01 September 2026
ATR Turns 20: Two Decades of Crimean Tatar TV Broadcasting
On September 1, 2006, ATR, the first Crimean Tatar television channel, began broadcasting in Simferopol. This year marks 20 years since the start of its broadcasting.
The launch of ATR became an important milestone for the Crimean Tatar media space. Before that, Crimean Tatar-language programmes were broadcast by the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company “Crimea” and had limited airtime. The new television channel was able to provide round-the-clock broadcasting aimed primarily at residents of the Crimean Peninsula.
Over the years, ATR became an important platform for preserving and promoting the Crimean Tatar language, culture, history, and traditions. Its broadcasts included news, cultural, historical, and educational programmes, often in the Crimean Tatar language, and addressed issues of public importance for Crimea.
After the beginning of Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, the situation for independent media on the peninsula changed dramatically. Journalists and editorial teams faced pressure, persecution, and restrictions on freedom of expression. ATR repeatedly attempted to obtain the registration required to continue its broadcasting, but the occupation administration never granted it.
On the night from March 31 to April 1, 2015, the channel was forced to stop broadcasting from Crimea. Alongside ATR, other Crimean Tatar media outlets also ceased broadcasting, including the children’s television channel Lâle and the Meydan radio station.
In June 2015, ATR resumed broadcasting from Kyiv. Part of its team was forced to leave the occupied peninsula and continue working from mainland Ukraine. At the same time, the channel managed to preserve its extensive video archive, an important part of the documentary memory of Crimea and the Crimean Tatar people.
Even after the forced relocation, Russian aggression continued to directly affect the channel’s work. On February 12, 2025, ATR’s office sustained significant damage as a result of a Russian missile attack on Kyiv. The studio, newsroom, control room, and office premises were damaged.
The history of ATR forms part of the broader history of Crimean Tatar media, which at different times have faced censorship, repression, and attempts to deprive the Crimean Tatar people of the opportunity to speak in their own voice.
Today, amid the temporary occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, the work of independent Crimean and Crimean Tatar media is of particular importance. They help maintain connections with residents of occupied Crimea, document human rights violations, support the Crimean Tatar language and culture, and counter Russian propaganda and the information isolation of the peninsula.
The 20th anniversary of ATR’s broadcasting is also an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of a free information space in Crimea and the right of its residents to receive unbiased information in their native language.
Free Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar media must once again be able to operate fully in a free Crimea.