SIMFEROPOL. March 12 (Interfax) - Crimean Tatars will enjoy the same rights as other residents of the republic if Crimea joins Russia, Crimean Prime Minister Serhiy Aksionov said.
"They are the same citizens as everybody else. And they will enjoy precisely the same rights as citizens of Russia, as every one of us," he said in an interview with the new news agency, Criminform.
"Neither us nor them will have any preferences," he said.
As to the main concern of the Crimean Tatar people, Aksionov said, "They are mostly concerned about the possibility of inter-ethnic clashes."
"For instance, I had a call from Bakhchysarai yesterday and was told that their homes had been allegedly marked with crosses and somebody planned to enter [their homes] at night. I told them not to worry, nothing of the sort would happen," the Crimean premier said.
"Russian laws allow people of different nationalities to live calmly together and we are ready to support and increase the financing of Crimean Tatars. Financing will practically double from what they had," he stressed.