Russia, Turkey and the "Crimean Question"
The aggravation of relations with Turkey once again drew attention to the problem of the Crimea. It is no secret that since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey has considered Crimea as a zone of its geopolitical interests. While the Crimea was part of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire, Turkey, who suffered numerous defeats in the Russian-Turkish wars and ceased to be an empire as a result of defeat in the First World War, did not risk bringing any territorial claims to the powerful northern neighbor. However, the collapse of the USSR and the transition of the Crimea to the newly-formed state of Ukraine significantly changed Turkey’s approach to the “Crimean issue”. Moreover, on the eve of the collapse of the USSR to the Crimea, the return of the Crimean Tatars deported under Stalin to Central Asia and Kazakhstan began. As is known, the Crimean Tatars are one of the Turkic nations closest to the Turks in the linguistic and cultural respect.
Joining the Crimea to Russia
For a long time, until joining Russia, the Crimea was part of the Crimean Khanate and was thus in vassal dependence on Ottoman Turkey. Accordingly, the Crimean Tatars were closely associated with their co-religionists on the southern coast of the Black Sea. The period of the existence of the Crimean Khanate was the heyday of the Turkic-Muslim culture in the Crimea. In fact, it was a common cultural space with Ottoman Turkey. The annexation of the Crimea to the Russian Empire was caused by the need to secure the southern borders of the country, namely, Novorossia, from the constant attacks of the Nogai hordes under the control of the Crimean Khanate. In the steppes of the Northern Black Sea coast, Nogai tribes roamed and made regular raids on Russian lands in order to capture slaves and then sell them on slave markets in the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. The slave trade was one of the most important sources of income for the Crimean Khanate. The total number of slaves stolen in the Russian, Little Russian, Polish-Lithuanian lands and sold into slavery in the Crimean Khanate is estimated at three million people. In the XVI-XVII centuries. Crimean Tatars and Nogai used for attacks on Russian territory Muravsky Way from Perekop to Tula. The South Russian lands, despite their fertility and good climatic conditions, were forced to remain virtually deserted - and this is the main "merit" belongs to the Crimean Khanate. Who will return to Russia millions of people driven into slavery and perished in a foreign land, or replenished someone else's gene pool?
As the Russian empire moved south, inevitably the question arose of the need to eliminate the threat from the Crimean Khanate. Russian troops undertook campaigns "to the Crimea", which caused serious damage to the Crimean Tatars. Thus, in 1736, the march of Field Marshal Christopher Minich ended with the burning of the Khan's capital, Bakhchisarai, as well as the devastation of settlements in the Piedmont Crimea. Minich’s campaign dealt a serious blow to the economy of the Crimean Peninsula, which marked the beginning of the end of centuries-old stories the Khanate. In 1768 was another Russian-Turkish war began, as a result of which the army of Prince V.M. Dolgorukova entered the territory of the Crimea and within two months occupied the entire peninsula. Bakhchisarai was again destroyed, and the Crimean Khan Selim III fled to Istanbul. New Khan was elected Sahib II Gerai. July 10 1774 city Russia and the Ottoman Empire concluded the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace treaty, in accordance with which the Crimean Khanate was recognized as an independent state from Ottoman Turkey. The southern coast of the Crimean peninsula, formerly owned directly by the Ottoman Empire, also passed to the Crimean Khanate. At the same time, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire retained the status of the supreme head of the Crimean Muslims and, accordingly, got the opportunity to influence the cultural and political life of the Crimean Khanate. In particular, the supreme Qadi (judges) were appointed by the Ottoman Sultan. However, despite the concessions to Turkey, Russia ultimately won from the conclusion of the treaty. After all, she not only “severed” the Khanate from Turkey, but also got under her control the strategically important Kinburn, Kerch and Yenikale, as well as the possibility of sailing across the Black Sea. The history of the annexation of Crimea to Russia is quite long and interesting, but it hardly makes sense to retell it in the framework of this article. It is only necessary to note the main milestones that contributed to the annexation of the Crimea. And above all - this is the migration of the Christian peoples of the peninsula to Russia. Before joining the Russian Empire, three main groups of nations lived in the Crimea. The first group is the Crimean Muslims, which included subethnos of the Crimean Tatars, Nogais, Turks, Circassians, Crimean Roma (Crimea) and gypsy groups (gurbats, urmachels). Muslims in the Crimean Khanate had a privileged position and were opposed to being part of the Russian Empire. The second group - the Crimean Jews, which included Turkic groups of Karaites - descendants of the Khazars and Krymchaks - Turkic Jews, among whom there were many immigrants from Italy, even during the Genoese colonization of the Crimean peninsula settled in the Crimean trading cities. The third group is the Crimean Christians, which included Crimean Armenians, Greeks, Italians, Georgians, Volokhs (Romanians), and Slavs. In the economy of the Crimean peninsula, the main role was played by Christian peoples who were engaged in farming, crafts and trade. Therefore, started in 1778. AV Suvorov's relocation of Christians from the Crimea to Russia - in the Azov Sea region, contributed to the final undermining of the economy of the Crimean Khanate. Here we allow ourselves to assess the resettlement "from high above" of the past two centuries. Of course, in the period under review, the resettlement of Crimean Christians was beneficial to Russia, because, firstly, it undermined the economy of the Crimean Khanate, secondly, it contributed to the economic development of the southern Russian sparsely populated lands, where the Christians resettled, , which in the event of war with the Crimean Khanate could seriously suffer. But, at the same time, the resettlement of Crimean Christians actually gave grounds for the Crimean Tatar nationalists to say that it is the Crimean Tatars who are the only indigenous people of Crimea, and the Slavic population in Crimea is alien.
In turn, the entry of the Crimea into Russia led to serious changes in the ethnic structure of the population of the peninsula. First of all, the emigration of the Crimean Tatars to the Ottoman Empire began, in which both the representatives of the Crimean Tatar aristocracy and the well-to-do segments of the population, as well as ordinary peasants, took part. In 1790 Dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars, Turks, Circassians and other Muslims left the Crimea. Turkish historians talk about 200-250 thousands of Crimean Tatars who moved to Rumelia. At the same time, after the completion of the first wave of the “exodus” of the Crimean Tatars, the scale of emigration was no longer so great - after all, the number of the Tatar population in Crimea since the beginning of the 19th century. to 1850, it grew from 137 thousand to 242 thousand people - almost doubled. During the first half of the XIX century, the Crimean Tatars practically did not emigrate to the Ottoman Empire. This was facilitated by the policy of the Russian authorities, aimed at attracting the Crimean Tatar aristocracy to their side. However, the Crimean War caused the second wave of emigration of the Crimean Tatars to the territory of the Ottoman Empire. The fact is that after the start of the Crimean War, many Crimean Tatars hoped that the Ottoman Empire, with the support of Great Britain and France, would eventually succeed in repulsing Crimea from Russia. Therefore, a significant part of the Crimean Tatars collaborated with the enemy after the end of the Crimean War, making sure that the peninsula remained within the Russian Empire, chose to leave its borders and leave for Turkey. As a result of the second wave of emigration of the Crimean Tatars, the scale of which is estimated at 200 thousands of people, the steppe areas of the peninsula were practically deserted. In Turkey, the Crimean Tatars constituted an imposing community, most of which, however, due to linguistic and cultural affinity with the Turks, subsequently completely dissolved in the Turkish environment. Currently in Turkey there are about 130-150 of thousands of people who identify themselves as “Tatars”. Much of the Turkish Tatars live in the Eskisehir area. Approximately another 40-50 of thousands of Crimean Tatars live in Romania, which in the period of emigration from the Crimea was part of the Ottoman Empire.
