: 51 points, 16 wins, 3 draws and 7 losses.
2. Lech Poznan: 47 points, 13 wins, 8 draws and 6 losses.
3. Wisla Krakow: 45 points, 12 wins, 9 draws and 6 losses
4. Ruch Chorzow: 44 points, 12 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses
5. Pogon Szczecin: 42 points, 10 wins, 12 draws and 5 losses
6. Gornik Zabrze: 41 points, 11 wins, 8 draws and 8 losses
7. Zawisza Bydgoszcz: 39 points, 10 wins, 9 draws and 8 losses
8. Jagiellonia: 37 points, 10 wins, 7 draws and 10 losses
9. Cracovia Krakow: 35 points, 10 wins, 5 draws and 12 losses
10. Lechia Gdansk: 34 points, 8 wins, 10 draws and 9 losses
11. Korona Kielce: 33 points, 8 wins, 9 draws and 10 losses
12. Piast Gliwice: 32 points, 8 wins, 8 draws and 10 losses
13. Slask Wroclaw: 30 points, 6 wins, 12 draws and 9 losses
14. Zaglebie Lubin: 26 points, 6 wins, 8 draws and 13 losses
15. Podbeskidzie: 24 points, 4 wins, 12 draws and 11 losses
16. Widzew Lodz: 18 points, 4 wins, 6 draws and 17 losses
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