Prior to being incorporated into the Russian Empire, the Crimean Peninsula was independent under the Crimean Khanate. The Muslim Turkic Crimean Tatars were under the influence of the Ottoman Empire, while also bordering an increasingly aggressive Russian Empire.
In 1774, following the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74, the Russian and Ottoman empires agreed to refrain from interfering with Crimean Khanate through the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. In 1783, following the increasing decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire annexed the Crimean Khanate
In the USSR, it was often impossible to use the ethnic name “Crimean Tatar.” The Soviet authorities insisted that there was no such thing, just “Tatars” in general.
The Crimean Tatars therefore understandably put the stress on “Crimean”. In fact, there is a growing movement to call “Crimean Tatars” (Qirimtatar, plural Qirimtatarlar).
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Simply, they use “Crimeans” or even “Tavreans” (Tavry) after the Greek name “Taurica” for the broader region.
The very word “Crimea” comes from the Crimean Tatar word Qirim. This reflects the idea that the Crimean Tatars are in fact a multi-ethnic conglomerate. Anyone who adopted Islam in Crimea in the Middle Ages supposedly and automatically became a Crimean Tatar.
History
Forced from their homes in 1944 and 2014, Crimean Tatars fell in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine tensions.
Crimea was seized by the Russian Federation after the overthrow of President Victor Yanukovych during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. This move was denounced by the new Ukrainian government and disregarded by most UN states, which continue to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine.
Crimea has a long multi-ethnic history; the Crimean Tatars were the dominant power between Haci Giray’s foundation of the “Crimean Khanate” [1] in 1441 and the Russian conquest in 1783.
The Giray family claimed to descent from Jengiz Khan himself, but formed a separate kingdom after the Golden Horde [2] began to fall apart in the second half of the 14th century — largely because of Tamerlane’s attacks, not the Russian victory at the Battle of Kulikovo Field in 1380.
Historians dispute the extent to which the Crimean Khanate became a “protectorate” of the Ottoman Empire in 1475.
Successive waves of emigration reduced the Crimean Tatar population to 26 percent by 1921.
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