Toponymy has always been an ideological tool. None of the empires neglected this. To designate a territory with your own names meant to testify to your power. The Russian Federation was no exception. Everywhere the Russian Federation tried to take root, destroy the historical toponyms of the area and introduce its own Russian names.
Ukraine, and in particular Crimea, has undergone large-scale renaming of various geographical names. The Soviet government tried to destroy everything that was connected with the indigenous people of Ukraine – the Crimean Tatars, which is now being continued by the Russian government.
Today it is extremely important to work on restoring the historical toponymy of Crimea for our common victory! What will this give us?
CTRC experts have prepared 10 principles for restoring authentic place names of Crimea:
- Decolonization, deimperialization and decommunization of the territory and narratives about Crimea in the minds of the Ukrainian and international public
- Restoring historical justice and protecting the cultural heritage of Ukraine
- Formation and promotion of truthful historiography about Crimea
- Increasing the historical and tourist attractiveness of Crimea
- Protection and implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples of Ukraine
- Improving the image of Ukraine at the international level
- Restoring the rule of law in Crimea
- Preserving the connection between the indigenous peoples of Ukraine and Crimea
- Preservation of the language of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine
- Ensuring positive Ukrainization of Crimea
Yes to the decolonization of Crimean toponyms!
Friends, do you agree with us?
#decolonization_of_toponymy_of_Crimea
The campaign was presented by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center as part of its project implemented under the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact. The contents of this campaign are the sole responsibility of Pact and its implementing partners and do not necessary reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.