Crimean Tartars

The Crimean Tatars are an ethnic group formerly living in the Crimea region of Ukraine, now widely scattered among the republics of the former Soviet Union. The Tartars, a Turkic people related to the Mongols, occupied the Crimea in the 13th century, and they have preserved the name of their leader, Nogai. During the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries they constituted a rich empire, which prospered until it fell under Ottoman rule, when it suffered much from the wars fought between the Ottomans and Russia for the possession of the peninsula.

The war of 1853 and the laws of 1860-63 and 1874 caused an exodus of the Crimean Tatars; many abandoned their admirably irrigated fields and gardens and moved to Turkey. Those of the south coast, mixed with Greeks and Italians, were well known for their skill in gardening, their honesty and their laborious habits. The mountain Tatars closely resemble those of the Caucasus, while those of the steppes–the Nogais–are decidedly of a mixed origin from Turks and Mongols.

During World War II, the entire Tatar population in Crimea fell victim to Stalin's oppressive policies. In 1944 they were unjustly accused of being Nazi collaborators and deported en masse to Central Asia and other distant parts of the Soviet Union. Many died of disease and malnutrition. Although a 1967 Soviet decree removed the charges against Crimean Tatars, the Soviet government did nothing to facilitate their resettlement in Crimea and to make reparations for lost lives and confiscated property. Today more than 250,000 Crimean Tatars have returned to their homeland, struggling to re-establish their lives and reclaim their national and cultural rights against many social and economic obstacles.