Crimee

Very Good Tatar Original wrappers. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14,5 cm). In Crimean Tatar in Arabic script. 25 p. Chipped on extremities, wear on spine, slightly stained and dusty covers. Overall a good copy. First and only edition of this first regulations consisting of 87 articles under 11 main headings, of the parliamentary (qurultai) of the Crimean People's Republic, which was the first Turkic and Muslim democratic republic in the world, existed from December 1917 to January 1918 in the Crimean Peninsula, a modern day Ukrainian territory currently occupied by the Russian Federation. The Crimean People's Republic was declared by the initiative of the Qurultai of Crimean Tatars, which stipulated the equality of all ethnicities within the peninsula. Noman Çelebicihan (1885-1918) was chosen as the first President of the nascent Republic. The Qurultai, in opposition to the Bolsheviks, published a "Crimean Tatar Basic Law", which convened an All-Crimean Constitutional Assembly, established a Board of Directors as a provisional government, and erected a Council of National Representatives as a provisional parliament. The Board of Directors and the Central Council of Ukraine both mutually recognized each other. This attempt to build a new nation was quickly defeated by the Bolshevik- and anarchist-dominated Black Sea Fleet. Already on 16 December 1917, the Bolsheviks captured Sevastopol where the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was located and dissolved the local council of deputies. The power in the city was transferred to the local revkom. The Bolsheviks were supported by some ships of the Black Sea Fleet. To defend itself, the Crimean government created a United Crimean Headquarters on 19 December 1917, that had at its disposal two cavalry and one infantry regiment of Crimean Tatars as well as some Ukrainian and Russian formations that amounted to some thousand people. Several armed incidents took place during January 1918. On 14 January 1918, the Bolsheviks captured Simferopol where they managed to arrest former President of Crimea (Head of Directorate) Noman Çelebicihan who had just resigned on 4 January 1918. He was transferred back to Sevastopol and interned until 23 February 1918, when he was executed without trial. The body of Çelebicihan was thrown into the sea. On the initiative of Çelebicihan on 10 January 1918, the Qurultai created a special commission that conducted talks with the Bolsheviks to stop the armed conflict in Crimea. On the initiative of Çelebicihan on 10 January 1918, the Qurultai created a special commission that conducted talks with the Bolsheviks to stop the armed conflict in Crimea. By the end of January 1918, the Bolsheviks had captured the whole of Crimea and dissolved both the Kurultai as well as the Council of National Representatives. The Red Terror engulfed the peninsula. With Çelebicihan in the Reds' custody, another leader of the Crimean Tatars, Cafer Seydamet Qirimer, managed to escape to the Caucasus across continental Ukraine. Many Crimean military formations retreated to the mountains. The government of Ukraine blockaded Crimea while trying to re-establish control over the Black Sea Fleet and the city of Sevastopol. Any Muslim supporting military formations on the way to Crimea was stopped. That, in turn, triggered a protest from the All-Russian Muslim military council. By the end of January 1918, the Ukrainian government itself was forced to declare war on the Russian SFSR due to the advancement of the Red Guard forces of Moscow and Petrograd into Ukraine without explicit notification. The Bolsheviks briefly established the Taurida Soviet Socialist Republic on Crimean territory in early 1918 before the area was overrun by forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the German Empire. Some officials of the national government, such as Seydamet Qirimer who managed to escape the Bolsheviks' terror sought political asylum in Kyiv and petitioned for military help from the advancing Ukrainian Army as w