Throughout history, Crimea has been under threat by Russian forces since as early as the Russian empire. Although many are aware of the geopolitical battles Crimea has faced, there is often little acknowledgement of the untold Christianization forced upon Crimean citizens.
The Crimean Khanate, existing from 1441-1783, was an independent power, classed as a multinational state. The Khanate was comprised of Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Crimeans, Urums, descendants of the Goths, Armenians, and Urmanchels. The original Crimean society emerged from the policies of Crimean rulers that instilled a system of balance, synthesis and tolerance.
The religious and ethnic policy of the Crimean Khanate was based on the principles of Islam and religion played a major role in the structure of Crimean society, both in culture and architecture. The state consisted of numerous mosques and cemeteries which were the foundation of Muslim practice. However, the harmony in the Khanate was soon threatened by Russia’s victory against the Ottoman empire in 1783. The goal of the Russian empire was to achieve a homogenous Russian-Orthodox population by driving out any Muslim settlements in the Khanate. Residents of the Khanate were given a choice as to where to be resettled: in the Ottoman Empire, in Persia, or Russia (places extremely far from their homelands). The Russian army rounded people up, driving Muslims from their villages to ports on the Black sea, where they awaited ships provided by the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. By order of the Russian imperial authorities, mosques and ancient cemeteries were demolished, and muezzins (men who would call Muslims to prayer from the minaret of a mosque) were shot. Crimean Tatars became a minority in their own homeland as Russian and Ukrainian settlers migrated to Crimea. Ancient Islamic culture was oppressed as a result of Russian colonial policy, leaving little trace of the Muslim society that led Crimea to flourish. As a result of the Crimean war, between 1855 and 1866 at least 500,000 Muslims, and possibly up to 900,000, left the Russian empire and emigrated to the Ottoman empire. Out of that number, at least one third were from Crimea, while the rest were from the Caucasus. However, at the end of the nineteenth century, a reform movement emerged, led by the Crimean Tatar intelligentsia.
Ismail Gasprinsky was a Muslim Crimean Tatar intellectual, educator and publisher. Born in the Crimean village of Avdzhikoy on March 8, 1851, Gasprinsky was one of the first Muslim intellectuals in the Russian empire who realized the need for education, cultural reform, and modernization of the Turkic and Islamic communities. Gasprinsky was most well known, however, for his efforts in the revival of the Crimean people. An integral aspect to this movement was his publication of the newspaper “Terjiman” from 1883 to 1914. The first article of the newspaper claimed that “Terjiman” would serve as an informative platform discussing topics ranging from cultural life to Islamic practices in order to acquaint the Russian people with their lives, views and needs. “Terjiman” was a unique newspaper in that it was understandable and, therefore, accessible to all Turks, allowing Gasprinsky’s message to be distributed more widely. This led to considerable developments in Crimean independence, with the first congress of the Crimean Tatar people taking place after the February revolution in 1917. Noman Chelebidzhikhan was also the president of the short-lived independent Crimean People’s Republic who fought for the “voice of Tatars” and advocated for equality for all citizens of Crimea. However, after efforts in 1917 to stabilise a Crimean government, the October Revolution in Russia and the coming of the Bolsheviks to power, the Crimean People’s Republic was crumbling. The Bolsheviks did not recognise the Crimean Tatar government as a power in its own right and felt entitled to take over. Eventually these threats prevailed, the murder of Chelebidzhikhan took place and the Bolsheviks assumed control of Crimea.
This oppression continued into the 1940’s and on May 18, 1944, by decision of USSR leadership, the Crimean Tatar people were subjected to a total deportation from their historical homeland, Crimea, and expelled to Central Asia, Siberia and the Urals. In 1921, prior to the deportation, there were 470 Muslim communities registered in Crimea, and for the 45 years following, before they were allowed to resettle in Crimea in 1989, there was not a single Islamic community remaining. The deportation was a form of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide which drove at least 191, 044 Crimean Tatars out of their homes. The remaining inhabitants of Crimea, consisting of Ukrainian and Russian Crimeans, were faced with inhuman conditions such as the curfew regime (which lasted from 1944 to 1956), famine, epidemics, and deprivation in special settlements which led to mass death of the Crimean Tatars, most of whom were old people, women and children.
So, what is the current situation in Crimea? In light of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is hard to estimate the number of Muslim people living in Crimea today. However, from a 2013 census, approximately 15% of the Crimean population constituted of Muslim people and it is estimated that there are 500,000 Muslims in Ukraine, with the majority (300,000) being Crimean Tatar, who are Sunni Muslim. However, the impact of the current situation in Crimea, further threatens the safety and security of Muslim people and there is a large uncertainty on the impact this will have on the future of Islamic representation in Eastern Europe.
