March 18 2014, Tuesday
Crimean
Peninsula
I have not always been an English
teacher. I taught both History and English until 2001. Well, actually, my
university degree was in History. When my memories went back to those years as
a History teacher, the two emotions that I felt strongly then would once again
surge through me. The first one was my anger over the humiliation suffered and
the loss of territories since the Opium War in 1839. The next was my
frustration over the intrigue situation of the Crimea and the Balkans.
For the past few weeks, the Crimean
peninsula has caught the limelight for the samehistoric reason – the struggle
between Russia and the rest of the western world. The Crimean referendum held
on March 16 reminds me so much of what happened in Austria 76 years ago on 12
March 1938. In both situations, people at gun point voted for secession from
the ruling sovereignty and be incorporated by the “invaders”, Russia in the
case of Crimea and Nazi Germany in the case of Austria.
But it must also be remembered
that ethnic Russians account for 58 percent of Crimea's population, while
Ukrainians make up 24 percent. Crimean Tatars, who were once deported by Soviet
Russia but returned to the peninsula from exile after the fall of the Soviet
Union, comprise 12 percent of its population. These are the very people who are
now awaiting to see how their fate fares!
The history of the Crimean
peninsula expands more than 2,000 years with many different conquerors
throughout time. Some of these included the Greeks, Ottoman Turks, Tatars and
the Mongols in its early history. In the 13th century, it was partly controlled
by the Venetians and by the Genovese followed by the Crimean Khanate and the
Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to
20th centuries, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union. In 1991 it became
part of independent Ukraine, as the Autonomous Republic Crimea. The greatest fear in western
Europe has always been that Russia, already with the Black Sea fleet based in Sevastopol,
Crimea, will continue the process of expanding south in the Black Sea region
and will possibly even reach Istanbul - a gateway of immense strategic
importance between the Balkans and Asia.
To Vladimir Putin, President of
Russia, Crimea would be a dazzling conquest, once Russia's imperial crown
jewel, a lush land seized by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Russia is
expected to face strong sanctions from the U.S. and Europe. But by far, the
western reaction including that of the USA has been quite feeble.
Though Hong Kong is nowhere near
to Crimea or Ukraine, we have to bear in mind that we are part of this big
world and we should not be merely engrossed in our own local matters. The media
should also provide the viewers with in-depth analysis of global issues.
