Dzhemilev proposes adopting Latin script for Crimean Tatar language
The Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science held a meeting on the development and protection of the Crimean Tatar language, during which Mustafa Dzhemilev, the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine on Affairs of the Crimean Tatar People, proposed adopting the Latin alphabet for the Crimean Tatar language, Krym.Realii reported. The Cyrillic alphabet is currently used.
The meeting was aimed at “the safeguarding and development of the Crimean Tatar people as indigenous people of Ukraine,” as the press service of the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatars stated.
Dzhemilev noted that the decision to transition to the Latin script was initially adopted by the Kurultai (the representative body) of the Crimean Tatars in 1991, and was supported by the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea and the Council of Ministers of Crimea in 1997.
According to a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Sinaver Kadyrov, the transition to Latin alphabet is possible, but the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine must confirm the resolution put forth by the Council of Ministers of Crimea in 1997.
Dzhemilev explained that the descendants of Crimean immigrants living in Turkey and in Romania use the Latin script. Dzhemilev recalled that from 1928 to 1938, the Crimean Tatars used the Latin alphabet, which was subsequently replaced by Cyrillic. Dzhemilev also noted that the Cyrillic alphabet does not fully reflect the phonetics of the Crimean Tatar language.
The Crimean Tatar language has been recognized by UNESCO as endangered and in need of protection.
Due to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March of 2014, the Crimean Tatar language and literature is now only taught in a handful of places in the Kherson region in mainland Ukraine.
The General Director of Bookrec Publishing, Darina Maksimets, told Krym.Realii that Crimean Tatar textbooks and literature will be integrated into the curriculum of some Ukrainian secondary schools in the 2016-2017 school year.