Some new developments in Crimea now, courtesy of our news desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a major archaeological site in Crimea to be placed under federal control following disagreements over the appointment of the site's director.
The Interfax news agency quoted Putin's adviser, Vladimir Tolstoy, as saying on August 1 that the area of the ancient Greek city of Chersonesus will be placed under the Culture Ministry's oversight.
The site is located just outside Sevastopol, the main port city in Crimea, the Black Sea Peninsula illegally annexed by Russia from Ukraine last year.
Putin's order followed the Sevastopol governor's decision last month to appoint a Russian Orthodox priest as director of the Chersonesus museum.
The appointment sparked widespread public criticism and angered the museum staff who said the priest wasn't qualified for the job.
Tolstoy was quoted as saying the Culture Ministry will choose a new director.
Chersonesus became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013.
(AP, Interfax)
The World Congress of Crimean Tatars kicked off to day and our news desk has this report:
Participants at the second World Congress of Crimean Tatars have condemned Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, as the gathering opened in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on August 1.
"The first condition in order to achieve world peace, and peace among the people of Crimea, is to end the occupation of our homeland," said Refat Chubarov, the chairman of the Mejlis, an assembly for Crimean Tatars.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Kimkin said the annexation of Crimea in March 2014 "is temporary-- because it is illegal."
Kimkin was attending the congress in a show of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar community.
He said Ukraine wouldn't have normal relations with Russia until Crimea was returned to Ukraine and the Tatars who call it home.
The 300,000-strong Muslim minority make up less than 15 percent of Crimea's population of 2 million.
They were overwhelmingly opposed to the annexation.
Some 200 Crimean Tatars from various countries were expected to attend the two-day event.
Russian authorities blocked two local Crimean Tatar leaders from leaving Crimea on July 28 which prevented them from attending the congress.
(Reuters, turkishweekly.net)