It has been 82 years sincethe entirecohort of Crimean Tatar intelligentsia was purged.
On April 17, 1938, in Simferopol, by the order of Stalin, 36 prominent representatives of the Crimean Tatar intelligentsia were executed by NKVD officers: Asan Sabri Aivazov, Yakub Ablyamitov, Yakub Azizov, Osman Akchokrakli, Ramazan Alexandrovich, Usein Bodaninski,Agia Bairashevski, Dzhafer Gafarov, Kerim Dzhemaledinov, Suleyman Idrisov, Ibrahim Ismailov, Abdullah Latif-zade, Fevzi Musanif, Mamut Nedim, Abduraim Samedinov, Ilyas Tarkhan, Server Trupchu, Seitzhelil Hattatov, Bilyal Chagar, and others. These are just the most famous names on this list. And how many of them were unknown, "rank-and-file", whose biographies we will never know …
Today, remembering these great people who were creating in the name of the people, we must be aware of our actions and deeds, on which the future of the Crimean Tatars depends.
Allah Rahmet Eylesin
Eskender Bariiev,
Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center
Member of the Majlis of the Crimean Tatar people