This Week in the News

Perhaps the local celebration (with the help of Turkish television) of Mawlid an-Habi, the celebration of the Prophet Mohammad's birth, was especially auspicious this year on the peninsula: a major breakthrough in Tatar-Crimean negotiations occurred this week as the Crimean government has agreed to a plan that will grant land to the thousands of squatters, many of which are Crimean Tatars, although the administration was quick to point out that among this population are members of other displaced groups. In the news stories that I came across no details were given as to exactly how many hectares these squatters will be granted, so perhaps those details will be hashed out in the days to come. This story has garnered quite a bit of attention, I might add, as it was picked up by national and international news sources, both in online print and radio.

This week it was also announced that the Simferopol government will allocate land for a new, central mosque located at 22 Yaltynska Street. I followed up on the exact location, wanting to see how "central" this location actually was; the address is almost 11km from the center of the city (click here for the map). Regardless, this is also a major concession towards the Crimean Tatar population. These two events in conjunction might lead down a couple of different paths: perhaps there is a shifting sentiment towards the plight of the Tatars as more international eyes turn towards the situation, or perhaps the administration has legitimate fears of a major protest and are acting out of self-preservation.

In other news, a new poll has revealed that over the past decade the number of people who self-identify as religious has risen 13%, and following heated debate over the control of St Sophia's cathedral in Kyiv, there is now discussion as to the possible inclusion of the Khan's palace in Bakhchirasay as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Articles mentioned in this post:

Віруючих українців за десятиріччя побільшало на 13% – опитування (Believing Ukrainians over the past decade has risen 13% - survey)

http://www.irs.in.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=804%3A1&catid=34%3Aua&Itemid=61&lang=uk

Українські мусульмани відзначать Мавлід ан-Набі (Ukrainian Muslims celebrate Mawlid an-Habi)

http://islam.in.ua/3/ukr/full_news/8910/visibletype/1/index.html

Турецький телеканал вестиме пряму трансляцію святкування Мавлід із головної мечеті Сімферополя (Turkish TV station will provide the live broadcast of the Mawlid celebrations form the main mosque of Simferopol)

http://islam.in.ua/3/ukr/full_news/8901/visibletype/1/index.html

Khan's Palace in Crimea could be included on UNESCO list

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/97229/

Simferopol Authorities Allocate Land for Mosque

http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/other_confessions/islam/40741/

Crimea allocating land plots to repatriates for private construction

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/97412/