Ayşe Seitmuratova (also romanized as Aishe or Ayshe; Crimean Tatar

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: Айше Сеитмуратова; 11 February 1937 – 1 June 2025) was a Crimean Tatar civil rights activist.

Biography

Seitmuratova was born in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

on 11 February 1937, seven years before the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatar nation from Crimea (or Sürgünlik), and survived her family's deportation to

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

as a child. She was Muslim. Because of her ethnicity, Seitmuratova was designated a "special settler". After academic opportunities for which she was overqualified were denied to her because of this designation, she became an active member of the Crimean Tatar civil rights movement. After advocating for some of the most draconian restrictions on Crimean Tatar civil rights to be lifted and meeting with Soviet leadership, she continued to lobby Moscow for the right of return. She enrolled in the history faculty at Samarkand University in 1957. She joined the Crimean Tatar national movement in

Samarkand Oblast The Samarkand Oblast was an oblast (province) of the Russian Empire between 1887 and 1924. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day central Uzbekistan and northwestern Tajikistan. It was created out of the northeastern part of the Emirate o ...

in 1964. Two years later, in 1966, she was arrested for "inciting national hatred", receiving three years of probation. In the meantime, she continued her activism and studies as a graduate student at the Institute of History of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, where she also worked as a lecturer. She was arrested again in 1971, charged "spreading deliberately false ideas that defame the Soviet state and public order," and sentenced to three years in prison in July, which she spent in a camp in

Mordovia Mordovia ( ),; Moksha language, Moksha and officially the Republic of Mordovia,; ; is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, situated in Eastern Europe. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of S ...

, being released in June 1974. She emigrated from the Soviet Union in November 1978, moving first to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and then to the United States in 1979, where she acquired citizenship. She met U.S. president

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in 1982 and 1988 and participated in many human rights conferences. She became a journalist for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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and

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, talking about the issues affecting the Crimean Tatar people and their

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, including of

russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

efforts by Russia. Seitmuratova was able to return to Crimea in 1990, living there for the rest of her life. Despite not supporting the Russian annexation of Crimea, she was highly critical of some of the actions of

Mustafa Dzhemilev Mustafa Abduldzhemil Jemilev (, ), also known widely with his adopted descriptive surname Qırımoğlu "Son of Crimea" ( Crimean Tatar Cyrillic: , ; born 13 November 1943, Ay Serez, Crimea), is the former chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean T ...

and his Mejlis faction. She died in Russian-occupied Crimea on 1 June 2025, at the age of 88.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Seitmuratova, Aishe
"Name Index"
''A Chronicle of Current Events'', 1968–1982 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seitmuratova, Ayse 1937 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American people 20th-century American women 20th-century Uzbekistani people 20th-century Uzbekistani women American activists American Muslims American people of Crimean Tatar descent American women activists Crimean Tatar activists Crimean Tatar people Crimean Tatar women Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Bilohirsk Raion Soviet dissidents Soviet emigrants to the United States Soviet Muslims Ukrainian Muslims Uzbekistani Muslims