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More than half of Crimean Tatars ready to take part in referendum - Crimean PM

SIMFEROPOL, March 14, /ITAR-TASS/. More than half of Crimean Tatars are ready to take part in the March 16 referendum on the peninsula rejoining Russia, Crimean Prime Minster Sergei Aksyonov told reporters.

“According to various pollsters, more than half of Crimean Tatars are now ready to vote in the referendum. I cannot say how they will vote but, believe me, there are different points of view and there is no reason to regard the Mejlis as the unified body that governs the Crimean Tatar people and enjoys their confidence,” Aksyonov remarked, answering a question about boycotting the referendum for which the Mejlis calls.

“This is not the statement of the Crimean Tatar people. This is the statement of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis which does not reflect the viewpoint of the whole people,” Aksyonov noted. “I can say that over this period I talked with several hundred representatives of Tatars, also with elders, who do not share the view of the Mejlis,” Aksyonov stressed.

“I believe thing will be calm, and the radically-minded politicians will lose the confidence of the people,” Aksyonov said.