Crimean Tatars

Turkic ethnic group, an indigenous people of Crimea

Crimean Tatars (Crimean Tatar: Qırımtatarlar), are an East European people who are indigenous to Crimea, and mainly live there.[1][2][3][4] Their native language is Crimean Tatar. Crimean Tatars follow Islam, and thus they celebrate most of the Muslim holidays. The Circumcision of boys called Sünnet is hold in a big ceremony[5] .[6]

Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars in national dress
Languages
Crimean Tatar
Religion
Sunni Islam

They have survived three occupations. First in 1783 when the Crimean Khanate, who was ruled by the Giray Dynasty, was annexed by the Russian Empire. This resulted in many Crimean Tatars fleeing to the territory of the Ottoman Empire during the late 18th to early 19th century. There descendants still live in Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.[7]

The second deportation of Crimean Tatars took place in 1944, organised by the Soviet government. Then, on 18 May and during several following days, over 191 thousand people were deported to Central Asia and some north-eastern regions of Russia. According to different estimations, the deportation took lives of from one-third to half of the Crimean Tatar population of that time.[8]

Having returned home after the deportation as Ukraine had become independent, Crimean Tatars were forced to leave their land again due to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014.

Sources

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  1. Yevstigneev, Yuri (2008). Россия: коренные народы и зарубежные диаспоры (краткий этно-исторический справочник) – lit. "Russia: indigenous peoples and foreign diasporas (a brief ethno-historical reference)" (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Litres. ISBN 9785457236653. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. Vozgrin, Valery "Historical fate of the Crimean Tatars" Archived 11 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Sasse, Gwendolyn (2007). The Crimea Question: Identity, Transition, and Conflict. Harvard University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-932650-01-3.
  4. Williams, Brian Glyn (1999). A Homeland Lost: Migration, the Diaspora Experience and the Forging of Crimean Tatar National Identity. University of Wisconsin-Madison. p. 541.
  5. "Sunnet, a Crimean Tatar rite of circumcision". 28 December 2021.
  6. "Behind the Headlines: Who Are the Crimean Tatars?". History. 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  7. "Annexed souls: Crimean Tatars' past, present and future". Daily Sabah. 20 March 2018.
  8. "Crimean Tatars. Who are they? • Ukraїner". Ukraїner. 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2021-10-26.