February 23 is a tragic date in the history of the Crimean Tatar people. On this day in 1918, Noman Çelebicihan, a Crimean Tatar politician, public figure and spiritual leader, was shot by the Bolsheviks and thrown into the Black Sea.
Noman Çelebicihan was the first chairman of the government of the Crimean People's Republic, the organizer of the I Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people, the first mufti of the Muslims of Crimea, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus. He is also known as the author of the poem Ant etkenmen (I have sworn), which became the national anthem of the Crimean Tatars.
As President of the Crimean Democratic Republic, he made a significant contribution to the development of the Crimean Tatar statehood. In a short time, Noman Çelebicihan introduced many democratic reforms – recognized the equality of men and women, founded bilingual newspapers, public education, made efforts to create Crimean Tatar military units.
Noman Çelebicihan advocated the equality of all peoples living in the Crimea.
“Our task,” he said, “is the creation of such a state as Switzerland. The peoples of Crimea are a wonderful bouquet, and equal rights and conditions are necessary for each people, because we go hand in hand.”
The chairman of the Crimean Tatar government, Noman Çelebicihan, was arrested by the Bolsheviks and kept in the Sevastopol prison for 27 days. On February 23, 1918, Noman Çelebicihan was shot, his body was thrown into the Black Sea.