Sybiha backs recognition of Gagauz as indigenous people of Ukraine

Recognition of the Gagauz as an indigenous people of Ukraine will be a fair step, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha has said.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on October 15, the Day of Gagauz Culture was held at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine. Sybiha, welcoming the participants of the event, said: "The Gagauz are an integral, integrated, organic part of Ukrainian society. Perhaps, today it would be fair to talk about extending the law "On Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" to the Gagauz community.

The Minister emphasized that Ukraine, where about 130 national communities live, is one of the most multi-ethnic states in Europe. He separately noted that the Gagauz are an important bridge between our state and the Turkic world.

"The EU slogan Unity in Diversity is really close to us. During the Russian war, all national communities of Ukraine proved that Ukraine is our common home. "We are united not by origin, but by a common Ukrainian identity," the Foreign Minister noted.

He thanked the hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers of Gagauz origin who are today defending the Motherland from the Russian war, and honored the memory of the fallen heroes.

Sybiha also emphasized that the preservation of the cultures of national communities is a matter of national security for Ukraine, because "the Russian war is genocidal and directed against the identity of each community."

In his welcoming speech, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, noted: "I am proud that there are no "small nations" in Ukraine, and in our army today there are soldiers with the call signs Gagauz or Magyar."

The head of the Association of Gagauz Societies, Yuriy Dimchoglo, spoke about the life of the Gagauz community in Ukraine, noting the contribution of Ukrainians of Gagauz origin to the development of the army, medicine, science, sports, and other spheres. He also remembered the Hero of Ukraine, Brigadier General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykola Palas. Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Serhiy Segeda delivered a scientific report on the ethnogenesis of the Gagauz people.

The event was attended by the leaders of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev and the Chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov, as well as more than thirty heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine.