In a joint declaration, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) and the Institute for Caucasica-, Tatarica- and Turkestan Studies (ICATAT) criticize the impending closure of the only Crimean Tatar TV-channel, ATR. "As a Germany-based international human rights organization that has been advocating for ethnic and religious minorities and indigenous communities for more than 45 years, we know that the media are an important voice for minorities all over the world," said Tilman Zülch, the STP's Secretary General. "It is the media that make minority groups be seen and heard. This is an invaluable contribution to the preservation and promotion of their languages. It is an act of repression to ban their media, as they also represent the culture and the history of the minorities and stand for a diverse and open society."

The TV-station ATR broadcasts in Russian, Ukrainian and in the language of the Crimean Tatars. Especially in recent years, it has become the main source of information for the Crimean Tatars. Now, it is about to be closed down. The Russian media regulation authorities have refused to re-register ATR for the fourth time. Unless a miracle happens, the TV-station will have to discontinue its work as of April 1 – which, according to the STP, would be another of many acts of oppression and discrimination against the Crimean Tatars since the annexation of the peninsula by Russia in March 2014.

FUEN-president Hans Heinrich Hansen supports the protest against the impending closure of ATR: "Being Europe's largest umbrella organization for minority groups, we know that words are not enough to ensure protection for minorities. Those who are in power in Crimea and Russia assured that they would respect the rights of the minorities in the Crimea and provide them with support – but the leading representatives of our member organization Qirimtatar Milliy Meclisi (Congress of the Crimean Tatars) were banned from visiting their homeland for five years. Now, this is an attempt to obstruct the TV-channel ATR. This is unacceptable."

Matic Germovšek Žnidaršic, President of YEN, emphasizes that minority media have an integrative function: "They account for the traditions and the time-factor – making the past, present and the future come alive, to the benefit of the members of the minority group."

Together with FUEN, YEN and the ICATAT, the STP demands: ATR must not be closed down! After the Crimean Tatars were deported in 1944 (by order of Stalin), up to 44 percent of them lost their lives, while others lived in exile for decades. Now, they must finally be given a possibility to preserve the Crimean Tatar language and culture.