Crimean Tatars in Russia and the USSR
Naturally, the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to the Russian Empire and the settlement of Crimea by immigrants from other regions of the Russian state changed the ethnic, religious, socio-economic appearance of the peninsula almost beyond recognition. Of course, the Crimean culture of the pre-Russian period is interesting and deserves respect, but it was precisely joining the Russian state that gave Crimea an incentive for genuine economic and cultural development. The Crimean peninsula has turned into a unique region of Russia, where for more than two centuries completely different and distinctive cultures coexisted - Russian, Greek, Crimean Tatar, Karaite, Krymchak, Bulgarian, Armenian, etc. However, it was Russian culture that became unifying for Crimea. Over two centuries of joining the Russian state, Crimea has become one of the most important regions of Russia, with which not only political and military, but also the cultural history and modernity of our country are inextricably linked. Despite the small territory, the peninsula strategically important for Russia has acquired symbolic significance - what is one city of Russian glory and Russian worth fleet Sevastopol?
Despite the fact that Crimea has been a part of Russia for two centuries, Turkey has never stopped looking at the blessed land of the peninsula with appetite, seeing in any temporary weakening of the Russian state a likely chance for the realization of its revenge-seeking aspirations. The collapse of the Soviet Union stirred up Ankara’s earlier appetites. The fact is that the obviously weak and indecisive Ukrainian government was unable to keep the Crimea within Ukraine for a long time. Moreover, the very location of the Crimean Peninsula as part of Ukraine was a historical mistake. Nikita Khrushchev handed over the Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR, since Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and at that time very few could think of the impending collapse of the Soviet state. Boris Yeltsin again gave the Crimea "to Ukraine", who did not put forward territorial claims to Ukraine during the meeting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and actually missed the possibility of a conflict-free return of the peninsula to the Russian state. As a result, the Crimea for twenty-three years was part of the Ukrainian state. During this time, new generations of Crimeans have had time to be born, grow up, become adult adults. As you know, the Crimean Tatars in 1944 were deported from the territory of the Crimea and resettled in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The official reason for the deportation was the collaboration of the Crimean Tatar population with the Nazi invaders during the occupation of the peninsula. Meanwhile, at least 35 thousands of Crimean Tatars served in the ranks of the fighting Red Army, 36,6% of the Crimean Tatars who fought with the Soviet troops died on the battlefield. Five Crimean Tatars were awarded the highest state award of the USSR - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them are Major Tyifuk Abdul (1915-1945) Guard - the commander of the 2 Infantry Battalion of the 175 Guards Infantry Regiment of the 58 Guards Infantry Division, who died after assigning the title of Hero of the Soviet Union; Sergeant Major Uzeir Abdurakhmanov (1916-1992), Guard Major Abduraim Rashidov (1912-1984) - Deputy Commander of the 162 Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment; Guard Lieutenant Colonel Fetislyam Abilov (1915-2005) - Commander of the 130-th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 44-th Guards Rifle Division of the 65-th Army; foreman Seitnafe Seitveliyev (1919-1983). Renowned pilot Ametkhan Sultan was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union twice. Nevertheless, the deportation touched the heroes of World War II, as well as their family members. As a result of the deportation, which was universal, the Soviet Union acquired another negatively-minded nation.
Unlike Chechens, Ingushes, Karachays, Balkars, Kalmyks and a number of other peoples, the Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to the Crimea until the 1989 year. In the wake of the struggle to return to the Crimea, the Crimean Tatar national movement arose and became widely known both in the country and abroad. It originated in Uzbekistan, where the majority of the Crimean Tatars were deported. Since 1960-ies. Crimean Tatar activists living in Uzbekistan began to periodically visit Crimea. However, the activity of the Crimean Tatar national movement was suppressed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. At the same time, the Soviet leadership did not take any real measures to counter the national movement. As a result, a paradoxical situation was created - on the one hand, the Soviet leadership could not (or did not want?) To work out and implement a strategy to normalize relations with the Crimean Tatar population, on the other hand, opposition to the national movement of the Crimean Tatars was very sluggish. Now it looks like a deliberate creation of grounds for the West to accuse the Soviet state of oppressing national minorities. It was in 1970-1980-ies, during the struggle for the return of the Crimean Tatars to the Crimea, that many modern leaders of the Crimean Tatar national movement, including the well-known Mustafa Dzhemilev, began their political activities. However, until the beginning of the “perestroika”, the Soviet leadership did not take any measures towards solving the “Crimean Tatar issue”. Only in 1987 a commission was created headed by Andrei Gromyko. At this time, the Crimean Tatars made up only 1% of the population of the Crimea, 1% were the Crimean Tatars in Uzbekistan, where most of the deported families lived. Two years later, in 1989, the mass return of Crimean Tatars from Central Asia began. Initially, many Crimean Tatars, on the way to the Crimea, stayed in the Krasnodar Territory. Here, on Taman, the Crimean Tatar communities quickly appeared and strengthened in the villages. In Crimea, the Crimean Tatars returning from Central Asia began the practice of “self-capture” of vacant lands - after all, their houses and land were occupied by new tenants long ago. With 1991 2007 for years. on the territory of the Crimean peninsula, more than 40 of thousands of hectares of land were seized, where about 300 villages appeared for compact residence of the Crimean Tatar population. Since the southern coast of Crimea and Sevastopol were closed for the resettlement of the Crimean Tatars, they began to settle in the Simferopol region, along the Yevpatoriya highway, in Sudak, Alushta, and Partenit. Currently, the number of Crimean Tatars in the Crimea is about 250 thousand people, 10% of whom live in the capital of the Crimean Republic, Simferopol. Thus, the number of the Crimean Tatar population from 1989 to 2015. grew from 38 thousand to 250 thousand people. The Crimean Tatar population is distinguished by a higher demographic increase than the representatives of the other peoples of the Crimea. Against the background of constant land conflicts and social and everyday insecurity of many Crimean Tatars, during the 1990-s - 2000-s.
