Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has commemorated the 81st anniversary of the Crimean Tatar exile with a message of solidarity.

"On the 81st anniversary of their forced exile from their ancestral homeland, I solemnly remember the pain endured by our Crimean Tatar brothers and sisters, and I pray for mercy upon our compatriots who lost their lives during the deportation," Erdogan said on X on Sunday.

"As Türkiye, we will continue to stand by our Crimean brothers, sisters and defend their rights at all times," the Turkish president concluded his message.

Remembering the 1944 Exile of Crimean Tatars

On May 18, 1944, nearly 250,000 Crimean Tatars were forcibly deported from their homeland to remote parts of Central Asia by Soviet authorities, who accused the entire population of collaborating with Nazi Germany during World War II.

The deportations were carried out under a secret directive from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. In the middle of night, families were rounded up and loaded into sealed freight trains. The three-day journey was marked by brutal conditions — thousands died en route from hunger, disease, and exhaustion.

Those who survived the journey faced decades of hardship in exile. It’s estimated that nearly half of the deported population perished in the years that followed due to malnutrition, poor living conditions, and limited access to healthcare.

In 1965, Crimean Tatars began organising a peaceful movement to return to their homeland — a struggle that would last more than two decades. Their efforts finally bore fruit in 1991, when Crimea was granted autonomous status within an independent Ukraine.

But in 2014, history took another dark turn. Russia illegally annexed Crimea, a move widely condemned by the international community.

For many Crimean Tatars, the annexation was a painful reminder of past injustices — and the ongoing fight for their rights, recognition, and homeland.