A split has occurred in the Assembly of Crimean Organizations. The Assembly was formed in September 2025, and just three months later, the first conflict arose between the leaders of the newly created association of Crimean Tatars in Europe. At that time, one of the three deputies to the head of the ACO, Elnara Nuriieva-Letova, resigned from her position as vice president.

The split became public at the end of February after the annual Berlin forum “Cafe Kyiv,” which has been the largest Ukrainian event in Western Europe in recent years. This year, it was opened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and in terms of the level of Crimean Tatar representation, the Berlin event could rival the Kurultai. A large Crimean Tatar delegation arrived from Kyiv.

During Cafe Kyiv, a meeting took place between the head of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, and the leaders of the ACO, Elvis Çolpuh and Emil Ibrahimov, because it is no secret it was the head of the Mejlis who took the creation of the ACO particularly hard, as it did not coordinate its actions with the representative body of the Crimean Tatars and had ambitions to become the main platform for Crimeans in the free world.  

Last year, Chubarov managed to stop several Crimean Tatar organizations from participating in the creation of the ACO, but the Assembly was formed anyway, and it seemed that youth would be able to overcome the resistance of the aksakals. However, the elders mobilized all available resources and cut off the ACO's contacts with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and Ukrainian embassies, as well as using methods that today's youth no longer remember, as this form of influence largely disappeared in the 1990s. 

In front of Chubarov, the ACO leadership showed unity and postponed the conflict until early March.

The reason for the quarrel among the young members of the ACO was a very funny situation. ACO President Elvis Çolpuh single-handedly decided to present wine on behalf of the ACO during the “Cafe Kyiv” forum, which was met with a negative reaction from other Crimean Tatars who adhere to the precepts of Islam. 

It should be added that these events took place during Ramadan. Therefore, Çolpuh's deputy, Social Democrat Emil Ibrahimov, tried to convince his boss to refuse wine at a public event. Çolpuh remained adamant.

An even greater embarrassment was the failed meeting between the leaders of the Mejlis and the Crimean Tatar diaspora in Berlin. The diaspora chose a techno party at Cafe Kyiv, and only one person came to the meeting with Chubarov; the rest of the hall was filled with the help of Berlin Turks. Here, the ACO tried to show the Mejlis who was in charge in Berlin.

After the forum ended, ACO Vice President Emil Ibrahimov decided to remove Elvis Çolpuh from leadership. According to them, the Ibrahimov-Nuriieva group was supported by the majority of organizations and individual members.

According to eyewitness accounts, the current leader Çolpuh immediately removed the faction from all social media groups and the organization's official accounts. However, it was not possible to hide the conflict behind the scenes.

The situation is made even more interesting by the fact that the Assembly is not registered in any European jurisdiction, so theoretically each group can declare victory and continue to operate in parallel. In fact, that is what is happening now.

The real reasons for the conflict are not known for certain, but they can be guessed from fragments of responses from both sides.

Apparently, the “opposition” led by Emil Ibrahimov agreed to become the Komsomol of the Mejlis and build constructive relations with the aksakals led by Refat Chubarov. Çolpuh, on the other hand, prefers to be as independent as possible from the aksakals and Kyiv.

The current situation is pompously called by the president of the ACO, Çolpuh, a “unique manifestation of democracy, which Crimea has missed,” because now in Europe a “liberal movement” is forming under his leadership, as well as a moderately conservative one, headed by Emil Ibrahimov.

But all this looks like bravado before the fall, because the opposition is calmly waiting and has already decided to move forward without Çolpuh.

One of the sponsors of the AСO, Vienna resident Seyyar Kurshutov, refused to talk to CEMAAT, calling the first text about the creation of the AСO a libelous piece that used information from “private correspondence.” However, it was AСO Vice President Emil Ibrahimov who confirmed that Kurshutov had repeatedly provided financial assistance to the newly formed Assembly.

Some of the AСO's German partners, who hold left-wing views, are reportedly irritated by the current head of the AСO, Elvis Çolpuh, but the possible takeover of the AСO by the Mejlis could come as an ideological surprise to them. After all, the Mejlis traditionally cooperates with Turkish forces close to the Nationalist Movement Party of Turkey, and their organizations around the world are informally called the “Grey Wolves.” For the German left, such ties are a red line.

The head of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, did not comment on the situation in the AСO, but when asked whether he would change his attitude in the event of a change in leadership, he replied: “The doors of the Mejlis are always open to all initiatives.”