The Crimean Tatar nationalists have always played a certain role in forcing the situation. They tried to completely subordinate the entire Crimean Tatar people to their interests and arrogate to themselves the right to speak on behalf of all representatives of the Crimean Tatar population. At the same time, the leaders of nationalist organizations were guided not so much by the real needs of the Crimean Tatar population as by their own political and economic interests.
It is noteworthy that the activities of the Crimean Tatar nationalists were actually supported by the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian nationalist organizations. In fact, the people of Little Russia at one time suffered the most from raids by the Crimean Khanate troops. Hundreds of thousands of residents of Little Russia were kidnapped and sold into slavery in the slave markets of the Ottoman Empire. However, the historical memory of modern Ukrainian nationalists was short. They adopted the well-known principle “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and began to cooperate with the Crimean Tatar nationalist organizations against Russia and strengthen its influence on the Crimean peninsula. Since in the Crimea, the Ukrainian population does not have a “Western” Russophobic identity, the only force Kiev could rely on in Crimea to oppose Russia was the Crimean Tatar organizations. In order to attract the Crimean Tatars, the Ukrainian propaganda spread false rumors that if the Crimea was disconnected from Ukraine, the repressions against the Crimean Tatar population would begin again. Crimean-Tatar nationalists became Kiev’s only hope in Crimea, because there are simply no other cohesive groups that would strongly oppose reunification with the Russian Federation, under anti-Russian and Russophobic slogans. Crimean Tatars blamed Russia for their deportation, although in 1944 the Russian Federation state did not exist and could equally well have been made to any of the post-Soviet states that were part of the Soviet Union at that time. However, the topic of deportation of the Crimean Tatars in the context of the general Russophobic policy in Ukraine, has become particularly popular.
Turkey and the Crimean Tatar nationalism
Turkey also contributed to the further radicalization of the Crimean Tatar national movement. From the very first years of Ukrainian independence, from the beginning of 1990's, Turkey began to take an active interest in the fate of the Tatar population of Crimea and in fact positioned itself as the main defender of the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars. In general, back in the 1991 year, after the collapse of the USSR, Turkey could demand to return the Crimea to its administration, however, did not begin to voice this right and limited itself only to the demand of protecting the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars. But then, as the fact that the Crimea was in the composition of an absolutely ephemeral and weak Ukrainian state, was realized, Turkey intensified its presence in the life of the Crimean peninsula. The activities of Turkish public organizations that advocate Pan-Turkist ideas were extended to the Crimea. In addition, it was thanks to the efforts of Turkey that preachers of radical Islamic fundamentalism appeared in the Crimea. The spread of Pan-Turkic and radical fundamentalist ideas among the Crimean-Tatar youth was carried out by Turkish public organizations in order to strengthen the Crimean-Tatar national identity and assert anti-Russian sentiments in the Crimea. For more than twenty years, Turkey, with the tacit permission of Ukraine, has in fact formed the “fifth column” on the territory of the Crimean peninsula, attracting a large number of young people to the publicly controlled and religious organizations. Many of the Crimean Tatars, especially the young, did not hide their pro-Turkish sympathies, were oriented toward study and work in Turkey, that is, they were more likely to identify themselves with Turkey than with Ukraine. The development of relations with Turkey contributed to the activities of the Turkish diaspora of the Crimean Tatars, which still makes statements about the genocide of the Crimean Tatar population in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Turkish special services intensified their activities in the Crimean Tatar environment in the 1990-s, and in the 2000-s. there was a real surge.
With the support of Turkey, Crimean Tatar banking structures were formed, business developed - that is, conditions were created for the subsequent material and organizational support of the positions of the Crimean Tatars in the political life of the peninsula. Many experts associate the emergence of radical Islam in the Crimea with Turkey.
For centuries, Islam remained one of the most important religions of Crimea. Currently, 15% of the inhabitants of the peninsula are Muslims, that is, about 300 thousands of people. These are the Crimean Tatars, Turks, Crimean Roma, Tatars, Azeris, Uzbeks, representatives of the Caucasian peoples living in the Crimea. From XV to XVIII centuries. Crimea played the role of the main center of Islamic religion and culture in the Northern Black Sea region. After the fall of the last Christian bastions of the Crimea - the Armenian Orthodox principality of Theodoro and the Genoese Kafa, Islam for three centuries became the dominant religion of Crimea. On the peninsula, Sunniism of the Hanifit mazhab spread, as well as Sufism. Mosques were built everywhere, madrasas were opened, and Islamic preachers trained in Crimea played an important role in spreading Islam among the peoples of the North Caucasus, with whom the Crimean Tatars had close ties. The number of Muslim clergy on the peninsula reached five thousand people. Dervish communities of Sufi orders spread in Ottoman Turkey operated in a number of Crimean cities. Later, after becoming part of the Russian Empire and the rapid change in the ethnic composition of the peninsula, Islam in Crimea began to gradually lose its position. This was facilitated by the growth of the Christian population on the peninsula, and the emigration of a significant part of the Crimean Tatars to Turkey, and later, in Soviet times, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars to Central Asia.
However, just the deportation made an important contribution to the preservation of religious traditions among the actual Crimean Tatar people. As the philosopher Ayder Bulatov notes, “Islamic identity has always played an important role in the ethnic mobilization of the Crimean Tatars, in the formation of their national identity and ethnic culture. Under the conditions of deportation, visiting the existing mosques by the Crimean Tatars was impossible. The language of prayer (Arabic) over time became available only to a few, and the Muslim tradition was preserved mainly in the family and household sphere. However, the sociocultural commitment of the Crimean Tatars to Islam during this period increased. This is not by chance, since “for peoples deprived of political independence, religion is the only expression of national unity” (quoted in: Bulatov A. Islam in the Crimea: from the tragic past to the problems of modernity // http://www.islamsng.com/ ukr / pastfuture / 3871).
After the collapse of the USSR and the return of the deported Tatars to Crimea, the era of a real “Islamic revival” on the Crimean peninsula began. The ideological vacuum inherent in all post-Soviet societies, the processes of strengthening the national identity of the Crimean Tatars, in which Islam has always played a decisive role, and socio-demographic and economic processes in the region have contributed to this. However, in modern Crimea, radical Islam spread by preachers from Turkey and the countries of the Arab East has spread. On the territory of the Crimean peninsula, followers of Wahhabism and Salafism, the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, and a number of other radical religious-political organizations appeared. Ukrainian authorities and law enforcement agencies practically did not fight against the spread of radical fundamentalist ideas among the Crimean Tatar youth. The consequence of this permissive attitude was the emergence of real training camps and militant bases in the Crimean mountains, and then sending volunteers from among the young Crimean Tatars to participate in the hostilities in Iraq and Syria.
