İlyas Ümer oğlu Tarhan (russian: Илья́с Уме́рович Тарха́н, translit=Ilyas Umerovich Tarkhan; 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 (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...
. Arrested during the
Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...
and charged with involvement in a Pan-Turkic counterrevolutionary organisation, he was executed in 1937 and rehabilitated in 1956.
Early life and career
İlyas Ümer oğlu Tarhan was born in 1900 in the village of Körbekül (), under the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
. His father was a landless farmer. From 1913 to 1917, he lived in the city of
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...
, studying at a
Tatar
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different school in the city. He graduated from the Zincirli Madrasa, and joined the
Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
in 1919. During the
Russian Civil War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Russian Civil War
, partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I
, image =
, caption = Clockwise from top left:
{{flatlist,
*Soldiers ...
, he was involved in partisan activities against the White movement in
South Russia South Russia may refer:
* Southern Russia
* South Russia (1919–1920), a territory that existed during the Russian Civil War
** South Russian Government
** Government of South Russia
See also
* South Russian Ovcharka, a breed of sheepdog
* South ...
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 (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...
, 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
Sudak ( Ukrainian & Russian: Судак; crh, Sudaq; gr, Σουγδαία; sometimes spelled Sudac or Sudagh) is a town, multiple former Eastern Orthodox bishopric and double Latin Catholic titular see. It is of regional significance in Crimea ...
and
Bakhchysarai
Bakhchysarai ( crh, Bağçasaray, italic=yes; russian: Бахчисара́й; ua, Бахчисара́й; tr, Bahçesaray) is a town in Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Re ...
. In this capacity, he participated in the persecution of both
Veli İbraimov
Veli İbraimov (russian: Вели́ Ибраи́мов, translit=Veli Ibraimov; 1888 – 9 May 1928), also written as Veli Ibrahimov (russian: Вели Ибраимов, translit=Veli Ibragimov, link=no), was a Crimean Tatar revolutionary and ...
, 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
Union of Soviet Writers
The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...
, 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
Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...
. 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."