Back into exile
The life of Mustafa Dzhemilev is a parable of the Crimean Tatars’ struggles
CRIMEA had not yet been seized by Russia when Mustafa Dzhemilev, leader of the Crimean Tatars, smelled a rat. On February 13th 2014 a Russian representative passed on a message: Vladimir Putin would like to talk to the 70-year-old former Soviet dissident. “What about?” he asked. “The future of Crimea,” said the emissary.
Mr Dzhemilev tensed. Why might Mr Putin want to discuss this part of Ukraine with him? It was a bad omen for his people, a Turkic group that moved to Crimea in the 13th century and see it as their native land.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline "Back into exile"
International June 20th 2015
From the June 20th 2015 edition
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