Repression after the Annexation
Russia’s Handling of the Crimean Tatars
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Since the annexation of the Crimea in March 2014, the Crimean Tatars have been under fire. Moscow may have initially used the carrot in order to break their non-violent resistance to the annexation of the Tartar homeland to Russia. But soon thereafter, the new authorities in Simferopol, under the nationalist Segei Aksenov, turned to repression. Leading Crimean Tatar politicians are denied entry to the Crimea; others are defamed as Islamist extremists. House searches serve to intimidate; Crimean media outlets have been closed. Crimean Tatar autonomy is at risk of being dissolved, while the founding of a parallel muftiate engineered by Moscow serves to promote religious schism.
(Osteuropa 9-10/2014, pp. 179–190)