The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved measures to preserve the cultural heritage of Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks (also known as Crimean Jews — Ed.) for the period until 2005, reports the Crimean news agency. The ratified measures are marked by emphasis on the need for the resurgence of spiritual values of Karaites and Krymchaks with due consideration of their interests in the revival of their cultural distinctiveness, in part their language, religion, traditions, historic and cultural heritage, along with the need to ensure their active involvement in state formation processes.
The gradual implementation of these measures will cater to ethnic, cultural, and social needs of Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks, in part through more support to amateur art groups, supplies of textbooks, dictionaries, and literature in the Karaite and Krymchak languages, as well as training of highly qualified specialists in the humanities from among the representatives of these ethnic groups.
Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks belong to the few ethnic groups of Turkic descent in Ukraine which have lived in communities scattered across the Crimea from time immemorial. They have left a rich national and cultural heritage in the history of Turkic peoples. As a result of complex demographic and social changes the number of Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks has decreased several times since last century. Currently, a mere 800 Karaites and 600 Krymchaks reside on the peninsula. There are no more than 2,000 Karaites the world over and Krymchaks are largely concentrated in the Crimea. The past decades have taken a heavy toll on the ethnic, cultural, and religious distinctiveness of these peoples, reports Mykyta KASIANENKO, Simferopol.
