People's Republic of Crimea
With the first article of the constitution it adopted, the Congress declared the principle of "Each nation to establish its national life with its own national will" and with the sixteenth article, "For the first time in the whole Turkish world, the country was to be established on the basis of the "People's Republic".
Crimea is a Turkish Homeland:
Turks in Crimea have a history of at least 15 centuries. After these old times, the Crimean Khanate was established in 1428 and this khanate continued until 1782. During the Khanate period, the Crimean Turks ruled in and around the peninsula with their administrative, military, judicial, political power and civilization.
Crimea; Between 8-21 April 1782, II. It was annexed by the Russians during the time of Catherine. When the Russians dominated Crimea, they started to annihilate the Crimean Turks living here, took their lands, destroyed their mosques and fountains. Unarmed and unprotected, the Crimean Turks were able to escape from the persecution they suffered only by leaving their beautiful homeland and emigration. These migrations, above all, were seen as a protest of the national conscience of the Crimean Turks, who rebelled against the Russian captivity, and history has written like this.
İsmail Gaspıralı's Awakening of Crimean Nationalism:
The nationality movement revived at the end of the 19th century also showed its influence and effects in the Crimea. With the newspaper "Tercüman", which he started to publish on April 23, 1883, exactly 100 years after he fell into Russian captivity, İsmail Gaspıralı had a great influence on the national awakening not only of the Crimean Turks, but also of all the Turks who were Russian prisoners.
As Gaspirali Ismail Bey dealt with the issues of the entire Turkish and Islamic world, Abdürreşid Mehdiyev dealt with the problems of the Crimean Turks with the newspaper 'Vatan Hadimi' in 1905 and tried to explain that the first basis of the oppression and injustice suffered by the Crimean Turks in the land and education field is the Russian Government and the Russian State. and he walked on a revolutionary path.
Establishment of the People's Republic of Crimea:
In the years of the 1917 revolution, Russia's drift into anarchy played a role in accelerating the independence movements of the condemned nations in Russia. Meanwhile, the independence struggle of Ukraine has started. During this period of intense struggle, the Crimean Turks also sought to regain their independence. They wanted to evaluate this as a national debt and took action with this understanding.
Less than a week after the declaration of the Russian Revolution, the secret political organizations of the Crimean Turks initiated a congress in Akmescit on March 5, 1917 with the participation of more than a thousand representatives from all over the Crimea. This congress elected Numan Çelebicihan as the Mufti of Crimea and Cafer Seyit Ahmet as the Head of Foundation Affairs. The 'Crimean Muslims Executive Committee', which was formed with the participation of nearly fifty Crimean Turks, was brought to work. This committee had the motto "Crimea belongs to the Crimean people" accepted at the Ukrainian Congress convened in Kiev and gained the right to be the sole party in the maintenance of security in Crimea.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee in October 1917, Numan Çelebicihan said that a new Convention should be convened to determine the future of Crimea, and this idea was accepted and it was decided to convene the Convention. 76 deputies attended the Congress. Of these deputies, 24 came from Yalta, 19 from Akmescit, 16 from Kefe, 11 from Kezlev and 6 from Orkapı. Among these deputies, there were four female deputies named Şefika Gasprinskaya, Anife Bоdaninskaya, İlhan Tohtar and Hatice Avcı.
Although the People's Republic of Crimea was established with the initiatives of the Congress formed by the Crimean Tatars, a management approach based on the equality of all ethnic identities living on the peninsula has been adopted. Since the majority of the Crimean population was composed of Russians (42%) at that time, Ukrainians (11%), Armenians and Greeks in the peninsula, apart from the Russians, also had a say in this administrative organization.
Again, as a result of the activities of this committee, the Crimean Congress, which was formed by deputies elected by secret and equal votes attended by male and female voters, held its first meeting on 26 November 1917. Thus, 134 years after the silencing of the Crimean Khanate, Bahçesaray became the political center of Crimea again. With the first article of the constitution it adopted, the Congress declared the principle of "Each nation to establish its national life with its own national will" and with the sixteenth article, "For the first time in the whole Turkish world, the country was to be established on the basis of the "People's Republic".
Formation of the Government of the Republic of Crimea:
convention; At its meeting on December 28, 1917, it established the Government of the Republic of Crimea in line with these principles and the constitutional articles accepted above. Numan Çelebicihan was elected as the Head of Government and Minister of Justice, Cafer Seydahmet Kerimer, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense Affairs, Ahmet Özenbaşlı, Minister of Educational Affairs, Seyitcelil Calligraphy, Minister of Finance and Foundation Affairs, and Ahmet Şükrü as Minister of Religious Affairs.
The Army of the Republic consisted of the Crimean Cavalry Regiment and the Crimean Tatar infantry soldiers serving in the Army of the Russian Empire.
Ukraine recognized the Crimean Government and sent its congratulatory letter. The Bolshevik Government of Russia, on the other hand, did not want to recognize the Crimean Tatar Congress and the Crimean Government.
