Japarova Emine Aiyarovna

Crimean Tatar journalist, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Permanent Representative of Ukraine in Vienna

Emine Japarova is one of the most well-known Crimean Tatar diplomats and human rights activists, whose career began in journalism and television in occupied Crimea. In 2006, she graduated with honors from the Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. From 2011 to 2014, she was deputy chief editor of news at the Crimean Tatar TV channel "ATR" and video editor for "Crimea.Realities" Radio Liberty. After the occupation of Crimea, she relocated to the mainland and moved into the public sector.

From 2016 to 2019, she was the first deputy minister of information policy under Yuriy Stets. Since June 2020, she has been the first deputy minister of foreign affairs under Dmytro Kuleba and the head of Ukraine’s National Commission for UNESCO affairs. Later, she became the permanent representative of Ukraine to international organizations in Vienna, from which position she resigned. She refused to speak Russian on the air of the "Dozhd" TV channel—continuing to respond in Ukrainian despite the host’s request to switch to Russian due to the absence of a translator.

Watch from the Sheikh

In her 2016 declaration, Japarova listed an Omega Seamaster Professional 300m watch worth UAH 103,000—a gift from the Kuwaiti Minister of Information Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah, received during a world news agency meeting. The rest of the declaration included a rented 130 sq. m. apartment in Kyiv, a 2006 Audi A6 valued at UAH 145,000, and USD 684 in her account. Overall, Japarova has a fairly modest asset profile.