Abstract
This chapter seeks to shed light on the issue of a national and ethnic identification of Crimean Tatars in mainland Ukraine. The question of their national belonging becomes central due to the fact that forced extensive exodus from Crimea to mainland Ukraine, after the illegal annexation of the peninsula by Russia in 2014, influences both the shifts in the identification strategies by Crimean Tatars as well as the perception of ‘Self’ in the context of war and annexation. The in-depth interviews with Crimean Tatars living in Kyiv and Lviv focus on questions of the politics of belonging and demonstrate how the personal experience and collective memory is being reconsidered by recent events in the history of Ukraine, such as Maidan, the annexation and war. The interviews embrace reflection on the situation in Crimea, self-identification and touch upon pressing issues pertaining to Ukraine’s political development.
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Notes
- 1.
On Euromaidan: see Chap. 1, fn 1.
- 2.
Representative survey, N = 6,000 respondents, margin of error ≈ 2 percent.
- 3.
Story map: Ukrainian Identity, University of St. Gallen, Lviv, July–August 2012, Available at: https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/1523b6e328c2b6c9ecbffcb8a812c4c3/ukrainian-id/index.html.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
Story map: Ukrainian Identity, University of St. Gallen, Crimea, June 2013, Available at: https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/1523b6e328c2b6c9ecbffcb8a812c4c3/ukrainian-id/index.html.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
Story map: Ukrainian Identity, University of St. Gallen, Donetsk, April–May 2013, Available at: https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/1523b6e328c2b6c9ecbffcb8a812c4c3/ukrainian-id/index.html.
- 8.
Story map: Russian Identity, University of St. Gallen, Donetsk, April–May 2013, Available at:https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/1523b6e328c2b6c9ecbffcb8a812c4c3/russian-id/index.html.
- 9.
All quotations from the respondents provided further in this chapter are translations from Ukrainian or Russian, the languages in which the interviews were conducted.
- 10.
Hromadske is the Ukrainian media outlet. It was heavily involved in streaming the Maidan protests of 2013–2014.
- 11.
The respondent used the word “koshik,” the Ukrainian word for the basket used during the celebration of Easter by Christians. The original phrase was “Осветить кошик.”
- 12.
The original phrase, “хер поймеш какие,” is an obscene expression. Stylistically it was applied by the respondent to emphasize the village names’ bankruptcy and his disagreement with the previously prevailing memory discourse in Crimea.
- 13.
The reference to the brother is very important here because at the time of our conversation he was under arrest in Crimea as a result of a fabricated case.
- 14.
“Mazanka” is a Ukrainian word that refers to a house made of clay, bricks, or shrub covered with clay. Houses built in this way were widespread in the territories of steppe and forest-steppe Ukraine.
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Zubkovych, A. (2020). Crimean Tatars and the Question of National and Ethnic Belonging in Ukraine. In: Shelest, H., Rabinovych, M. (eds) Decentralization, Regional Diversity, and Conflict. Federalism and Internal Conflicts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41765-9_4
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