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Çelebicihan remembred in Crimea despite authorities’ ban

24.02.2015, 10:19

In Crimea, despite the occupants’ ban, there were actions dedicated to 97th anniversary of the tragic death of Noman Çelebicihan, a Crimean Tatar political and social activist, the author of the national anthem of Crimean Tatars, the Mufti of Muslims of Crimea, Poland, Belarus and Lithuania, as reported by UKRINFORM.

In Sevastopol in Rebels’ square near the memorial plaque installed on the building of the former city jail, several small groups of people gathered and carried flowers in memory of the head of the Crimean government, Mufti of Muslims of Crimea and the first Crimean Tatar Kurultai organizer.

According to Chairman of Sevastopol regional Mejlis Enver Mamutdinov, Crimean Tatarson traditionally gathered on February 23 in Sevastopol at the memorial plaque of Çelebicihan, but this year the city authorities banned the memorable events, explaining that "the national holiday, Homeland Defender’s Day is celebrated this day so far.

“The city hosts four major events, so we were not given permission to host our event,” said the head of Sevastopol Mejlis.

As Mamutdinov notes, this year Sevastopol Mejlis set up a committee to prepare the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Çelebicihan’s death, and therefore the city planned to establish a monument to the national hero.

On February 23, in Simferopol, a public lecture on “Creative heritage of Noman Çelebicihan” was held in the Crimean Tatar Museum of Art, where the event organizers spoke about the literary works of the national leader.

In addition, a telethon in memory of Çelebicihan was held on ATR TV-channel.

The fifth traditional tournament of Kuresh national struggle, dedicated to the memory of Noman Çelebicihan was held at the end.

On February 20, Friday, a worship service dedicated to 97th anniversary of the death of the national hero was performed in the Crimean mosques.

However, the All-Crimean rally planned by Mejlis on February 22 in the courtyard of the Khan's palace Bakhchisaray, in memory of Çelebicihan was banned by Crimean authorities.

Note: Noman Çelebicihanwas the son of the village mosqueimam; he studied in Bakhchisarai, Istanbul and St. Petersburg. He was one of the founders of the national strategy of Crimean Tatars’ struggle in 1918 and fell victim of the revolutionary terror in Crimea. On February 23,Red Army sailors shot Çelebicihan in Sevastopol prison and threw his body into the sea.