İlyas Ümer oğlu Tarhan (; 1900 – 17 April 1938) was a Soviet Crimean Tatar journalist, playwright, and politician who served as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Crimean ASSR from 1931 to 1937. He was also an editor of the ''Yaş Quvet'' newspaper and a member of the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers () was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1934 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1932) a ...

. Arrested during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

and charged with involvement in a Pan-Turkic counterrevolutionary organisation, he was executed in 1938 and rehabilitated in 1956.

Early life and career

İlyas Ümer oğlu Tarhan was born in 1900 in the village of Körbekül ( Izobilne), under the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His father was a landless farmer. From 1913 to 1917, he lived in the city of

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, studying at a

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

school in the city. He graduated from the Zincirli Madrasa, and joined the

Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

in 1919. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, he was involved in partisan activities against the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

South Russia South Russia may refer to: * Southern Russia * South Russia (1919–1920), a territory that existed during the Russian Civil War in Ukraine and the north Caucasus See also * South Russian Ovcharka, a breed of sheepdog * Southern Russian dialects ...

before supporting the communist underground in Turkey and being arrested. Afterwards, Tarhan returned to Crimea and joined the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

, becoming its leader in Crimea.

Career

From 1921 to 1925, Tarhan worked as the editor of the youth newspaper ''Yaş Quvet'' (). Afterwards, he began working as a member of the Communist Party in Sudak and

Bakhchysarai Bakhchysarai is a city in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Bakhchysarai Raion (district), as well as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate. Its main landmark is Hansaray, the only extant ...

. In this capacity, he participated in the persecution of both Veli İbraimov, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Crimean ASSR, and Mamut Nadim, People's Commissar for Education. On 20 February 1931, Tarhan became Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Crimean ASSR. Alongside his political career, he worked as a playwright, with ''Ucüm'' () and ''Moskva ayta'' () premiering at cities across the Soviet Union in 1932 and 1934, respectively. On his initiative, the Crimean State Tatar Drama Theatre began construction in 1933. In 1934, he joined the

, also becoming head of the Union of Crimean Writers. He also briefly worked as editor of the Crimean Tatar magazine of the regional committee, ''Bolşevik Yölu'' ().

Execution

On 8 September 1937, Tarhan was arrested and charged with leading an anti-Soviet pan-Turkic organisation, along with and . The arrests of Tarhan, Samedinov, and Çagar served as a basis for an anti-Crimean Tatar campaign as part of the

. On 17 April 1938, during a court session, he retracted previous coerced concessions and pled not guilty. That day, he was sentenced to death, and executed the same day. Following his death, his property was confiscated by the Soviet government. On 24 November 1956, Tarhan was posthumously rehabilitated by the Soviet government, with the statement on his rehabilitation reading, "Within the Crimean NKVD, where the investigation into the Tarhan case was conducted, from 1937 to 1938 unreasonable arrests, beatings of those arrested, falsification of investigative materials, and other gross violations of the law were allowed."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarhan, İlyas 1900 births 1938 deaths Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Crimean Tatar journalists Crimean Tatar people executed by the Soviet Union Crimean Tatar politicians Crimean Tatar writers Great Purge victims from Ukraine Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union People from Yaltinsky Uyezd Muslims from the Russian Empire