The political situation in Crimea became particularly tense after the majority of the inhabitants of Crimea decided to secede from Ukraine and reunite with the Russian Federation as a result of a national referendum. Actually, even before the referendum, repeated attempts were made to destabilize the situation in the Crimea by individual representatives of the Crimean Tatar nationalist movement set up by the Kiev regime. Then the leaders of the nationalist organizations of the Crimean Tatars took an openly anti-Russian position. We are talking about such figures in the Crimean Tatar politics as Mustafa Dzhemilev, Refat Chubarov and Lenur Islyamov. Mustafa Dzhemilev (born 1943) is the most famous Crimean Tatar politician. And the most determined attitude towards Russia. To some extent, this is due to the peculiarities of Mustafa Dzhemilev’s biography. Back in 1962, Mr. Mustafa Dzhemilev entered the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Land Reclamation Engineering for Agriculture. However, three years later, the young man was expelled from the university for his political views. Subsequently, Mustafa Dzhemilev was convicted seven times for his political activities, and was considered the most famous Crimean Tatar - political prisoner in the USSR. The return of the Crimean Tatars to the peninsula and the disintegration of the Soviet Union became the high point for Mustafa Dzhemilev. 1991 to 2013 he served as chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, in fact becoming the informal leader of the Crimean Tatars, receiving not only political, but also financial and economic dividends from their activities. After the start of Euromaidan in Ukraine, Dzhemilev began to actively support the opposition. He never hid his pro-Turkish sympathies, being the most ardent supporter of the denial of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. 20 August 2014, Jemilev was appointed by the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, Commissioner for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatar People.
It was the people of Dzhemilev, together with the militants of the Right Sector, who staged a series of sabotage against the power lines in the Kherson region of Ukraine, for which reason the power supply to the Crimea was disrupted. By the way, a typical example of genuine "care" of pro-Ukrainian leaders about the well-being of the people of Crimea - as a result of their criminal actions, the light was turned off not only in administrative buildings, but also in residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens. Disturbed and heating, water supply in the region. Naturally, among the radicals affected by the actions are the same Crimean Tatars living on the peninsula. Refat Chubarov (born 1957) is another Crimean Tatar politician who has been serving as chairman of the “Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People” since 2013. Refat Chubarov was born in Uzbekistan, where his father and mother were deported, but the “discrimination” in the Soviet Union did not prevent him from graduating from Moscow University - Historical and Archival Institute, and successfully work in his specialty until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to the anti-Russian position, 5 July 2014, Refat Chubarov was banned from entering the Republic of Crimea for a period of 5 years. Lenur Islyamov, the vice-president of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars and a well-known businessman in Crimea, also became one of the leaders of the action on the “blockade of Crimea”. Dzhemilev, Chubarov and Islyamov are the main initiators of the “blockade of the Crimea”, carried out by the forces of the Crimean Tatar nationalist groups and the Right Sector. Meanwhile, even many Ukrainian politicians who are hard to suspect of sympathizing with Russia see the “blockade of the Crimea” as an attempt to destabilize the situation on the border of the Kherson region. The UN representative Ivan Shimonovich, who declared that it would only lead to a further increase in mutual misunderstanding and mistrust between the Kiev authorities and Simferopol, also criticized the “blockade”.
Crimean Tatars - as part of Russia
In the actions of the Crimean Tatar activists, who clearly run counter to the official policies of the Kiev authorities, many analysts see the hand of Turkey. Moreover, almost simultaneously with the beginning of the blockade, well-known events took place in Syria - first, Turkey made a number of anti-Russian statements in the form of “warnings” about the inadmissibility of strikes on the territory inhabited by the Turkomans, and then shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft. The response to Turkey’s actions was the whole range of sanctions measures taken by the Russian Federation and of an economic nature. Did not stay away from the events and the Crimea. In an interview with the Russia 24 channel, the head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, said: “They (Turkey) have always tried using their intelligence (the Crimean Tatars) as a factor of influence. Many of the youth Crimean Tatars were trained in Turkey, including in religious institutions. This practice is now discontinued. I am personally confident that we no longer need the services of Turkish educational institutions and in general, in principle, Turkey’s help ”(quoted on: http://tass.ru/politika/2490868).
It should be noted that, in contrast to Ukraine, during the 23 of the year, it did not take real steps towards improving the situation of the Tatar population in Crimea, the Russian Federation, immediately after the Crimean people made the decision to join the Russian state, it also took care of the situation of the Crimean Tatars . In particular, President Vladimir Putin personally ordered to work out a set of measures aimed at the rehabilitation of the peoples deported from Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars. The head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, claims that the majority of the Crimean Tatars have already adapted to the living conditions in the Russian Federation and support the current authorities of the republic and Russia as a whole. In Crimea, in particular, schools continue to operate in which children are taught in the Crimean Tatar language. The Crimean-Tatar language, along with the Russian and Ukrainian languages, is proclaimed the state language of the Republic of Crimea, which is part of the Crimean Federal District.
It is indicative that not only the Crimean Tatars in the territory of the Russian Federation, but also representatives of the Crimean Tatar communities of the same Turkey recognize that in reality the Tatar population in Crimea became better after the Peninsula became part of Russia. Thus, the adviser to the head of the Federation of Cultural Unions of the Crimean Tatars in Turkey, Yagyz Kyzylkaya, said that “interested structures with patrons in the West are trying to prove that pressure is exerted on the Tatars. However, in reality, right now, after the entry of Crimea into Russia, the Crimean Tatars began to receive rights that they did not have for the 23 years as part of Ukraine ”(quoted on: http://ria.ru/world/20150920/1267950339 .html). Also, Yagyz Kyzylkaya sharply criticized the behavior of pro-Ukrainian Crimean Tatar politicians who, by their actions in the form of the “blockade of the Crimea”, cause direct damage to their own Crimean Tatar people. Kyzylkaya described very negatively the idea of Dzhemilev about the formation of the "Muslim battalion", stressing that one should not create analogues of the "Islamic state" (a terrorist organization prohibited in the Russian Federation) in the region. The secretary general of the Federation of Cultural Unions of the Crimean Tatars in Turkey, Sami Nogai, spoke in a similar vein. He said that in Turkey, the Crimean Tatar diaspora is divided between supporters of two points of view - some adhere to the Ukrainian and Western propaganda lines and believe that Russia annexed the Crimea and discriminated against the Crimean Tatar population. But, as Sami Nogai reported, he was personally in the Crimea and confirms that the referendum vote was free, and the inhabitants of the Crimea, including representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, made a choice in favor of joining the republic in the Russian Federation and with this not be considered.
