1917: The first Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People is established. The Qurultay is the supreme representative body of the Crimean Tatars and is constituted of members that are elected every five years. Just weeks after its establishment, the Qurultay was destroyed by Russian forces, who executed its leader – Noman Chelebidzhikhan. Ukrainians liberated the peninsula by April 1918. The Qurultay had traditionally elected the Mejlis – the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people – before Russia abolished the Mejlis after occupying the territory.
2007: A 3-metre statue of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko is installed in a park in central Yalta in front of a crowd of about 300 people. The statue was financed by and sculpted by members of the Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora. The sculptor, Leo Mol of Winnipeg, also designed Shevchenko monuments in Buenos Aires, St. Petersburg, and Washington.
2015: The UN established December 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victim of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime to mark the anniversary of the passing of the Genocide Convention in 1948. The convention was passed to prevent atrocities like the Soviet deportation of the Crimean Tatar people, which happened just four years before the Convention was passed. Estimates vary, but up to 46% of the Tatar population died because of the deportation. This tragic event lives on through art like Jamala’s Eurovision-winning hit “1944” and the blockbuster film “Homecoming” (“Haytarma”).
Commentary:
Dec. 9 is a reminder of the intimate role that Crimea has played – and continues to play – in Ukrainian history. President Zelensky has made drumming up international support for the return of Crimea one of his signature foreign policy objectives through initiatives like the Crimea Platform, showing the importance Ukraine continues to place on its southernmost occupied territory.
