On May 18, 2019 the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Edmonton, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Canadian Association of Crimean Tatars organized several events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation-genocide of the Crimean Tatar people.

One of them was the Crimean Tatar flag-raising ceremony, organised by the City Hall of Edmonton to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and as a sign of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people in the occupied Crimea. It is worth noting that Edmonton became the fourth city to raise the Crimean Tatar flag in Canada (in 2015-2018 it was raised in Toronto and Ottawa).

Mr. Mustafa Jemilev and Mr. Akhtem Chyigoz, the leaders of the Crimean Tatar people, Mr. Kerry Diotte, Mrs. Linda Duncan, Mr. Ziad Aboultaif, Mr. Michael Cooper Members of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, the Hon. Leela Aheer, Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women of the Government of Alberta, Mr. Jon Dziadyk, Councillor of the Edmonton City Hall, Mrs. Alexandra Chyczij, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Mrs. Olesia Luciw-Andrijowycz, President of UCC Alberta Provincial Council, Ms. Sanie Irsay from the Canadian Association of Crimean Tatars, as well as numerous representatives of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar Communities of Canada took part in the event. In their speeches, the participants honored the memory of the victims of the deportation in 1944, but also condemned numerous human rights violations of the Crimean Tatar population in the occupied Crimea, as well as expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of Russian armed aggression.

After the ceremony the participants took part in the "Human Rights March", walking through the streets of Edmonton with portraits of Ukrainian political prisoners.

On the same day, Grant McEwan University in Edmonton hosted a screening of the movie about the tragic events of 1943-1944 in Crimea "Her Heart” by Akhtem Seitablayev.

Special photos by Zarema Yaliboylou "Human Face of the Deportation. 75 Year Tragedy of the Crimean Tatars" were exhibited during the event.