The current crisis in Ukraine is seen as a confrontation of ethnic forces, pinning Ukrainians of Russian descent against those who feel they have no ties to their old rulers. As much as the civil war in Ukraine is defined by forces that are pro EU, there are many in Ukraine who do not want to become part of the EU.
But the real problem is in the Crimea. The island is a historical landholding of the Russian federation and the Soviet before it. The Russian 6th fleet is stationed there, and it is a strategic must have for the Federation. The Czars had palaces in the Crimea, which was considered a prized vacation spot in the past century and before. Most Crimean inhabitants however are now ethnically Russian, thanks to a policy of 'repopulation' effected after the ouster of the Crimean Tatars. So what is there to stop Russia from taking back the Crimea?
A little snag could hamper the plans of Crimea's government to secede from Ukraine. Crimea is home to a large numbers of Tatars, an ethnic minority who used to be integral part of the Czar's royal forces and the Red Army.
Tatars, as the word implies, are Russian with ethnic shared descendancy from the Mongolian invasion of the Volga Bulgaria in the thirteen century with the Turks to the south, and Bulgaria to the West. In addition, most Tatars are Muslims, converted to the religion by missionaries in the 10th century.
Crimean Tatars, number about 700,000. Tatars were forcibly deported at the end of the second world war first to the Uzbek, and Siberia from the Crimea.under the order of Stalin and Beria. The Tatars were given 30 minutes to leave and were forcibly deported from their homes and settlements in the Crimea. Nearly 200,000 Tatars were deported to the far regions of Russia, even as other Tatars constituted a valuable and hardy group fighting with the Red Army at the front. Most of the deported Tatars ended up in labor camps and died. Nearly 40,000 of them perished of starvation and abuse according to Russian government statistics. But a more accurate count of the deportations shows that more than 100,000 of them died.
Now, with Russia already occupying Crimea to the tune of 30,000 troops, the Tatars are seeing the prospect of a repeat of that awful chapter in their history. Many of them have already appealed to foreign entities to see that their rights are protected.
But even if they are not deported, the idea of having Russia annex Crimea poses the very real prospect of the Tatars having to become subjects of Russian rule again, something the Tatars abhor.
Many of the Crimean Tatars of today are descendants of Tatars who had been deported, those few that survived, and were quietly allowed to return to Crimea in the 1980s, although no reparation was made for their losses, found that their houses had been occupied by Russians. So they had to rebuild their ethnic enclave from zero.
Even decades after their return, there is a discreet effort from the Russian nationals who moved there in the 40s, to limit the right of the Tatars. But even though it was their land, there are no laws protecting the identity and rights of the Tatars in the Crimea. While other areas of Crimea are fully functional and modernized, the enclaves where Tatars live at times do not have functional schools, and the streets are still unpaved.
What is more disturbing, now many Tatar households are now being marked with an "X", the same way they were marked at the time in 1944 when the mass deportations began. A Tatar woman, who had seen the men who placed the mark outside her house, noticed that the men has lists with them.
Many of the Tatars fear that the marking is due to the fact that the majority Russian population and government in the Crimea know that if there is to an obstacle to Russian annexation it might just come from ethnic Tatars. It might be just intimidation, but it might also be a sign of something much more ominous.
For his part, Putin has already said that he would defend the Crimean Russians from an "orgy of nationalists, and extremists, and antiSemites". That last word in particular refers squarely to the Tatars, who are Muslims.
Crimea at present is fully occupied, with tens of thousands of Russian forces on the ground. But the Tatars, with their considerable numbers, could offer resistance to a referendum, by voting against annexation or abstaining altogether. Which is precisely why the Tatars have much to worry about.
Not to be outdone, Putin has sent a delegation to speak with the Tatar leaders to try to persuade them to back annexation. Neighboring Turkey and Tatarstan are both mobilizing to help the Tatars in Crimea.
Some of the Tatar leaders are being bribed with the promise of political inclusion and high positions. The charm offensive is not resonating with the Tatars who are willing to do everything possible to avoid coming under Russian rule again.
A talk of boycott is now firmly recited by all Tatar citizens and leaders. There is no intention of willingly cowtowing to Putin's wishes.
Many entities, and foreign countries have joined the Tatars in calling for UN peacekeeping forces to come to Crimea to ensure that violence against Tatars does not begin. But the problem is that the UN has, so far, no jurisdiction in this matter.
Tatars are now mobilizing, and preparing for the worse. They are forging makeshift weapons to defend themselves from possible violence. Many families are thinking of sending their wives and children to the mainland, and out of harm's way.
op-Ed
Source : NewYorker/Wikipedia/Al Jazeera: 3.7.14
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