Crimean Tatars face repression (again)
If any one group of people have the right to lay claim to the Crimean peninsula, it's the Crimean Tatars, whose khanate lasted here for at least 300-400 years, before getting swallowed up by the Russian empire in the 18th century. .
but for the second time in 100 years, they're screwed once again.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/crimean-tatars-say-russian-annexation-has-brought-fear-and-repression-all-over-again/2014/11/28/c2a3bcea-73ed-11e4-95a8-fe0b46e8751a_story.html
Russian security forces have searched the homes of leaders of the Muslim minority group for banned books. Young Tatar men have been kidnapped off Crimean streets. Tatar activists are sitting in jail. A few have been killed. Some Tatars say they now fear to venture out of their houses. . .
Analysts say Russian security services appear to be employing tactics they have used against Islamist insurgencies within their borders. The difference in Crimea, Tatar leaders say, is that there is no insurgency. But they fear that the tough approach may radicalize the most disaffected members of their community.
Memories of Soviet-era repression run deep, since Tatars were allowed to return to Crimea only in the final years of the Soviet Union. As part of an independent Ukraine, they developed new structures to govern themselves, which have now been shut down.At least five Tatars have been kidnapped since March, and two more are missing, according to human rights observers. Two Tatars have died under mysterious circumstances. . .
International observers have condemned the way Russian authorities are handling their dealings with the Tatars.
This is a population with a really tragic history that went through hell to get back to their historical homeland, were not successful in having their rights fully recognized by the Ukrainians, and are now coming under huge pressure from the Russians, said Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europes commissioner for human rights, who wrote a report about the Crimea situation that was released in October.
He said Russias main security agency has one playbook and its based on the North Caucasus, and theyre treating many Tatars as being potential jihadis. One worry, he said, is that Russias fears of the Tatars will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Its a highly risky proposition to decapitate this population of its leadership, he said.The top Tatar leader is now in exile in Kiev, forced for the second time in his life from his home in Crimea.
newthinking
(3,982 posts)They are not complete. This is a much more involved story and all the twisting of media doesn't mention alot the pieces.
How much have you heard about Al-Qaida and Jihadist mercenaries in Ukraine from our press?
Muhajireen Army Commander Calls for Muslims to Wage Jihad in the Ukraine
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/bill-roggio-muhajireen-army-commander-calls-for-muslims-to-wage-jihad-in-the-ukraine/
Tatars were connecting with Jihadists and threatening Jihad
Business Insider:
http://www.businessinsider.com/crimean-tatars-threaten-terrorism-2014-3
Russia / Ukraine: Crimea as a new hotbed of radical Islam in post-Soviet space
http://www.esisc.org/publications/briefings/russia-ukraine-crimea-as-a-new-hotbed-of-radical-islam-in-post-soviet-space
newthinking
(3,982 posts)Certainly this does not mean that modern Tatars are the same as their ancesters, but the press paints the Tatars as angelic cultures and Russians as stalin, when both cultures (and most cultures) have their own nasty stains.
The press keeps making it sound like Tatars were the original indigeonous culture. They were, at one point in history, during that period they raided slavic peoples (The ones who were in the region before them) and kidnapped them and sold them into slavery.
History is complex, but you won't learn about history in the modern tabloid press.
Crimean-Nogai raids by the Khanate of Crimea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean-Nogai_raids_into_East_Slavic_lands
The number of people involved can only be estimated. According to Alan Fisher[1] the number of people deported from the Slavic lands on both sides of the border during the 14th to 17th centuries was about 3 million people. Another source[2] gives 150200,000 people taken from Russia in the first 50 years of the 17th century. For comparison the estimate for the Atlantic Slave Trade is perhaps 12 million. The estimate for the Arab slave trade with Africa is around 10 to 18 million over a much longer period.