“The systematic destruction of Crimean Tatar people began with the mass drowning of 10,000 Crimean Tatars ordered by Catherine the Great” – marking the first documented case of genocide in the Russian Empire… “the annihilation of .. the Crimean Tatar Republics..” These historical findings, outlined in Lemkin’s 1953 work, establish a direct connection between ongoing attempts to destroy the statehood of the state-forming nation and genocide committed against the Crimean Tatars by Imperial Russian and Soviet regimes. This pattern remains evident today.

When we tell the story of our nation, we do more than shed light on history—we build a bridge between the past and the future. This is our contribution to the world.

In 1441, Hacı I Giray, who was born in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, assumed the mantle of leadership as the first Khan of the Crimean Khanate. He consolidated his authority through the establishment of a strategic military and political alliance with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (his homeland, where he had received refuge and upbringing), the Kingdom of Poland (Lithuania’s ally), and the Genoese colonies in Crimea. This multi-vector diplomacy, which united Crimean Tatar, Lithuanian, Polish, and Italian interests, served as the cornerstone for the consolidation of Hacı Giray’s power and the defense of the young khanate against external threats.. The Moscovites paid tribute to the Crimean Khanate for a span of 300 years.

Genocide AçlikQirim 1921-1923, perpetrated by the state authorities of the RSFSR through the deliberate creation of living conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a protected national group under Article II(c) of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as evidenced by mathematical proof of special intent (dolus specialis): a mortality rate of 350‰ among Crimean Tatars compared to 40.5‰ among all other ethnic groups combined — a statistical ratio of 8.65:1 that excludes natural causes (p<0.0001) and irrefutably demonstrates a coordinated plan of systematic extermination of the indigenous nation as an instrument of territorial appropriation following the occupation of the sovereign Crimean People’s Republic.Zarubin, V.G. & Zarubin, A.G. (1995). Golod v Krymu (1921-1923) [The genocide in Crimea (1921-1923)]. Klio (Simferopol), 1(4), 34-38. Based on Central State Archive of Crimea (CSAC), F.P-1. Op.1. D.592.

For Crimean Tatars, it came in four waves. In 1783, the Russian Empire carried out an illegal occupation of the sovereign Crimean Khanate (1441-1783). According to research by Raphael Lemkin, immediately after the illegal occupation, by direct order of Catherine II, 10,000 Crimean Tatars were drowned in the Black Sea. The dolus specialis was manifested through the deliberate infliction on the group of conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, corresponding to Article 2(a, c) of the UN Genocide Convention.After the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, Crimean Tatars restored their statehood by proclaiming the Crimean Tatar National Republic. However, as early as 1918, the RSFSR carried out a renewed occupation of Crimea, which began four separate waves of genocide, each with its own dolus specialis – the special intent to destroy the Crimean Tatar group as such..