The Crimean Tatar Newspaper Ak Ses – Golos Pravdy (1918–1919): Ideological and Political Position and Problem-Thematic Identity

Section: History of Journalism

This article deals with the question of the Crimean Tatar newspaper Ak Ses – Golos Pravdy published in Simferopol in the late 1918 – early 1919 during the second Crimean regional government under the leadership of Solomon Krym. This publication has long been considered lost. It was described by researchers only on the basis of archival and memoir sources and fragmentary references in other media of the period. The authors found the issues of the newspaper for December 1918 and January–February 1919, which gave them an opportunity to solve the problem of incompleteness and inaccuracy of information in Ak Ses. The article reveals the ideological and political position and problem-thematic orientation of the newspaper. It clarifies unique information about its editor and publisher, composition of the authors’ team, structure, periodicity, format, volume, features of distribution and the like. Detailed attention is paid to the newspaper’s participation in the socio-political life of Crimea in 1918–1919 and its controversy with other Crimean publications. The authors of the article conclude that the Ak Ses – Golos Pravdy newspaper took an “above the fray” position: its journalists tried to distance themselves as much as possible from the programs of individual parties and organizations, including the interests of individual leaders of the Crimean Tatar national movement. The problem-thematic analysis of the main publications showed that its authors tried to stop the governmental and societal disintegration, advocated the cessation of the political struggle, in whose aggravation they saw a threat to the development of the state. The newspaper constantly raised the topic of Crimean Tatar education, fulfilling the cultural and awareness-raising mission of the ethnic publication, so important for the local people’s future.

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