However, after a sharp deterioration in relations between Russia and Turkey, it is possible that the leaders of the Turkish Crimean Tatar organizations may change their minds. In any case, since Crimea reunited with Russia, the problems of interethnic relations on the territory of the peninsula are now the problems of Russia. So far, we see that Russia is pursuing a correct and effective policy, not setting the Crimean Tatar masses against itself and really striving to protect the rights and interests of the population of the peninsula, regardless of its nationality. The limitation of foreign interference in the affairs of Crimea in this context is one of the most important tasks.
Joining the Crimea to Russia
For a long time, until joining Russia, the Crimea was part of the Crimean Khanate and was thus in vassal dependence on Ottoman Turkey. Accordingly, the Crimean Tatars were closely associated with their co-religionists on the southern coast of the Black Sea. The period of the existence of the Crimean Khanate was the heyday of the Turkic-Muslim culture in the Crimea. In fact, it was a common cultural space with Ottoman Turkey. The annexation of the Crimea to the Russian Empire was caused by the need to secure the southern borders of the country, namely, Novorossia, from the constant attacks of the Nogai hordes under the control of the Crimean Khanate. In the steppes of the Northern Black Sea coast, Nogai tribes roamed and made regular raids on Russian lands in order to capture slaves and then sell them on slave markets in the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. The slave trade was one of the most important sources of income for the Crimean Khanate. The total number of slaves stolen in the Russian, Little Russian, Polish-Lithuanian lands and sold into slavery in the Crimean Khanate is estimated at three million people. In the XVI-XVII centuries. Crimean Tatars and Nogai used for attacks on Russian territory Muravsky Way from Perekop to Tula. The South Russian lands, despite their fertility and good climatic conditions, were forced to remain virtually deserted - and this is the main "merit" belongs to the Crimean Khanate. Who will return to Russia millions of people driven into slavery and perished in a foreign land, or replenished someone else's gene pool?
As the Russian empire moved south, inevitably the question arose of the need to eliminate the threat from the Crimean Khanate. Russian troops undertook campaigns "to the Crimea", which caused serious damage to the Crimean Tatars. Thus, in 1736, the march of Field Marshal Christopher Minich ended with the burning of the Khan's capital, Bakhchisarai, as well as the devastation of settlements in the Piedmont Crimea. Minich’s campaign dealt a serious blow to the economy of the Crimean Peninsula, which marked the beginning of the end of centuries-old stories the Khanate. In 1768 was another Russian-Turkish war began, as a result of which the army of Prince V.M. Dolgorukova entered the territory of the Crimea and within two months occupied the entire peninsula. Bakhchisarai was again destroyed, and the Crimean Khan Selim III fled to Istanbul. New Khan was elected Sahib II Gerai. July 10 1774 city Russia and the Ottoman Empire concluded the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace treaty, in accordance with which the Crimean Khanate was recognized as an independent state from Ottoman Turkey. The southern coast of the Crimean peninsula, formerly owned directly by the Ottoman Empire, also passed to the Crimean Khanate. At the same time, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire retained the status of the supreme head of the Crimean Muslims and, accordingly, got the opportunity to influence the cultural and political life of the Crimean Khanate. In particular, the supreme Qadi (judges) were appointed by the Ottoman Sultan. However, despite the concessions to Turkey, Russia ultimately won from the conclusion of the treaty. After all, she not only “severed” the Khanate from Turkey, but also got under her control the strategically important Kinburn, Kerch and Yenikale, as well as the possibility of sailing across the Black Sea. The history of the annexation of Crimea to Russia is quite long and interesting, but it hardly makes sense to retell it in the framework of this article. It is only necessary to note the main milestones that contributed to the annexation of the Crimea. And above all - this is the migration of the Christian peoples of the peninsula to Russia. Before joining the Russian Empire, three main groups of nations lived in the Crimea. The first group is the Crimean Muslims, which included subethnos of the Crimean Tatars, Nogais, Turks, Circassians, Crimean Roma (Crimea) and gypsy groups (gurbats, urmachels). Muslims in the Crimean Khanate had a privileged position and were opposed to being part of the Russian Empire. The second group - the Crimean Jews, which included Turkic groups of Karaites - descendants of the Khazars and Krymchaks - Turkic Jews, among whom there were many immigrants from Italy, even during the Genoese colonization of the Crimean peninsula settled in the Crimean trading cities. The third group is the Crimean Christians, which included Crimean Armenians, Greeks, Italians, Georgians, Volokhs (Romanians), and Slavs. In the economy of the Crimean peninsula, the main role was played by Christian peoples who were engaged in farming, crafts and trade. Therefore, started in 1778. AV Suvorov's relocation of Christians from the Crimea to Russia - in the Azov Sea region, contributed to the final undermining of the economy of the Crimean Khanate. Here we allow ourselves to assess the resettlement "from high above" of the past two centuries. Of course, in the period under review, the resettlement of Crimean Christians was beneficial to Russia, because, firstly, it undermined the economy of the Crimean Khanate, secondly, it contributed to the economic development of the southern Russian sparsely populated lands, where the Christians resettled, , which in the event of war with the Crimean Khanate could seriously suffer. But, at the same time, the resettlement of Crimean Christians actually gave grounds for the Crimean Tatar nationalists to say that it is the Crimean Tatars who are the only indigenous people of Crimea, and the Slavic population in Crimea is alien.
In turn, the entry of the Crimea into Russia led to serious changes in the ethnic structure of the population of the peninsula. First of all, the emigration of the Crimean Tatars to the Ottoman Empire began, in which both the representatives of the Crimean Tatar aristocracy and the well-to-do segments of the population, as well as ordinary peasants, took part. In 1790 Dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars, Turks, Circassians and other Muslims left the Crimea. Turkish historians talk about 200-250 thousands of Crimean Tatars who moved to Rumelia. At the same time, after the completion of the first wave of the “exodus” of the Crimean Tatars, the scale of emigration was no longer so great - after all, the number of the Tatar population in Crimea since the beginning of the 19th century. to 1850, it grew from 137 thousand to 242 thousand people - almost doubled. During the first half of the XIX century, the Crimean Tatars practically did not emigrate to the Ottoman Empire. This was facilitated by the policy of the Russian authorities, aimed at attracting the Crimean Tatar aristocracy to their side. However, the Crimean War caused the second wave of emigration of the Crimean Tatars to the territory of the Ottoman Empire. The fact is that after the start of the Crimean War, many Crimean Tatars hoped that the Ottoman Empire, with the support of Great Britain and France, would eventually succeed in repulsing Crimea from Russia. Therefore, a significant part of the Crimean Tatars collaborated with the enemy after the end of the Crimean War, making sure that the peninsula remained within the Russian Empire, chose to leave its borders and leave for Turkey. As a result of the second wave of emigration of the Crimean Tatars, the scale of which is estimated at 200 thousands of people, the steppe areas of the peninsula were practically deserted. In Turkey, the Crimean Tatars constituted an imposing community, most of which, however, due to linguistic and cultural affinity with the Turks, subsequently completely dissolved in the Turkish environment. Currently in Turkey there are about 130-150 of thousands of people who identify themselves as “Tatars”. Much of the Turkish Tatars live in the Eskisehir area. Approximately another 40-50 of thousands of Crimean Tatars live in Romania, which in the period of emigration from the Crimea was part of the Ottoman Empire.
