Elmira Muratova: ‘From Repatriation to Recognition: Crimean Tatars and State Policy in Independent Ukraine’

The lecture examines the history and evolution of relations between the Crimean Tatars and the Ukrainian state in the post-Soviet period. It begins with a brief historical overview of the Crimean Tatars – the indigenous people of Crimea – addressing such aspects as their ethnogenesis, the Crimean Khanate, the first annexation of Crimea in 1783, and the 1944 deportation. The main focus of the lecture is on the repatriation of the Crimean Tatars and the policies of the Ukrainian state regarding the recognition of their collective rights in the political, economic, and cultural spheres. It also discusses the challenges faced by the Crimean Tatars after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, including repression and forced displacement. The lecture concludes by discussing the changes that have occurred in Ukrainian state policy toward the Crimean Tatars, particularly shifts in national policy and public attitudes within Ukrainian society.

Elmira Muratova is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the European Centre for Minority Issues, Germany. Before that, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Taurida National University, Ukraine. She works at intersection of political science and cultural anthropology and has published widely on Crimean Tatars’ identity, collective memory and forced displacement. She is the co-author of Crimean Tatars under the Changes in Political Arena (Arial, 2020) and the co-editor of the volume Minorities at War: Cultural Identity and Resilience in Ukraine (Routledge, 2025).