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Turkish American National Steering Committee - TASC (18 May 2020)

On May 18, 1944, the J. Stalin regime carried out a mass deportation of Crimean Tatar Turks from their homelands which were occupied by the Soviet Union. Within months, 230,000 Crimean Tatars were deported, mostly to Uzbekistan. Many trekked to Japan from where they immigrated to the United States. Many sought refuge in Turkey where they flourished in freedom, equality, and safety.

During the deportation, approximately 110,000 Tatars died from starvation, disease, and forced labor. The deportation was based on ethnic and religious hatred against the Tatars.

76 years later, TASC remembers the Crimean Tatar Turks, who were torn from their homelands and brutalized at the hands of Stalin. We pray for their souls, and express solidarity with the global Tatar diaspora.