Crimean Tatar television channel ATR resumed broadcasting on June 18 on mainland Ukraine, more than two months after it was shut down by the Russian telecommunications regulator on the annexed Crimean peninsula.
The only Crimea Tatar TV channel in the world, ATR now joins a number of Crimean news outlets that have had to relocate because of closures and attacks on journalists on the peninsula. Others include the Black Sea telecommunications company, Black Sea News, Crimean Events (Sobytiya Kryma), and the Crimean News agency (Qırım Haber Agentlici/Ajansı).
Lenur Islyamov, ATR’s owner, said that only part of their team moved to Kyiv in order to work in exile. They have found a temporary office and hope to have most of their programs back on air.
“It’s kind of a new startup,” Islyamov said. However, he didn’t disclose the exact number of journalists who made it to Kyiv, fearing persecution against those who remained on the peninsula. Islyamov said that everyone who moved did so of their own free will, but those in Kyiv worry about the security of their colleagues remaining in Crimea.
A recent report by an unofficial Turkish delegation found a number of human rights violations against Crimean Tatars since the Russian annexation of the peninsula in March 2014.
The findings of their June 5th report (http://www.aa.com.tr/documents/AA/haber/crimea_rep…) show that strong pressure is being applied to Crimean Tatar media outlets, which includes bans on some media executives entering Crimea, continuous summonses to testify, office raids and long searches, and the non-renewal of broadcasting licenses.
Russian authorities “pursued a systematic policy of suppression and intimidation. Investigations were initiated into unsolved murders and disappearances, but none of them were concluded,” according to the report.
The report also highlights the intensified repressions of Crimean Tatars as the Russian government pursued a policy of isolating and discrediting activists in the Crimean Tatar community and members of the Mejlis (assembly) of the Crimean Tatar People.
Islaymov said that Russian authorities are closely watching those who stayed behind on the occupied peninsula. At least five ATR channel employees have been questioned by the Russian prosecutor’s office recently.
Refat Chubarov, the leader of the Mejlis, says it was not an “easy decision” for Crimean Tatars to leave their homeland and move to continue their work.
Lilya Budzhurova, deputy head for information policy at ATR channel, didn’t leave the peninsula. As recently as April, Budzhurova told the Kyiv Post that working in exile was not an option for many of the ATR team. “We’re a Crimean Tatar TV channel, we can’t work separated from our nation,” Budzhurova said.
The channel resumed its work on the first day of Ramadan, which Chubarov believes is symbolic for Crimean Tatars. “For us – Crimean Tatars – ATR is more than a channel,” Chubarov says. “It’s something that united us. It’s our virtual Maidan.”
The channel will continue to broadcast in Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian and Russian, and will maintain its usual cultural and religious programming.
Chubarov acknowledges the support of the Ukrainian government during ATR’s relocation, but said the network does not seek financing from the state. Instead, ATR is reaching out to international organizations.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].
