Putin's war on the Crimean Tatars - Al Jazeera English - 0 views
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From the very beginning of the illegal annexation of Crimea, Russian authorities targeted the Crimean Tatar community. Refat Chubarov and Mustafa Dzhemilev, the current and former chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars respectively, have been barred by the Russians from entering Crimea. Russian security services have raided homes and offices of prominent Crimean Tatars on dubious pretences. Moscow has banned the annual ceremonies marking the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin in 1944. Russia has also banned select pieces of Crimean Tatar literature and religious books even though the same texts were acceptable when Ukraine governed Crimea.
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Some in Moscow are even calling for the "de-Turkification" of Crimea by changing the name of the peninsula and its major cities back to the names used by the ancient Greeks. For example, Crimea would become Taurida, Kerch would become Pantikapaion, Feodosia would become Theodosia, and Sevastopol would become Sevastoupoli.