Word: land
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...Local government, with its control over land distribution, is often seen as the driving force behind the corruption that plagues Crimea...
...land is far from their only problem. While local Russians often speak of respect for the Tatars' entrepreneurial skills and work ethic, Khalilov says he has been turned away from job interviews when they see he is a Tatar. "I'm not racist, but I wouldn't take them on," says Volodymyr, a retired Russian sailor and local business owner who declined to give his last name...
...Some Tatars also see a religious element in their shoddy treatment: Muslim graves were desecrated in April last year, and for the past five years the Tatars have struggled unsuccessfully for an allocation of land to build a central mosque in Simferopol. The group of Tatars behind the mosque have twice spent two years meticulously collecting all the required bureaucratic permissions and even received some backing from the courts but still face a persistent refusal to give them a plot to build on. "They just don't want to give land to Muslims," says Jemil Bibishev, a member...
...local media's focus on Tatar land grabs often ignores the fact that land is regularly seized illegally by non-Tatars. "Our argument is not with ordinary people, but with the powers that be," says Khalilov, his voice filled with a mixture of anger and frustration. "The city is in a terrible state, so they think up other problems to distract people. They use the Tatars as an enemy." Indeed, the old myth of the Tatars' "betrayal" during World War II is still widely believed...
...many people expect things to improve. "This is definitely good news," says Goyal. "Hopefully someone will come to the rescue of poor countries' sailors." On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced steps including tracking and freezing assets of pirate gangs, and pressing Somali authorities to shut down pirate land bases, while also calling for a greater global response to secure the release of ships still held in the region. So far, there is little coordination between the various navies patrolling the area, which now include NATO, French, British, U.S., Chinese, South Korean, Singaporean and Russian navies. "Collaboration among countries...