Out of order Fact of the Day: Crimean Tartars

This post may end up being long, but it explores an interesting part of Crimean (the peninsula/region in which we live) history that is extremely relevant to our current ministry in Kerch.  Above is the flag of the self-proclaimed independent nation of Crimean Tatars.  Their history is interwoven with that of Ukraine for the past 900 years and is as pertinent today as it was in the 1200's.  The story of the Tatars is extremely complex and polarizing, thus I have tried to look into it from different points of view, both written and anecdotal.  I'm not the biggest fan of Wikipedia but you may want to use it to get the basic idea on any unfamiliar terms.

First, the Crimean Tartars are a mostly Turkic (not to be confused with TurkISH), muslim people who live predominantly in Crimea (though this is actually their second attempt at populating the area).  They currently make up about 10% of the peninsula's population but this number will continue to increase due to migration and a significantly higher birth rate than the Russian and Ukrainian population.

Tatar roots in Europe can be traced back to the Mongol invasion in the middle of the 13th century (aka the 1200's).  Despite its name, this invasion was not entirely Mongolian in nature.  It is the common historical title given to a period of intense violent migration of nomadic Central Asian peoples to Eastern and Central Europe.  The westernmost portion of this empire was largely Turkic Muslims and they (along with some Caucasian Muslim converts) are the forbearers of the modern Tatars.  As the Mongolian empire collapsed under its own weight (as all empires eventually do) in the 15th century, the nobles in Crimea created an independent "Khanate" under Haci Giray.  Though it was quickly rolled into the greater Ottoman Empire as a protectorate, it maintained a great deal of autonomy and its power grew.  This was so much the case, that Crimean Tatars actually seized and burned Moscow in 1571.  Much of this strength was due to the financial success of their slave trade.  An estimated 3 million Ukrainians, Russians, Pols and Belarusians were seized and sold to the Muslim world.

Tatar fortunes turned in the mid-1700's as Russia increased in power and influence, until Crimea was taken militarily (see my post on Yenikale) and the Ottomans ceded their authority.  It has since been part of the Russian-speaking world.

There are a handful of interesting events that occurred in Russian Crimea between 1774 and the Second World War (including a steady stream of Tatar immigration from Crimea), but for our purposes the turning point came after the defeat of the Nazis in Europe.  In 1944, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin acted with sweeping power to punish the Tatars for the portion of their population that collaborated with the invading Germans.  All Tatars were forcefully and brutally relocated to the predominately Muslim central Asian Soviet Republics.  Upon the collapse of the USSR and creation of Ukraine's independent government, the opportunity for the Tatars to return presented itself.  In the 1990's the government of Ukraine officially invited the entire displaced Tatar community to return to Crimea

Here are the points of controversy:

I have been told that this invitation was issued by the Ukrainian government as a ploy to decrease the power of the pro-Russian contingent of the population that comprises the vast majority of Crimea (and the rest of eastern Ukraine).  There is currently a power struggle between the pro-western, Ukrainian-speaking portion of the country and that portion that is almost entirely Russian (in identity, language, loyalty, culture, ethnicity and sometimes even citizenship).  Here in Kerch most people are the latter and are not supportive of President Victor Yushchenko or the coalition that he represents.  I would not be surprised if for this reason they attribute underhanded, ulterior motives to the official repatriation invitation.

In Ukraine all land is owned by the state, thus we own the Hope Center buildings, but lease the land.  In areas such as Yalta and Simferopol, the Tatars have returned and built a multitude of what look like stone outhouses on very valuable land.  Though this sounds like squatting on public property, their laws state that an existing building cannot be razed, even if its owner doesn't have permission to be there.  This makes the Tatars (they think of this as community property) the de facto owners of this land.  I haven't figured out how they avoid paying for the property but I've been told that their goal is to combine small plots into larger parcels and build hotels or businesses.  This gives them a significant funding base from which to draw for lobbying cash ($ -the official language of Ukrainian politics).  Their stated goal is to eventually recreate the Crimean Khanate (under Sharia Law) via whatever means available.  I've been told by intelligent people here that within the next 20 years, Crimea will follow in the footsteps of Kosovo and Chechnya.  Tatars are immigrating to this region as an impressive rate and as previously mentioned, they are reproducing much faster than the non-Muslim population.

My interest in these people is derived from our constant contact with them in our programs.  Whereas most people within Kerch are Russian, the villages in which much of our compassionate outreach programs are conducted are (estimated) 70% Tatar.  Despite their unique heritage, I am still unable to distinguish an identified Russian from a Tatar.  The former Soviet Union was an EurAsian empire which intermingled people groups from Germany to China, yielding a wide variety of characteristics in those that call themselves Russian (or Ukrainian).  Add to this the fact that a Tatar might be a descendant of an eastern European convert to Islam and it makes the distinction very difficult.

Now that you know the history (those of you that actually read this monstrosity of a post) I hope that in the future when I mention the Tatar community of Crimea, you will have better understanding of the background.  I will endeavor to update or correct this basic overview as I learn more.