 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | This articlehas an unclearcitation style. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style ofcitation andfootnoting.(August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Cafer Seydamet Qırımer | |
|---|---|
 Cafer Seydamet Qırımer in 1936 | |
| Prime Minister of theCrimean People's Republic | |
| In office 13 December 1917 – 28 January 1918 | |
| President | Noman Çelebicihan |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished (Maciej Sulkiewicz as Prime Minister of the Crimean Regional Government) |
| Director of Foreign and Military Affairs of the Crimean People's Republic | |
| In office 13 December 1917 – 28 January 1918 | |
| President | Noman Çelebicihan |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished (Himself as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Crimean Regional Government) |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs of theCrimean Regional Government | |
| In office 25 June 1918 – 25 November 1918 | |
| Prime Minister | Maciej Sulkiewicz |
| Preceded by | Position established (Himself as Director of Foreign and Military Affairs of the Crimean People's Republic) |
| Succeeded by | Maxim Vinaver |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cafer Seydamet (1889-09-01)1 September 1889 |
| Died | 3 April 1960(1960-04-03) (aged 70) |
| Party | Milliy Firqa |
Cafer Seydamet (1 September 1889 – 3 April 1960), also known by his adopted surnameQırımer, orKırımer was a Crimean Tatar politician and writer who was one of the founders and leaders ofMilliy Firqa andCrimean People's Republic. He served as Prime Minister and Director of Foreign and Military Affairs in the Crimean People's Republic, and maintained the latter role within theCrimean Regional Government.
Cafer Seydamet was born into a family of wealthy peasants on 1 September 1889. After receiving primary education in Crimea, he travelled toIstanbul, then part of theOttoman Empire, to achieve higher education at the Istanbul University Faculty of Law. In Istanbul, he metNoman Çelebicihan, then also a student, and in 1908 founded the Crimean Tatar Students' Association along with Çelebicihan and multiple other Crimean Tatar students.
In 1911, Seydamet published an essay, titledThe Oppressed Crimean Tatar Nation in the 20th Century. Following the publishing of this essay, the government of theRussian Empire began to seek Seydamet's extradition. To avoid arrest, he travelled toParis and enrolled at theUniversity of Paris. There, he studied social sciences, journalism, and law. In 1914, following the completion of his studies in Paris, he returned to Russia and enrolled at theSaint Petersburg State University, where he again met Çelebicihan.
Following the outbreak ofWorld War I, Seydamet returned to Crimea, and began to establish cells to plot the independence of Crimea from Russian rule. However, following his conscription into theImperial Russian Army, these plans were halted. Seydamet was sent to a cadet school, and later deployed to a reserve regiment inIzmail.
Throughout the process leading up to the declaration of theCrimean People's Republic on 13 December 1917, Seydamet was extensively active in Crimean Tatar political affairs. He was a leading member of theProvisional Muslim Revolutionary Committee, and helped to edit the newspaperMillet [ru], and served as a member of theDirectory [ru]. In September 1917, together withAmet Özenbaşlı, he was part of a Crimean Tatar delegation to theCongress of the Enslaved Peoples of Russia. Following the declaration of the Crimean People's Republic, Seydamet was appointed as Director of Foreign and Military Affairs.
Following the Crimean declaration of independence, there was only one Crimean regiment, theCrimean Cavalry Regiment [ru]. According to the memoirs ofPyotr Wrangel, he was offered control over the nascent Crimean military forces by Seydamet, but refused the offer:
Following the example of the Don and Ukraine, in the face of the impending red wave, the Crimean Tatars also decided to organize themselves in the figure of a Kurultay [...] Democratic politics prevailed, the prime representative of which was the Prime Minister and Minister of War Seydamet, following the example of Mr. Kerensky, also from lawyers. Seydamet, in addition to democratic elements, was also nominated by the Turkophile group. The government also had a handful of armed forces at its disposal - the Crimean Dragoon Regiment, staffed by Crimean Tatars, several officer companies, it seems, two field batteries [...] Politics turned out to be coloured by typical Kerenskyism [...] From the very first words of my meeting with Seydamet, I was convinced that there was no way.
— Pyotr Wrangel, Notes, Book I, chapter I
Following clashes in January 1918, the Crimean People's Republic was overtaken by the forces of theTaurida Soviet Socialist Republic. Çelebicihan was killed, and Seydamet fled north toKyiv. However, only shortly after the destruction of the Crimean People's Republic, German forces invaded Crimea and established theCrimean Regional Government under the leadership ofMaciej Sulkiewicz. Seydamet returned to the peninsula and was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government. During his time as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Seydamet was involved in attempts to negotiate a deal withPavlo Skoropadskyi for recognition of the Crimean Regional Government's independence. Following the German withdrawal from Crimea, however, Sulkiewicz's government fell, and Seydamet fled Crimea forIstanbul.
In Istanbul, Seydamet was an early supporter ofMustafa Kemal Atatürk, and founded a newspaper, namedEmel. He also participated in the transfer of several historical items belonging to Crimean Tatars. However, this stay in Turkey would be short-lived - he was deported in 1920 by Ottoman authorities. From Istanbul, he moved toLausanne, Switzerland. In October of the same year, he met withJózef Piłsudski, with whom he discussedPrometheism. Seydamet later became an active supporter of Prometheism.
In April 1922, Seydamet returned to Turkey, hoping to use his good relations with Atatürk's government (which had close relations with the Soviets) in order to assist Crimean Tatars suffering from the1921–1923 famine in Ukraine. Seydamet's return to Istanbul drew attention, as the city was then under occupation by the Western Allies, and Turkey was in the midst ofa war against Greece. As a result of his efforts, in addition to those of a delegation from Soviet Crimea, the Turkish Red Crescent sent 1,000 bags of flour to Crimea to help alleviate the famine.
Following the conclusion of theRussian Civil War, Seydamet remained active in promoting Crimean Tatar nationalism. At a meeting of thePrometheist movement in January 1930 inWarsaw, he drew comparisons between the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire, accusing them of using the same tactics in attempting to harm the Crimean Tatar people. In 1934, a group of his supporters organised a celebration of his 25 years of political activity inDobruja. The same year, Seydamet adopted the descriptive surname Qırımer (Turkish:Kırımer,lit. 'Crimean Man') following the adoption of theSurname Law.
In 1941, Seydamet, in addition toMustafa Szynkiewicz andMüstecib Ülküsal [ru], travelled toNazi Germany in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve German support in establishing an independent Crimean Tatar state. In spite of these attempts, Seydamet remained opposed to Nazism, and maintained close ties to thePolish government-in-exile in London.[1][page needed]
Seydamet died in Istanbul on 3 April 1960.