The Crimean Tatars are Turkic people who inhabited
the Crimean peninsula, now a part of Ukraine, for
over seven centuries. They established their own
Khanate in the 1440s and remained an important power
in Eastern Europe until 1783, when Crimea was annexed
to Russia. During World War II, the entire Tatar
population in Crimea fell victims to Stalin's
oppressive policies. In 1944 they were unjustly
accused of being Nazi collaborators and deported en
masse to Central Asia and other lands 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 are back in their homeland, struggling to
reestablish their lives and reclaim their national
and cultural rights against many social and economic
obstacles.
This Web site includes documents, articles, news
items, essays, poems, and interviews that cover
Crimean Tatar history and culture, their experiences
during deportation and exile, and the national
movement which initiated the return to Crimea. A good
place to begin exploring the wealth of information
found here is Who are the
Crimean Tatars? We continue to add new documents
and provide links to other Web sites of interest as
we find them. We invite you to visit us again.
Young Dancers at Gezlev (Gö) 
