It may seem that the Crimean Tatars switched to standby mode in 2014. But if you look at this in a historical context, it becomes clear that our people have been waiting for something for several hundred years. But what exactly only to be to discover.
It all started in the Crimean Khanate when its rulers and ordinary people were waiting for independence from the Golden Horde, then later from the Ottoman Empire. And then expectations of restoration after the devastation that occurred after the Russo-Turkish war (1735-1739), which became a disaster for Crimea.
Than follows expectations of some action from the Russian Empire, which pocketed the peninsula and disrupted the old way of life of residents (1783), then people were waiting for a change of power in the state that had conquered them. It was hoped that a new ruler would ascend to the throne and everything would return to normal.
Then
there was the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the subsequent expectation of
something from Turkey, Russia and the participating European countries,
which could play a role in the future fate of Crimea.
So the Crimean Tatars lived in
anticipation of a miracle from the time of Catherine to the overthrow of
Nicholas the II. A little hope for this weightless and ephemeral
“miracle” was given by Ismail Gasprinsky. They also expected
something from him.
The strongest expectations were during the deportation in 1944. Many did not believe, did not understand, and hoped that soon everything would return to normal. And they waited again. They waited for the children to die from typhoid and malaria, and the elderly from starvation and terrible living conditions. Time passed, the nation ((ethnic) or rather, what was left of it) gradually settled down in other nation lands and continued to wait.
Then
a long and difficult return the expectation of stability and a better life.
Later – the events of 2014 in Ukraine and the Crimea. Crimean
Tatars again await the decision of their fate. We are still
waiting. And we are waiting for something that may not happen.
Some expectations are associated with Ukraine and the new order that comes with the change of power. We are waiting for the election because many new parties have announced themselves, which Crimean Tatars joined. Maybe then it will become possible to influence somehow the decision-making on which the fate of the people depends.
We are waiting for the adoption of the new Ukrainian constitution and the definition of our people in it. It’s a faint and barely tangible hope in providing the Crimea with a fair status. In the meantime, a new level of struggle for self-preservation and self-assertion lies ahead.
We are waiting for something from Europe, in the policy of which changes are also coming. There is a struggle between supporters of anti-Russian sanctions and pro-Russian forces. What waits as in the end is unknown. But the Crimean Tatars are waiting for something, thinking to oneself: “What if the outcome somehow affects our situation? Everything will be settled, they will hear us, they will not deceive us, and we will not become a bargaining chip. ”
In the Crimea, here too, elections are not far off. What will they bring? Another ostentatious “pushing” into the administrative structures of the so-called representatives of the people to create the illusion of self-determination of the indigenous people? It is an illusion because it is necessary to demonstrate to everyone, and at the same time to ourselves, that the norm of international law on the self-determination of the indigenous people is supposedly fully implemented on the peninsula.
As you know, this norm implies the presence of Crimean Tatars in the legislative and executive authorities, the presence of national media, cultural institutions. The implementation of all this in Crimea is currently far from the form that the people would like. Therefore, we again in anticipation of something more acceptable.
How will all outlined above events and processes affect us? What will be the result? And will there be any result at all? It is not so simple to answer these questions. Meanwhile, we continue to live in standby mode.Osman Veli