Four Months of Bolshevik Occupation in Crimea:
The Bolsheviks commissioned the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to put an end to the activities of the Crimean Government. On December 19, 1918, Bolshevik torpedoes started atrocities, looting and massacres by threatening the city of Balta and its coasts and taking them to some places. Without waiting for the result of the ultimatum they sent to the Crimean Government, they started an attack against the settlements and the people in the peninsula. The Russian forces, who took action to seize Kezlev, Yalta, Kefe, Kerch and other cities over Akyar, started to fight with the Republican soldiers.
Starting from January 16, 1918, the war lasted for fifteen days around Akyar and Bahçesaray. The People's Republic of Crimea fought hard to continue the defensive war against the Bolsheviks. The Crimean Tatars, especially the defenses of Gözleve, Balta and Alma, made their enemies accept the existence of a nation determined to defend the independence of Crimea. However, at the beginning of February, near the Süyren village, the 3 thousand-strong Crimean Army, which entered the war with the Bolshevik army of 40 thousand, was defeated.
Thereupon, the troops of the Crimean Turks, who were weak and did not receive any help, had to retreat to the mountains in order not to melt down in the face of the Bolsheviks. Crimea was thus easily occupied by the Bolsheviks.
The Bolsheviks put an end to the period of the People's Republic of Crimea. Numan Çelebicihan, the head of the Government of the People's Republic of Crimea, was executed in Akyar on 23 February 1918. Thus, the first Crimean People's Republic in history could not withstand the persecution of the Bolsheviks and de facto ended.
German Rescue of Crimea:
After four months of Bolshevik occupation, the Germans entered the Crimea and cleared the Crimea from the Red Army. Encouraged by the arrival of German forces in Orkapu, the Crimean troops cleared their homeland of the enemy. The Crimean forces even entered Akyar before the German soldiers. A week after the Germans established order in Crimea, the Crimean Congress was held again in Akmescit. This Congress was recognized by the Germans as the only institution to establish a government in the Crimea. With the participation of the Germans and Russians, General Süleyman Sükienrez established the Crimean Government in Crimea on 25 June 1918.
In this period, the attempts of the Ukrainians to make Crimea a Ukrainian state were not successful, and the attacks they wanted to implement against Crimea were also broken by the Crimean forces. In this regard, the Crimean people commemorate the activity of Talat Pasha in that period with gratitude. In this way, with the cooperation of Crimean Foreign Minister Cafer Seyid Ahmet and Talat Pasha, the cause of independence of Crimea was saved from a second injustice and the Crimean Turks were saved from a second captivity.
The Period of the Tsarist General Denikin:
With the agreement signed in October 1918, the First World War ended. As a result of this, the German forces in the Crimea had to return to their homeland. During the time of the Germans, the Crimean Turks were not allowed to form an army. For this reason, General Denikin's army easily occupied the Crimea, which was again unprotected with the withdrawal of German soldiers from the Crimea.
Denikin, with his cavalry-dominated army from Caucasian peoples and Ukrainians, expelled all Red Army units from present-day Ukraine. Denikin's aim was to take Moscow and restore the Tsarist order. Denikin came to the front of Moscow, but the Red Army forces that recovered quickly defeated Denikin's army in the battles. Thus, the Red Army re-entered Ukraine and occupied this country. On March 1, 1920, Azov fell and state administration was established in all Ukraine and Crimea under the Soviet regime.
Meanwhile, the 800-person assembly of representatives elected from among the Crimean Turks gathered in Akmescit. This assembly has decided not to take sides between the warring parties until the foreign political situation improves. Thus, without supporting Denikin or anyone else, efforts were made not to affect the currents of the Crimean Tatars in the peninsula and to focus on preserving their own cultural assets as much as possible. In line with this decision, the Crimean Turks did not want to take part in the "Salamun Crimea" government established in this period. Thus, they caused this government to be in a sense not accepted in Crimea. The period of General Denikin continued in the peninsula until April 1919.
Soviet Regime's Capture of Crimea:
In April 1919, Denikin embarked on the Moscow expedition, and the period of General Wrangel began in the Crimean peninsula. Wrangel, although seemingly liberal, resorted to violence against the Crimean Turks, tried to recruit them by force, had many Turkish intellectuals shot, made mass arrests, and did his best to crush the Crimean Turks with a completely oppressive understanding in general. With the Soviets retaking the Crimean peninsula, an administration similar to the Wrangel period continued in the peninsula, and the Crimean people never smiled.
Conclusion:
The People's Republic of Crimea is the republic declared by the Crimean Tatar National Congress on December 26, 1917. It continued its existence on the Crimean Peninsula, which is now within the borders of Ukraine, until February 23, 1918. Its capital is Bahçesaray. The People's Republic of Crimea, as one of the state-building initiatives seen throughout Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution (October Revolution), which led to the collapse of the Russian Empire, was successful, albeit for a while, and had positive effects on the rooting of Crimean nationalism.
Reference:
ATAÇ A.M. (1952). Rusya Tarihi, Türkler ve Komşularıyla Münasebetleri, Genelkurmay 1 No. Basımevi, Ankara.
