On 12 May 2016, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, taking into account the proposals and recommendations of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, which were developed together with the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, adopted the historic Resolution No. 1352-VIII on the renaming of several settlements and districts in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. In effect, the Ukrainian parliament restored the historical names of 70 towns and villages on the peninsula and five districts, removing Soviet-era toponyms. The resolution will come into force once Crimea is liberated and de-occupied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This resolution is part of the implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On the Condemnation of the Communist and National-Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine and the Prohibition of Propaganda of Their Symbols,” adopted in 2015. The law bans totalitarian symbols and mandates renaming settlements and streets bearing Soviet ideological heritage. However, in the case of Crimea, the process carries a much deeper and more traumatic significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the Soviet place names on the map of Crimea were imposed after the Second World War. In 1944, the Stalinist regime deported the Indigenous people of Crimea \u2014 the Crimean Tatars, along with members of other national communities. Almost immediately afterward, the Soviet authorities began rewriting the map of the peninsula: historic names of villages and towns, mostly of Crimean Tatar origin, were replaced with new Russian Communist names. Over several waves of renaming (in 1944, 1945, 1948, and 1949), the names of more than 1,300 settlements in Crimea were changed \u2014 over 90% of all place names at the time. These actions effectively erased the cultural memory of the Indigenous people from the map: names that carried the history and language of the Crimean Tatars were replaced with uniform toponyms like “Red,” “Soviet,” and “Lenin.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2016, Ukraine took a step in the opposite direction \u2014 toward restoring historical justice. In particular, the following districts were renamed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special attention is drawn to the renaming of the city of Krasnoperekopsk to Yani Qapu, which means “New Gate” in Crimean Tatar. Historically, this location was home to an important fortified gateway on the route to the peninsula \u2014 a symbol of strength and resistance. The village of Ordzhonikidze near Feodosiia regained its historical name Kaygador, while the settlements of Krasnohvardiiske, Lenine, and Sovietske were renamed Kurman, Yedy-Kuyem, and Ichki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, under the conditions of the temporary occupation of the peninsula, this resolution carries an even deeper meaning. It serves as a reminder that the return of Crimea begins with memory, with names, with truth. Ukraine knows the real names of its towns and villages and will restore them after de-occupation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":72276,"template":"","publication-type":[43],"class_list":["post-72279","press-center","type-press-center","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","publication-type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n