The violent protest that drove fallen Ukraine president Victor Yanukovych into exile should serve as an eye-opener and a lesson for leaders of any country not to thwart the will of the people with impunity. Yanukovych fled on Sunday after what was an erstwhile peaceful protest in the nation's capital Kiev turned violent following his decision not to join the European Union and instead stayed under the umbrella of Russia, Ukraine's former ally in the Soviet Union which disintegrated in 1991. The article “New Era for Ukraine as interim leader named” (Feb. 24) said that the country's parliament appointed on Sunday a pro-Western interim leader Oleksadr Turchynov, a close ally of jailed former prime minister Julia Tymoshenko. Following the appointment of Turchynov, the lawmakers also ordered the release of Tymoshenko. If anything else, the widespread protest was also a slap on the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose threat to put economic pressures on Ukraine if Ukraine joined the European Union forced Yanukovych to spur the EU deal which was widely supported by the majority of the Ukraine people. I hope that the changing of the guard in the Balkan country will go on smoothly and serve as a reminder for other leaders, including Putin, that subjugation is not the answer to peaceful protest and should always have an ear for the demands of the majority of their people. Leonard Lacuarta, Jeddah