Crimean Tatars in Russia and the USSR
Naturally, the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to the Russian Empire and the settlement of Crimea by immigrants from other regions of the Russian state changed the ethnic, religious, socio-economic appearance of the peninsula almost beyond recognition. Of course, the Crimean culture of the pre-Russian period is interesting and deserves respect, but it was precisely joining the Russian state that gave Crimea an incentive for genuine economic and cultural development. The Crimean peninsula has turned into a unique region of Russia, where for more than two centuries completely different and distinctive cultures coexisted - Russian, Greek, Crimean Tatar, Karaite, Krymchak, Bulgarian, Armenian, etc. However, it was Russian culture that became unifying for Crimea. Over two centuries of joining the Russian state, Crimea has become one of the most important regions of Russia, with which not only political and military, but also the cultural history and modernity of our country are inextricably linked. Despite the small territory, the peninsula strategically important for Russia has acquired symbolic significance - what is one city of Russian glory and Russian worth fleet Sevastopol?
Despite the fact that Crimea has been a part of Russia for two centuries, Turkey has never stopped looking at the blessed land of the peninsula with appetite, seeing in any temporary weakening of the Russian state a likely chance for the realization of its revenge-seeking aspirations. The collapse of the Soviet Union stirred up Ankara’s earlier appetites. The fact is that the obviously weak and indecisive Ukrainian government was unable to keep the Crimea within Ukraine for a long time. Moreover, the very location of the Crimean Peninsula as part of Ukraine was a historical mistake. Nikita Khrushchev handed over the Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR, since Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and at that time very few could think of the impending collapse of the Soviet state. Boris Yeltsin again gave the Crimea "to Ukraine", who did not put forward territorial claims to Ukraine during the meeting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and actually missed the possibility of a conflict-free return of the peninsula to the Russian state. As a result, the Crimea for twenty-three years was part of the Ukrainian state. During this time, new generations of Crimeans have had time to be born, grow up, become adult adults. As you know, the Crimean Tatars in 1944 were deported from the territory of the Crimea and resettled in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The official reason for the deportation was the collaboration of the Crimean Tatar population with the Nazi invaders during the occupation of the peninsula. Meanwhile, at least 35 thousands of Crimean Tatars served in the ranks of the fighting Red Army, 36,6% of the Crimean Tatars who fought with the Soviet troops died on the battlefield. Five Crimean Tatars were awarded the highest state award of the USSR - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them are Major Tyifuk Abdul (1915-1945) Guard - the commander of the 2 Infantry Battalion of the 175 Guards Infantry Regiment of the 58 Guards Infantry Division, who died after assigning the title of Hero of the Soviet Union; Sergeant Major Uzeir Abdurakhmanov (1916-1992), Guard Major Abduraim Rashidov (1912-1984) - Deputy Commander of the 162 Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment; Guard Lieutenant Colonel Fetislyam Abilov (1915-2005) - Commander of the 130-th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 44-th Guards Rifle Division of the 65-th Army; foreman Seitnafe Seitveliyev (1919-1983). Renowned pilot Ametkhan Sultan was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union twice. Nevertheless, the deportation touched the heroes of World War II, as well as their family members. As a result of the deportation, which was universal, the Soviet Union acquired another negatively-minded nation.
Unlike Chechens, Ingushes, Karachays, Balkars, Kalmyks and a number of other peoples, the Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to the Crimea until the 1989 year. In the wake of the struggle to return to the Crimea, the Crimean Tatar national movement arose and became widely known both in the country and abroad. It originated in Uzbekistan, where the majority of the Crimean Tatars were deported. Since 1960-ies. Crimean Tatar activists living in Uzbekistan began to periodically visit Crimea. However, the activity of the Crimean Tatar national movement was suppressed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. At the same time, the Soviet leadership did not take any real measures to counter the national movement. As a result, a paradoxical situation was created - on the one hand, the Soviet leadership could not (or did not want?) To work out and implement a strategy to normalize relations with the Crimean Tatar population, on the other hand, opposition to the national movement of the Crimean Tatars was very sluggish. Now it looks like a deliberate creation of grounds for the West to accuse the Soviet state of oppressing national minorities. It was in 1970-1980-ies, during the struggle for the return of the Crimean Tatars to the Crimea, that many modern leaders of the Crimean Tatar national movement, including the well-known Mustafa Dzhemilev, began their political activities. However, until the beginning of the “perestroika”, the Soviet leadership did not take any measures towards solving the “Crimean Tatar issue”. Only in 1987 a commission was created headed by Andrei Gromyko. At this time, the Crimean Tatars made up only 1% of the population of the Crimea, 1% were the Crimean Tatars in Uzbekistan, where most of the deported families lived. Two years later, in 1989, the mass return of Crimean Tatars from Central Asia began. Initially, many Crimean Tatars, on the way to the Crimea, stayed in the Krasnodar Territory. Here, on Taman, the Crimean Tatar communities quickly appeared and strengthened in the villages. In Crimea, the Crimean Tatars returning from Central Asia began the practice of “self-capture” of vacant lands - after all, their houses and land were occupied by new tenants long ago. With 1991 2007 for years. on the territory of the Crimean peninsula, more than 40 of thousands of hectares of land were seized, where about 300 villages appeared for compact residence of the Crimean Tatar population. Since the southern coast of Crimea and Sevastopol were closed for the resettlement of the Crimean Tatars, they began to settle in the Simferopol region, along the Yevpatoriya highway, in Sudak, Alushta, and Partenit. Currently, the number of Crimean Tatars in the Crimea is about 250 thousand people, 10% of whom live in the capital of the Crimean Republic, Simferopol. Thus, the number of the Crimean Tatar population from 1989 to 2015. grew from 38 thousand to 250 thousand people. The Crimean Tatar population is distinguished by a higher demographic increase than the representatives of the other peoples of the Crimea. Against the background of constant land conflicts and social and everyday insecurity of many Crimean Tatars, during the 1990-s - 2000-s.
The Crimean Tatar nationalists have always played a certain role in forcing the situation. They tried to completely subordinate the entire Crimean Tatar people to their interests and arrogate to themselves the right to speak on behalf of all representatives of the Crimean Tatar population. At the same time, the leaders of nationalist organizations were guided not so much by the real needs of the Crimean Tatar population as by their own political and economic interests.
