Why is it important to restore historical toponyms in Crimea?

First of all, let us remind you that a toponym is the name of a locality, region, settlement, relief object, any part of the Earth’s surface. In other words, these are geographical names. Indeed, we see the names of streets, cities or rivers every day and do not even think about their importance.

Toponyms reflect historical, cultural, social and economic aspects of life in a certain region, revealing the traditions, customs and lifestyle of the inhabitants. They are peculiar monuments of the past.

Unfortunately, Crimea has suffered the most from renaming. There are three waves of destruction of toponyms of Crimea, but the most massive of course was the wave of renaming in 1944 – early 60’s. During this time, thousands of historical names of settlements and geographical objects were renamed, for example, Akmesdzhit became Simferopol, Akyar became Sevastopol, and Ichki became Sovetskiy.

These names have nothing to do with the real history of Crimea – they do not carry any symbolism and are only a manifestation of Russian imperialism.

As the Chairman of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of  Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Eskender Bariiev notes, it is very important that when considering the draft Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine «On renaming some settlements of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea» prepared by the CMU, such settlements as Lohovka, Zvezdnoye, Krasnogorka, etc. should be added.

After all, such names embody purely Russian and communist meanings.

Therefore, it is important not only to know and remember historical toponyms, but also to try to return them to their historical names. Remember – by preserving toponyms, you preserve the history of this region, preserve the memory of the people who lived here.

You can learn more about CTRC’s work in this area here.