23 May 2025

Amet Asanov, a Participant in the Crimean Tatar National Movement, Perished in Crimea

On May 23, Amet Asanov passed away at the age of 82 in the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula. He was a committed activist of the Crimean Tatar national movement and one of the participants in the landmark peaceful demonstration of Crimean Tatars on Red Square in Moscow during the summer of 1987. This protest became one of the pivotal moments in the struggle for the return of the deported Crimean Tatar people and the restoration of their fundamental rights.

According to Refat Chubarov, the funeral (janaza) will take place today in Yalta following the Friday prayer (Jumu’ah).

The Crimean Tatar national movement, in which Asanov was actively involved, emerged as a response to the policy of forced deportation and systemic repression. In the context of Soviet authoritarianism, the Crimean Tatar people engaged in a nonviolent resistance that persisted over decades despite arrests, torture, censorship, and persecution.

From the late 1960s, the first waves of return to Crimea began. Despite continuous repression by the authorities—including detentions, beatings, demolition of homes, and forced removals from the peninsula—Crimean Tatars continued to assert their right to live on their ancestral land.

In the summer of 1987, dozens of activists, including Asanov, traveled to Moscow. On July 6, they staged a demonstration on Red Square with slogans calling for the restoration of their rights and a return to their homeland. Despite attempts by law enforcement and the KGB to disperse the protesters, the demonstration continued, drawing public attention to the Crimean Tatar issue. Although the campaign ended in the forced expulsion of the activists from Moscow, it resonated widely.

Nevertheless, following Ukraine’s declaration of independence, the Crimean Tatar people eventually succeeded in returning to their homeland. Amet Asanov lived to witness this return — and passed away in peace, on his native land, in Yalta.