Crimean Tatar of Turkey

Prayer Requests

That the Lord would raise up laborers to share the Gospel with the Crimean Tatars.

That God would reveal Himself to the Crimean Tatars through dreams and visions.

That God would embolden Crimean Tatar believers to share Christ with their own people.

That the Lord would raise up faithful prayer teams who will begin breaking the soil for the Gospel and taking authority over the spiritual powers that keep the Crimean Tatars bound to darkness.

The Crimean Tatar of Turkey

26 Mar 2007

Location

The highest concentrations of the Crimean Tatar are in central northwest between the cities of Yozgut and Eskisehir, with some concentrations around the capital city of Ankara.

History

Crimean Tatars are a Turko-Muslim nation, who are descendants of the Crimean Khanate (one of the states of the disintegrated Golden Horde), which ruled the Crimean peninsula and the surrounding areas until the Russian annexation of the Crimea in 1783. After the annexation, most of the Crimean Tatars emigrated from the Crimea to the Ottoman Empire (more than a million). The remaining Crimean Tatars were deported in 1944 from their homeland to Central Asia by Stalin, and a great number of them died during the deportation or soon afterwards.

The Crimean Tatars in Turkey today are largely integrated into the Turkish society and speak mostly Turkish. Recently, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been an increasing interest among them in the Crimea and Crimean Tatars abroad and in Turkey. Crimean Tatars in Turkey "remember" the Crimea, while they are very much involved in the political agenda of Turkey. More and more people are regarding themselves as "Crimean Tatars" and discovering their migrant origins. Now they are striving to remember or learn the language, culture and traditions, and by uniting what is left of their "culture" with the knowledge of other Crimean Tatars in the homeland or around the world they seek to re/create their nation.

Spiritual Identity

The Tatars are Sunni Muslims who belong to the Hanafite branch. However, they have no version of the Qu'ran in their language. The Muslim faith includes observing Ramadan, a month of ritual fasting. During Ramadan, they are praying for Islam to fill the earth. Most of Tatars in Turkey worship in Turkish at the local community mosques.

Status of Christianity

Today more than 99% of the Crimean Tatar of Turkey are Sunni Muslims. Most of the resources available to them are in Turkish, but there are no resources available that are tailored to this people group. Some of these people have believed and are a part of Turkish fellowships, but there is not outreach focused on them as a people group.

Resources for more info – secular or religious (web sites, books, etc)

For more detailed information on the

Crimean Tatars of Turkey, visit:
iccrimea.org

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