In April 2026, the Ukrainian government officially recognized the Mejlis as the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people. Therefore, we continue to provide information about the Mejlis’s structure, its powers, its leadership, and the balance of power within the Crimean Tatar parliament. Beginning here.

The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, elected by the 2013 Qurultay, consists of 33 representatives. One of them, Ali Hamzin, died six years ago. The membership of seven other individuals has been suspended by decisions of the Mejlis itself due to collaboration with the occupiers: 

1. Zaur Smirnov, former first deputy chairman of the Mejlis 

2. Ayder Accimambetov, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis         

3. Teyfuk Gafarov, former head of the legal department 

4. Ruslan Yakubov, former rank-and-file member of the Mejlis 

5. Asan Aliyev, former head of the Kherson Regional Mejlis 

6. Remzi Ilyasov, former deputy chairman of the Mejlis 

7. Emirali Ablaev, Mufti of the Muslims of Crimea

Suspending the collaborators’ membership was a necessary step, though it raises legal questions — after all, the Mejlis does not have the authority to strip representatives elected by the Qurultay of their mandates. Therefore, the Mejlis did not terminate the collaborators’ membership but merely suspended it, noting that the Qurultay will make the final decision. Someday. In the future. 

The fact that 20 percent of the members of the representative body turned out to be traitors affected the ability to achieve a two-thirds quorum. However, the Mejlis remained functional. Currently, it has 25 members, and a quorum requires only seventeen. This number is not merely an arithmetic result but also an important psychological milestone. After all, 17 is, in any case, a majority of the full membership of 33, and it is also a historic number that ensured Mustafa Dzhemilev retained power during the greatest upheaval in Crimean Tatar politics. Adults remember the 1997 crisis, when the opposition in the Mejlis, led by Lenur Arifov and Lilia Budzhurova, nearly toppled the government of then-Mejlis Chairman Mustafa Dzhemilev. At that time, Refat Chubarov (on whom the opposition had counted) did not join them, which secured Dzhemilev a majority of 17 votes, while the opposition members who lost the battle came to be known as the “Group of 16.” 

Currently, at least eleven members of the Mejlis live outside Crimea: 

1. Refat Chubarov, Chairman 

2. Nariman Celal, First Deputy 

3. Akhtem Chiygoz, Deputy 

4. Ilmi Umerov, Deputy 

5. Arslan Umerov, Deputy 

6. Riza Shevkiev, President of the Crimea Foundation

7. Abmedjit Suleimanov, Director of the Land Resources Department

8. Eskender Bariyev, Director of the International Cooperation Department 

9. Gulnara Bekirova, a representative from the Kherson region 

10. Hayana Yuksel, Director of the National Media Development Department 

11. Abduraman Egiz, who, according to our interviewees, hardly ever participates in the body’s work.

A quorum is maintained by those members of the Mejlis who live in Crimea. Among them are some who have long since withdrawn, such as businessman Sadikh Tabakh, but at least thirteen people participate in the work of this representative body despite the threat: by a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Mejlis has been recognized as an “extremist organization” and banned. Therefore, we are not giving names so as not to expose these people to repression.

The Qurultay-Mejlis system has long been criticized for its excessive number of levels. The people elect the Qurultay. The Qurultay, which is the highest body, elects the Mejlis. The Mejlis, which is a standing (or executive — this is unclear) body, elects the Presidium. The Presidium, whose powers are virtually impossible to define, effectively leaves everything up to the chair of the Mejlis. And above the chair stands the leader of the Crimean Tatar people. No document exists regarding the position of “leader.” This is likely because it is not a position, but an identity that belongs to Mustafa Dzhemilev for life. Thus, the entire Mejlis-Qurultay system resembles, in form, the National People’s Congress of China, but in essence, it is a monarchy from the era of the Kingdom of Poland, where the Sejm elected the king… for life.