Ukraine’s Eurovision victory brings the plight of Crimean Tatars to a European audience

Ukraine won the 2016 Eurovision song contest on 14 May 2016, with a song framed around the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin in 1944. Ellie Knott writes that the result highlights the plight of Crimean Tatars following the territory’s annexation by Russia in 2014, particularly in light of the recent decision by a Crimean court to ban the legislature of the Crimean Tatar minority, the Mejlis.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Eurovision Song Contest 2016 - Stockholm, Sweden http://www.europeansources.info/record/eurovision-song-contest-2016-stockholm-sweden/

ESO: Background information: EU condemns Russia’s banning of Crimean Tatars’ assembly http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-condemns-russias-banning-of-crimean-tatars-assembly/

Carnegie Europe: Strategic Europe, 17.05.16: The Crimean Tatars and the Politics of Eurovision http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=63598

Deutsche Welle, 22.05.16: Tatars remain resolute in Kremlin-controlled Crimea http://dw.com/p/1IsZx

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