It is noteworthy that the activities of the Crimean Tatar nationalists were actually supported by the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian nationalist organizations. In fact, the people of Little Russia at one time suffered the most from raids by the Crimean Khanate troops. Hundreds of thousands of residents of Little Russia were kidnapped and sold into slavery in the slave markets of the Ottoman Empire. However, the historical memory of modern Ukrainian nationalists was short. They adopted the well-known principle “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and began to cooperate with the Crimean Tatar nationalist organizations against Russia and strengthen its influence on the Crimean peninsula. Since in the Crimea, the Ukrainian population does not have a “Western” Russophobic identity, the only force Kiev could rely on in Crimea to oppose Russia was the Crimean Tatar organizations. In order to attract the Crimean Tatars, the Ukrainian propaganda spread false rumors that if the Crimea was disconnected from Ukraine, the repressions against the Crimean Tatar population would begin again. Crimean-Tatar nationalists became Kiev’s only hope in Crimea, because there are simply no other cohesive groups that would strongly oppose reunification with the Russian Federation, under anti-Russian and Russophobic slogans. Crimean Tatars blamed Russia for their deportation, although in 1944 the Russian Federation state did not exist and could equally well have been made to any of the post-Soviet states that were part of the Soviet Union at that time. However, the topic of deportation of the Crimean Tatars in the context of the general Russophobic policy in Ukraine, has become particularly popular.
Turkey and the Crimean Tatar nationalism
Turkey also contributed to the further radicalization of the Crimean Tatar national movement. From the very first years of Ukrainian independence, from the beginning of 1990's, Turkey began to take an active interest in the fate of the Tatar population of Crimea and in fact positioned itself as the main defender of the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars. In general, back in the 1991 year, after the collapse of the USSR, Turkey could demand to return the Crimea to its administration, however, did not begin to voice this right and limited itself only to the demand of protecting the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars. But then, as the fact that the Crimea was in the composition of an absolutely ephemeral and weak Ukrainian state, was realized, Turkey intensified its presence in the life of the Crimean peninsula. The activities of Turkish public organizations that advocate Pan-Turkist ideas were extended to the Crimea. In addition, it was thanks to the efforts of Turkey that preachers of radical Islamic fundamentalism appeared in the Crimea. The spread of Pan-Turkic and radical fundamentalist ideas among the Crimean-Tatar youth was carried out by Turkish public organizations in order to strengthen the Crimean-Tatar national identity and assert anti-Russian sentiments in the Crimea. For more than twenty years, Turkey, with the tacit permission of Ukraine, has in fact formed the “fifth column” on the territory of the Crimean peninsula, attracting a large number of young people to the publicly controlled and religious organizations. Many of the Crimean Tatars, especially the young, did not hide their pro-Turkish sympathies, were oriented toward study and work in Turkey, that is, they were more likely to identify themselves with Turkey than with Ukraine. The development of relations with Turkey contributed to the activities of the Turkish diaspora of the Crimean Tatars, which still makes statements about the genocide of the Crimean Tatar population in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Turkish special services intensified their activities in the Crimean Tatar environment in the 1990-s, and in the 2000-s. there was a real surge.
With the support of Turkey, Crimean Tatar banking structures were formed, business developed - that is, conditions were created for the subsequent material and organizational support of the positions of the Crimean Tatars in the political life of the peninsula. Many experts associate the emergence of radical Islam in the Crimea with Turkey.
For centuries, Islam remained one of the most important religions of Crimea. Currently, 15% of the inhabitants of the peninsula are Muslims, that is, about 300 thousands of people. These are the Crimean Tatars, Turks, Crimean Roma, Tatars, Azeris, Uzbeks, representatives of the Caucasian peoples living in the Crimea. From XV to XVIII centuries. Crimea played the role of the main center of Islamic religion and culture in the Northern Black Sea region. After the fall of the last Christian bastions of the Crimea - the Armenian Orthodox principality of Theodoro and the Genoese Kafa, Islam for three centuries became the dominant religion of Crimea. On the peninsula, Sunniism of the Hanifit mazhab spread, as well as Sufism. Mosques were built everywhere, madrasas were opened, and Islamic preachers trained in Crimea played an important role in spreading Islam among the peoples of the North Caucasus, with whom the Crimean Tatars had close ties. The number of Muslim clergy on the peninsula reached five thousand people. Dervish communities of Sufi orders spread in Ottoman Turkey operated in a number of Crimean cities. Later, after becoming part of the Russian Empire and the rapid change in the ethnic composition of the peninsula, Islam in Crimea began to gradually lose its position. This was facilitated by the growth of the Christian population on the peninsula, and the emigration of a significant part of the Crimean Tatars to Turkey, and later, in Soviet times, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars to Central Asia.
However, just the deportation made an important contribution to the preservation of religious traditions among the actual Crimean Tatar people. As the philosopher Ayder Bulatov notes, “Islamic identity has always played an important role in the ethnic mobilization of the Crimean Tatars, in the formation of their national identity and ethnic culture. Under the conditions of deportation, visiting the existing mosques by the Crimean Tatars was impossible. The language of prayer (Arabic) over time became available only to a few, and the Muslim tradition was preserved mainly in the family and household sphere. However, the sociocultural commitment of the Crimean Tatars to Islam during this period increased. This is not by chance, since “for peoples deprived of political independence, religion is the only expression of national unity” (quoted in: Bulatov A. Islam in the Crimea: from the tragic past to the problems of modernity // http://www.islamsng.com/ ukr / pastfuture / 3871).
After the collapse of the USSR and the return of the deported Tatars to Crimea, the era of a real “Islamic revival” on the Crimean peninsula began. The ideological vacuum inherent in all post-Soviet societies, the processes of strengthening the national identity of the Crimean Tatars, in which Islam has always played a decisive role, and socio-demographic and economic processes in the region have contributed to this. However, in modern Crimea, radical Islam spread by preachers from Turkey and the countries of the Arab East has spread. On the territory of the Crimean peninsula, followers of Wahhabism and Salafism, the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, and a number of other radical religious-political organizations appeared. Ukrainian authorities and law enforcement agencies practically did not fight against the spread of radical fundamentalist ideas among the Crimean Tatar youth. The consequence of this permissive attitude was the emergence of real training camps and militant bases in the Crimean mountains, and then sending volunteers from among the young Crimean Tatars to participate in the hostilities in Iraq and Syria.
