Born in 1851 in Avcıköy near Bahcesaray, the capital of the Crimean Khanate, let’s talk about Ismail Gaspıralı. The reason for using the nickname “Gasprinskiy”, which means Gaspıralı, is that his father was born in the village of Gaspıra in Yalta.
Ismail Gaspıralı, the great reformer, educator, journalist, idea and action man raised by the Turkic World, had determined three main pillars in life to realize his ideals. These are education, press and journalism activities.
Ismail Gaspıralı, who set out with the ideal of a great linguistic and cultural unity, made great efforts towards the formation of a national consciousness within the framework of the Turkish and Muslim super-identity in the Turkish-Islamic geography with his newspaper Tercüman, which was launched in 1883.
Ismail Gaspıralı tried to unite the peoples speaking different dialects of Turkish around a common literary language and make them a single nation, and summarized his ideas with the slogan “Unity in language, idea and work”.
Tatar patron, Georgiy Lvovich Muradov, a lover of ‘Kaytarma’…
Georgy Lvovich Muradov has been Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of Russia since 2014.
Georgiy Lvovich Muradov is a contemporary follower of Ismail Gaspirali / Gasprinsky. He has done a lot for the Crimean Tatar community to live in peace with other ethnic groups. 135 years ago, the Crimean Tatar educator Ismail Gaspirali wrote that Russians are endowed with the rare and happy quality of living in peace with other nations.
Muradov thinks and lives just like Gaspıralı, whose views he values. As Muradov says, and as those who have been to Russia have experienced, jealousy and ill will towards foreigners is not in the nature of Russia. This is the key to Russia’s greatness and peace.
He helps the Crimean Tatar community to establish strong ties with other Tatars scattered throughout the Russian Federation and the former Soviet space, as well as with other Muslim and Turkic elements. Therefore, it would not be right not to mention his efforts in solving most of the problems related to the governance of the Tatars living in Crimea today.
Two old friends Georgiy Muradov and Ünver Sel…
In this context, together with Ünver Sel, Founder and Chairman of the Federation of Crimean Tatar Cultural Associations based in Ankara, Chairman of the Crimean Development Foundation, Chairman of the International Friends of Crimea Association, they carry out important activities for Tatars in Turkey and Crimea.
Economic and cultural forums are organized. Mutual delegations travel back and forth. Tatars on both sides of the Black Sea joyfully perform their national dance ‘Kaytarma’.
What changed in Crimea under Georgiy Lvovich Muradov?
Georgy Muradov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea, spoke at the V meeting of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia – the Islamic world” in Ufa about how the annexation to Russia has affected the lives of Crimeans, including the Crimean Tatars. Let’s hear it from him personally:
With the annexation to the Russian Federation, many of the Crimean Tatars’ proposals that had remained unanswered for decades were realized. In particular, the Crimean Tatar language was recognized as a state language on a par with Russian and Ukrainian.
The education system in the Crimean Tatar language has been built from pre-school education to the Crimean Tatar University. Mass media in the Crimean Tatar language began to develop actively.
Crimean Tatars have received all the rights they demanded for the legalization of mosques and Islamic shrines, of which there are 400 in the Republic. The construction of the Grand Friday Mosque in Simferopol/Akmescit is almost complete. Its opening will take place in June or July 2024.
The number of citizens going on pilgrimage has increased 20-fold and Muslim holidays such as Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr have been formalized. It is noteworthy that representatives of other religions also celebrate these holidays.
Meanwhile, the number of Muslims in Crimea is 15 percent of the total population. In addition, the governing body of the Shura of Crimean Tatars was recreated and legally sanctified and recognized by the Crimean authorities.
It is not for nothing that they say, “Where there is Aleppo, there is your arch”. Whoever doesn’t believe all this can go and see. I am not a Russophile, I am as much a Russophile as a Russian is a Turkophile. I only think realpolitik. I believe that the political, cultural and economic cooperation of the two largest nations of the Eurasian Civilization will greatly benefit world peace.
Georgiy Lvovich Muradov and Turkey
According to Georgiy Muradov, Russia’s envoy to Crimea and a friend of Turkey and Turks, Turkey is not a country that approves whatever America says. Muradov had previously told the Turkish press about the July 15 coup attempt: “Some groups, who had America’s interests at heart, tried to stage a coup against the Turkish government. We showed our friendship then and we expect Turkey to have the same feelings towards Russia.”
Stating that Russia’s Crimea policy and Russian diplomacy in general is not anti-Turkish, Georgiy Muradov had the audacity to call these allegations “a big fraud”.
Referring to the importance of relations between Turkey and Russia, Muradov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “my friend”. It is public knowledge that Erdoğan also says “My dear friend Putin” from time to time.
Permanent Representative of Crimea Georgiy Muradov emphasizes that Crimea joined the Russian Federation through a referendum, which is the most democratic way, and that Turkey should understand that Crimea is Russia.
This is indeed the case. When Kiev went through the Nazi coup, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s decision to integrate Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation allowed the peninsula to avoid war and ethnic cleansing. The Crimean Tatars were kept away from the war. They were protected from a new massacre.
