Elvira Kemal is a researcher of Crimean Tatar history who lives in Germany. We are publishing her new article for the Turkish publication Yenidevir.

In late 1923, two associates — Crimean Mufti Ibrahim Tarpi and his deputy, Adji Khalil Muslyadin — traveled to Turkey to pledge allegiance to the last caliph, Abdul-Mejid II.

By that time, the Ottoman Sultanate had already ceased to exist, and many Muslims harbored a faint hope that the caliphate would be preserved under Atatürk’s government.

However, history played a cruel joke on Tarpi. While the delegation was en route, Turkey made a sharp turn toward becoming a secular state. On March 3, 1924, the government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the caliphate.

Upon arriving at their destination, the Crimean delegates discovered that there was no one left to swear allegiance to — the caliph had been ousted, and the Turkish Republic had replaced the empire.

Thus began a story in which two comrades-in-arms would find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades…

One Step Back for Two Steps Forward

After the Bolsheviks established power in Crimea, they did not immediately set out to destroy the old, traditional institutions of the Crimean Tatars. After all, Soviet policy in Crimea was initially based on the principle: “take one step back to take two steps forward.” And the Soviet authorities did indeed have to make many concessions regarding the Crimean Tatar national movement; later, they even implemented the well-known “policy of indigenization and nationalization.” At the same time, however, secret surveillance was established on all prominent activists. Compromising evidence was gradually gathered. And in the mid-1920s, Muslim Crimea found itself at the epicenter of an ideological storm.

Mission to Constantinople

Ibrahim Tarpi was a native of Bakhchysarai and a man of conservative views. At one time, he had supported Noman Chelebidzhihan, but their paths diverged. The split occurred over the “women’s issue”: Tarpi opposed the emancipation of Crimean Tatar women.

In 1923, Tarpi became the first mufti of the now-Soviet Crimea. At the same time, the People’s Administration for Religious Affairs of the Muslims of Crimea was established — an organization that the Soviet authorities tightly controlled from the very beginning. It was as the head of this organization that Tarpi would lead the very same delegation to Constantinople mentioned earlier.

The Split Among Muslims in Crimea: “Progressives” vs. “Conservatives”

The collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate catalyzed a deep religious split in Crimea. Lively debates took place at Muslim congresses on the peninsula. The arguments even escalated to the point of insults — so heatedly did the Crimeans debate Atatürk’s policies and the abolition of the caliphate. It was then that Crimean Muslims split into two factions:

The “progressives” (reformists), led by Adji Khalil Muslyadin, who supported Atatürk’s reforms, advocated for the modernization of Islam. At that time, these calls aligned with the interests of the Soviet authorities.

The “reactionaries” (traditionalists) were supporters of Ibrahim Tarpi, and continued to defend the old caliphate system of governance and resisted government interference in matters of faith. It is worth noting that, according to the documents of the Joint State Political Directorate, Ibrahim Tarpi was supported by the majority of Crimea’s Muslims, and the “progressives” were forced to retreat until the Soviet secret services intervened.

The Intervention of the Joint State Political Directorate and the Uprising in Derekoi

The Soviet authorities skillfully exploited this conflict. To rid themselves of the influential and defiant Tarpi, the Joint State Political Directorate “recommended” at the next congress that he not be reelected as mufti. As a result, the more loyal and “progressive” Adji Khalil Muslyadin became the new mufti. By December 1925, at the next congress of the clergy, the balance of power was already evident: of the 122 delegates, only 52 were mullahs, while 70 were ordinary peasants who had no connection to the clergy. Tarpi’s supporters, who until recently had shaped religious life in Crimea, now found themselves in the minority.

In 1927, direct repression against Ibrahim Tarpi began. The former mufti was detained by the prosecutor’s office. But the authorities faced unexpected resistance… from Crimean Tatar women. Hundreds of women from the village of Derekoi (now part of the city of Yalta) took to the streets in mass demonstrations to defend their leader. This act of civic courage forced the authorities to temporarily back down and release Tarpi. Despite the temporary success of the protests, the mufti’s fate was sealed. Soon, Ibrahim Tarpi was permanently expelled from Crimea, and the “progressive” clergy, having served as a tool in the hands of the Joint State Political Directorate, also faced repression later on.

The Administration for Muslim Affairs in Crimea was abolished in 1928. Khalil Muslyadin himself was repressed in 1936. Crimean Islam entered the most difficult phase of its existence under the yoke of the totalitarian system.