Videography by Zara A .. .. Turkish Singer Shukriye Tutkun presents Crimean Tatar`s Songs "Bostorgay" and "Ey Güzel Qırım" .. Paintings by Italian Artist Carlo Bossoli (1815-1884) .. Aluşta'dan esen yeller Yüzüme vurdu. Balalıktan büyüdüğüm yerler Gözyaşım düştü. Ben bu yerde yaşayamadım, Gençliğime doyamadım, Vatanıma hasret oldum, Ey, güzel Qırım. Bahçeleri, meyveleri Bal ile şerbet. Sularını içe içe Doyamadım ben. Ben bu yerde yaşayamadım, Gençliğime doyamadım, Vatanıma hasret oldum, Ey, güzel Qırım. Çoluk-çocuk vatanım diye, Gözyaşı döker, Yaşlılarımız el açıp, Dualar eder. Ben bu yerde yaşayamadım, Gençliğime doyamadım, Vatanıma hasret oldum, Ey, güzel Qırım. Crimean Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Crimean peninsula. They formed the majority population in Crimea from the time of their ethnogenesis in the 15th century until their 1944 deportation under Soviet rule.Crimean Tatars were allowed to return to Crimea only in the 1980s, where they now form a 12% minority. In ancient times, Crimea was the home of Cimmerians and Scythians, as well as the site of Greek colonies. The most important city was Chersonesos at the edge of today's Sevastopol. Later occupiers included the Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus', the Byzantine Empire, the Kipchaks, and the Golden Horde. In the 13th century, portions were controlled by the Republic of Venice and by the Republic of Genoa. In the 9th century, Byzantium established the Cherson theme to fend against incursions by the Rus' Khaganate, and the Crimean peninsula from this time was contested between Byzantium, Rus' and Khazaria. The area remained the site of overlapping interests and contact between the early medieval Slavic, Turkic and Greek spheres, and became a center of slave trade in particular, the word slave itself deriving from the ethnonym of the Slavs who were sold to the Muslim world and Byzantium during this period. In the 1230s, this status quo was swept away by the Mongol invasions, and Crimea was incorporated into the territory of the Golden Horde throughout the 14th century. The Crimean Khanate, a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, succeeded the Golden Horde and lasted from 1449 to 1779. Until the late 18th century, Crimean Tatars maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire, exporting about 2 million slaves from Russia and Ukraine over the period 1500--1700. The Khanate was conquered by the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great in 1783. From 1853 to 1856, the peninsula was the site of the principal engagements of the Crimean War, a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. During the Russian Civil War, Crimea was controlled by the White Army. After they were defeated by the Red Army, Crimea became part of the Soviet Union in 1921 as Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the Second World War the peninsula was occupied by Nazi Germany for several years. In 1954, it was transferred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union. In 1991, it became part of independent Ukraine as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. As a result of the 2014 Crimean crisis and the accompanying Russian military intervention, sovereignty over the peninsula is currently disputed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The peninsula is now de facto occupied by the Russian Federation. Carlo Bossoli spent his youth and the beginning of his artistic career in Odessa, Ukraine. In 1839 he conducted his first trip to Italy where he remained for a year, travelling to Rome, Naples and other principal cities of the peninsula. In 1840 he returned to the Crimea, though left for good in 1843 heading for Canton Ticino and Milan, alternating between the two until 1853 when he moved for good to Turin. During the course of the 1850s, the artist carried out the majority of his travels; perhaps why it proved to be amongst the most productive periods of his life. In 1850 Bossoli travelled to England and Scotland and the following year to Spain and Morocco. In 1853 and in 1855, he returned to London where, in 1854, he published "Views of the Crimea", in which he showed some of the works executed during his youth. Carlo Bossoli portrayed, similar to a modern day reporter, almost every corner of Europe, gaining great success in Italy as well as abroad. His works are an important contribution both to the knowledge of historical events and the history of costume. They give an unparallel survey of the landscape and the architecture, always reproduced with great attention to detail, and enriched with little scenes of local colour that bestow a particular note on Bossoli's works.

• published: 09 Apr 2014
• views: 2308