ANKARA

Ukrainian deputies hung a banner saying “Crimea belongs to Ukraine” in parliament on Wednesday, in protest of the Russian annexation of the peninsula.

Deputies were handed t-shirts with the slogan “Crimea belongs to Ukraine” and Crimea maps on them. Most deputies participated in the session while wearing the t-shirts.

Crimean Tatar leader and member of Ukraine’s parliament Mustafa Abdulcemil Kirimoglu wore the t-shirt as well.

Pro-Russian forces effectively took control of Crimea in late February 2014, seizing the parliament and other key buildings. The peninsula, which has a predominantly ethnic Russian population, has been part of Ukraine since 1954.

On March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea after a controversial referendum, which drew the ire of the international community as Russian soldiers occupied the region during the voting process.

There is a small fraction of Tatars, a Turkic ethnic group, living in Crimea. According to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, there are 280,000 Crimean Tatars in Crimea, which constitutes close to 13 percent of the total population.

The Crimean Tatars also opposed the peninsula's March 2014 referendum to declare independence from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.