Tatar Nation: The Other Crimea

Crimea’s Tatars — who amount to 12 percent of the peninsula’s 2.2 million residents — overwhelmingly boycotted the March 16th referendum for Crimea to become part of Russia. The Tatar’s bad history with Russia was a major factor of their decision, as Stalin persecuted and deported them en masse from the Crimean Peninsula in 1944. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Tatars trickled back into Crimea, but their status there was always temporary. With Crimea’s much-disputed status as part of Russia following