Traces of Turkish roots in Georgiy Muradov’s family…
Judging by his surname, he is an Orthodox Turk. Maybe Kazakh/Kozak, maybe Tatar, maybe Gagauz. But his recent genealogy also points to his Russian roots. His namesake St. George is also the patron saint of Moscow. Some sources say he is of Armenian ethnicity.
He was born on November 19, 1954 in the village of Kochmes in the Inta region of the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Parents – mother Elena Illarionovna Shapovalova and father Lev Vladimirovich Muradov, were doctors by profession and participated in the Great Patriotic War. His grandfather Muradov Lev Vladimirovich was born in 1910 in Krasnodar.
Georgiy Muradov grew up on both sides of the Kerch Strait. He went to school in Krasnodar and spent summer vacations with relatives and his grandmother who lived in Kerch. From that period of his childhood, he loved Crimea. Georgiy Muradov has helped Crimea undergo systemic transformations on an unprecedented scale and achieve the highest growth rates.
In 1972, he graduated from secondary school number 36 in the city of Krasnodar. 1972-1974. – Evening student of the Faculty of Romance-Germanic Philology of the Kuban State University in Krasnodar. He started his career in 1972, working as a mechanic in the mechanic repair shops of the mechanization department of the Krasnodarkrayselstroy foundation.
Georgy Muradov is married to linguist Irina Yuryevna Muradova. His son Albert, born from this marriage, is a Turkologist at Moscow State University and speaks Turkish. His children from other marriages are Yuri Georgievich Muradov and Sergei Georgievich Muradov.
Georgiy Muradov’s awards are countless. Some of the main awards are: Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of Friendship, Order of Honor, Medal for the Return of Crimea, etc.
On August 7, 2014, Muradov became Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of Russia.
He was included in the list of persons sanctioned by the European Union for actions aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This decision was approved by the UK government in 2014 in relation to the Russia-Ukraine War.
The allegations against him are as follows: “Crimea’s so-called “Deputy Prime Minister” and Crimea’s Plenipotentiary Representative to President Putin. Muradov has played an important role in consolidating Russia’s institutional control over Crimea since the illegal annexation. Therefore, he has supported actions and policies that undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.”
Can Muradov become Ambassador to Ankara?
Muradov was in the diplomatic service in Greece from 1979 to 1992. From 1992 to 1996, he served as Undersecretary-Minister at the Russian Embassy in Sofia and from 1996 to 1999 he was the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Cyprus. He speaks fluent English, Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish.
Does anyone not know that the US has massive military build-ups in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania? Our borders are virtually surrounded by US military combat troops. If Turkey did not control the Straits under the Montreux Convention, the Black Sea could turn into a bloodbath at any moment.
Georgiy Muradov knows the regional dynamics very well, having served in Athens and Sofia for many years. Having an experienced diplomat like him in Ankara would be a great gain for regional peace. First of all, Russian President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov should urgently put this issue on their agenda.
Ankara will embrace Muradov, a Turkish friend. Tatars will be the most happy that Muradov’s last duty station is Ankara. Maybe in the garden of the Russian Embassy or in the big reception hall, they will hold hands together for ‘Shirking’.
Selected Bibliography
#http://eurasia-assembly.org/en/node/6450
#https://www.greekmos.ru/georgiy_muradov/
#https://m.lenta.ru/tags/persons/muradov-georgiy/
#https://www.opensanctions.org/entities/Q4307789/
#https://rk.gov.ru/structure/d68026cc-91b3-4501-81bd-eea53d86df07
#https://kianews24.ru/news/georgiy-muradov-vokrug-nas-sozdayut-p/
#https://www.podvignaroda.ru/?#id=1270044317&tab=navDetailManCardhttps://ytb.gov.tr/haberler/milletinin-terakkisine-adanan-bir-omur-ismail-gaspirali
#https://www.odatv.com/dunya/turkiye-amerika-ne-derse-onaylayan-bir-ulke-degil-231191
#https://anlatilaninotesi.com.tr/20230307/kirim-daimi-temsilcisi-muradov-turkiye-ile-isbirligine-haziriz-1067927003.html
#https://studizba.com/hs/rjeu-im-plehanova/teachers/kafedra-inostrannyh-yazykov-3/15007-muradova-irina-yurevna.html
#http://www.ppcrimea.ru/index.php/ru/postoyannoe-predstavitelstvo-respubliki-krym-pri-prezidente-rossijskoj-federatsii/rukovodstvo
#https://russia-islworld.ru/novosti/georgy-muradov-spoke-about-the-changes-in-the-life-of-the-crimean-tatars-after-annexation-to-russia/
#https://journalcrimea.ru/georgiy-muradov-we-are-being-surrounded-by-the-belt-of-the-countries-with-non-traditional-civilizational-orientation/
#https://www.dikgazete.com/yazi/kirim-tatarlari-ve-kirim-disinda-yasayan-tatarlarin-tarihi-moskova-bulusmasina-tanikligim-5130.html#google_vignette
