Crimean Tartars, ?-present Crimean Tatars, Native Crimeans or simply Crimeans are a Turkic ethn

Crimean Tartars, ?-present Crimean Tatars, Native Crimeans or simply Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group, native to the Crimea. They emerged as a nation at the time of the Crimean Khanate, a Turkic-speaking Muslim state which was among the strongest powers in Eastern Europe until the beginning of the 18th century. After Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1783, the Tsarist deliberate policy of annihilating Crimean Tatar existence in Crimea and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) caused an exodus of the Crimean Tatars. All Crimean Tatars were deported en masse, in a form of collective punishment, on 18 May 1944 as “special settlers” to distant parts of the Soviet Union. 46.3% of the resettled population died of diseases and malnutrition. The flag features the traditional Turkic colour of light blue and a golden coloured tamğa, an abstract seal or stamp used by Eurasian nomadic peoples as cattle brand and clan identifier. -- source link

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