The political situation in Crimea became particularly tense after the majority of the inhabitants of Crimea decided to secede from Ukraine and reunite with the Russian Federation as a result of a national referendum. Actually, even before the referendum, repeated attempts were made to destabilize the situation in the Crimea by individual representatives of the Crimean Tatar nationalist movement set up by the Kiev regime. Then the leaders of the nationalist organizations of the Crimean Tatars took an openly anti-Russian position. We are talking about such figures in the Crimean Tatar politics as Mustafa Dzhemilev, Refat Chubarov and Lenur Islyamov. Mustafa Dzhemilev (born 1943) is the most famous Crimean Tatar politician. And the most determined attitude towards Russia. To some extent, this is due to the peculiarities of Mustafa Dzhemilev’s biography. Back in 1962, Mr. Mustafa Dzhemilev entered the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Land Reclamation Engineering for Agriculture. However, three years later, the young man was expelled from the university for his political views. Subsequently, Mustafa Dzhemilev was convicted seven times for his political activities, and was considered the most famous Crimean Tatar - political prisoner in the USSR. The return of the Crimean Tatars to the peninsula and the disintegration of the Soviet Union became the high point for Mustafa Dzhemilev. 1991 to 2013 he served as chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, in fact becoming the informal leader of the Crimean Tatars, receiving not only political, but also financial and economic dividends from their activities. After the start of Euromaidan in Ukraine, Dzhemilev began to actively support the opposition. He never hid his pro-Turkish sympathies, being the most ardent supporter of the denial of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. 20 August 2014, Jemilev was appointed by the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, Commissioner for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatar People. It was the people of Dzhemilev, together with the militants of the Right Sector, who staged a series of sabotage against the power lines in the Kherson region of Ukraine, for which reason the power supply to the Crimea was disrupted. By the way, a typical example of genuine "care" of pro-Ukrainian leaders about the well-being of the people of Crimea - as a result of their criminal actions, the light was turned off not only in administrative buildings, but also in residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens. Disturbed and heating, water supply in the region. Naturally, among the radicals affected by the actions are the same Crimean Tatars living on the peninsula. Refat Chubarov (born 1957) is another Crimean Tatar politician who has been serving as chairman of the “Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People” since 2013. Refat Chubarov was born in Uzbekistan, where his father and mother were deported, but the “discrimination” in the Soviet Union did not prevent him from graduating from Moscow University - Historical and Archival Institute, and successfully work in his specialty until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to the anti-Russian position, 5 July 2014, Refat Chubarov was banned from entering the Republic of Crimea for a period of 5 years. Lenur Islyamov, the vice-president of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars and a well-known businessman in Crimea, also became one of the leaders of the action on the “blockade of Crimea”. Dzhemilev, Chubarov and Islyamov are the main initiators of the “blockade of the Crimea”, carried out by the forces of the Crimean Tatar nationalist groups and the Right Sector. Meanwhile, even many Ukrainian politicians who are hard to suspect of sympathizing with Russia see the “blockade of the Crimea” as an attempt to destabilize the situation on the border of the Kherson region. The UN representative Ivan Shimonovich, who declared that it would only lead to a further increase in mutual misunderstanding and mistrust between the Kiev authorities and Simferopol, also criticized the “blockade”.
Crimean Tatars - as part of Russia
In the actions of the Crimean Tatar activists, who clearly run counter to the official policies of the Kiev authorities, many analysts see the hand of Turkey. Moreover, almost simultaneously with the beginning of the blockade, well-known events took place in Syria - first, Turkey made a number of anti-Russian statements in the form of “warnings” about the inadmissibility of strikes on the territory inhabited by the Turkomans, and then shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft. The response to Turkey’s actions was the whole range of sanctions measures taken by the Russian Federation and of an economic nature. Did not stay away from the events and the Crimea. In an interview with the Russia 24 channel, the head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, said: “They (Turkey) have always tried using their intelligence (the Crimean Tatars) as a factor of influence. Many of the youth Crimean Tatars were trained in Turkey, including in religious institutions. This practice is now discontinued. I am personally confident that we no longer need the services of Turkish educational institutions and in general, in principle, Turkey’s help ”(quoted on: http://tass.ru/politika/2490868).
It should be noted that, in contrast to Ukraine, during the 23 of the year, it did not take real steps towards improving the situation of the Tatar population in Crimea, the Russian Federation, immediately after the Crimean people made the decision to join the Russian state, it also took care of the situation of the Crimean Tatars . In particular, President Vladimir Putin personally ordered to work out a set of measures aimed at the rehabilitation of the peoples deported from Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars. The head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, claims that the majority of the Crimean Tatars have already adapted to the living conditions in the Russian Federation and support the current authorities of the republic and Russia as a whole. In Crimea, in particular, schools continue to operate in which children are taught in the Crimean Tatar language. The Crimean-Tatar language, along with the Russian and Ukrainian languages, is proclaimed the state language of the Republic of Crimea, which is part of the Crimean Federal District.
It is indicative that not only the Crimean Tatars in the territory of the Russian Federation, but also representatives of the Crimean Tatar communities of the same Turkey recognize that in reality the Tatar population in Crimea became better after the Peninsula became part of Russia. Thus, the adviser to the head of the Federation of Cultural Unions of the Crimean Tatars in Turkey, Yagyz Kyzylkaya, said that “interested structures with patrons in the West are trying to prove that pressure is exerted on the Tatars. However, in reality, right now, after the entry of Crimea into Russia, the Crimean Tatars began to receive rights that they did not have for the 23 years as part of Ukraine ”(quoted on: http://ria.ru/world/20150920/1267950339 .html). Also, Yagyz Kyzylkaya sharply criticized the behavior of pro-Ukrainian Crimean Tatar politicians who, by their actions in the form of the “blockade of the Crimea”, cause direct damage to their own Crimean Tatar people. Kyzylkaya described very negatively the idea of Dzhemilev about the formation of the "Muslim battalion", stressing that one should not create analogues of the "Islamic state" (a terrorist organization prohibited in the Russian Federation) in the region. The secretary general of the Federation of Cultural Unions of the Crimean Tatars in Turkey, Sami Nogai, spoke in a similar vein. He said that in Turkey, the Crimean Tatar diaspora is divided between supporters of two points of view - some adhere to the Ukrainian and Western propaganda lines and believe that Russia annexed the Crimea and discriminated against the Crimean Tatar population. But, as Sami Nogai reported, he was personally in the Crimea and confirms that the referendum vote was free, and the inhabitants of the Crimea, including representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, made a choice in favor of joining the republic in the Russian Federation and with this not be considered.
However, after a sharp deterioration in relations between Russia and Turkey, it is possible that the leaders of the Turkish Crimean Tatar organizations may change their minds. In any case, since Crimea reunited with Russia, the problems of interethnic relations on the territory of the peninsula are now the problems of Russia. So far, we see that Russia is pursuing a correct and effective policy, not setting the Crimean Tatar masses against itself and really striving to protect the rights and interests of the population of the peninsula, regardless of its nationality. The limitation of foreign interference in the affairs of Crimea in this context is one of the most important tasks.
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