Tatar, Crimean

The Crimean Tatars are the Turkic Muslim people of the Crimean peninsula. They formed from Kipchak (Cuman) tribes of the Golden Horde mixed with Crimea's earlier Goths, Greeks, Italians and Anatolian settlers, and from 1441 to 1783 ruled the Crimean Khanate under Ottoman protection. They have three regional groups: the Steppe Tatars (Noğay) of the northern plains, the Tats of the central mountains, and the Yalıboylu of the southern coast, whose dialect is close to Turkish. Russia's annexation in 1783 and later wars drove several waves, perhaps over a million people in all, to the Ottoman Empire, so most people of Crimean Tatar descent now live in Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria. On 18 May 1944 Stalin deported the entire nation to Uzbekistan and the Urals, and between a fifth and nearly half died; they could return only from 1989. Their own name is Qırımtatarlar or Qırımlı; in Türkiye they are also called Kırım Türkleri.

Crimean Tatar cuisine is famous for çiğbörek (qaşıq çiğbörek, fried meat pastries), yantıq, kobete pie, şorpa soup and halva; tea and coffee are central to hospitality. Music and dance feature the fast kaytarma and the haytarma, played on clarinet, violin, accordion and drum. Families are close and patrilineal; weddings last several days with separate dancing for men and women, and elders are greatly respected. The spring festival of Hıdırellez (Tepreş) brings belt wrestling (küreş), horse races and dances. The memory of the 1944 Sürgün (deportation), marked every 18 May, is the core of modern national identity.

Crimean Tatars are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school, converted mainly in the 14th century; Sufi orders and the cult of saints' tombs were part of Crimean life before Soviet rule. Seventy years of Soviet atheism and deportation left many families observing Islam mainly through Ramadan, the two Eids, funerals and circumcision feasts, while a religious revival since 1991 has rebuilt mosques in Crimea. Folk customs such as Hıdırellez rites, vows at holy places and protective amulets survive. In the diaspora in Türkiye, practice follows the mainstream Turkish Sunni pattern.

The complete Crimean Tatar Bible (Mukaddes Kitap) was published in 2016 by the Institute for Bible Translation with Pioneer Bible Translators, after portions from 1978 and the New Testament books in the 2000s. The JESUS Film and audio recordings exist in Crimean Tatar. Small Crimean Tatar fellowships exist in Crimea and Central Asia; in Türkiye they are reached through Turkish-language resources. Strong ties between Crimean Tatar identity and Islam, and the trauma of deportation and Russian occupation, shape openness to outsiders.