The de-Tatarization of Crimea ( crh, Qırımnıñ tatarsızlaştırıluvı, italics=yes; russian: Детатаризация Крыма, Detatarizatsiya Kryma) refers to the Soviet and Russian efforts to remove traces of the indigenous Crimean Tatar presence from the peninsula. De-Tatarization has manifested in various ways throughout history, from the full-scale deportation and exile of Crimean Tatars in 1944 to other measures such as the burning of Crimean Tatar books published in the 1920s and toponym renaming.

Manifestations

Topography renaming

The vast majority of districts,

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

s, villages, and geographic features in Crimea bearing Crimean Tatar names were given Slavic names shortly after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars per a decree of the Crimean Regional Committee mandating such renaming. Most places in Crimea still bear the post-deportation names, many redundant, that were imposed in the 1940s to remove traces of Crimean Tatar existence. Very few localities

Bakhchysarai Bakhchysarai ( crh, Bağçasaray, italic=yes; russian: Бахчисара́й; ua, Бахчисара́й; tr, Bahçesaray) is a town in Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Re ...

, Dzhankoy, İşün,

Alushta Alushta ( uk, Алушта; crh, Aluşta; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Republic of Crimea, an internationally recognized ''de jure'' part of Ukraine, but since 2014 a ''de ...

Alupka Alupka (Ukrainian and Russian: Алу́пка; crh, Alupka; gr, Ἀλώπηξ, Alòpex) is a resort city located in the Crimean peninsula, a territory of Ukraine currently annexed by Russian Federation (see 2014 Crimean crisis). It is located t ...

, and

Saky Saky (: ; crh, Saq) or Saki is a town of regional significance in Ukraine, in the Crimean peninsula. Although it is the administrative centre of the Saky Raion, it does not belong to the raion (district), serving instead as the center and th ...

were spared renaming.

Propaganda

Soviet party officials in Crimea indoctrinated the Slavic population of Crimea with Tatarophobia, depicting Crimean Tatars as "traitors", "bourgeoisie", or "counter-revolutionaries", and falsely implying that they were "Mongols" with no historical connection to the Crimean peninsula (despite their Greek, Italian, Armenian, and Gothic roots.) A 1948 conference in Crimea was dedicated to promoting and sharing anti-Crimean-Tatar sentiments.

Amet-khan Airport

The attempts to paint Amet-khan Sultan as a Dagestani contrary to his Crimean origins has faced backlash from the Crimean Tatar community. Despite the flying ace being born in Crimea to a Crimean Tatar mother and always identifying himself as Crimean Tatar, the Russian Federation named a Dagestani Airport after him while naming Crimea's main airport after

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized ...

instead, ignoring numerous petitions from the Crimean Tatar community requesting that the airport bearing Amet-khan's name be in his homeland.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Crimean Tatar language names of places in Crimea
{{Crimean Tatar Surgun era History of Crimea Ethnic cleansing in Europe Racism in the Soviet Union Political repression in the Soviet Union Linguistic discrimination Russification Soviet ethnic policy Tatarophobia Language policy in Russia