On 25 June, we celebrated Crimean Tatar Flag Day at the European Solidarity Centre.
The holiday is observed annually by the Crimean Tatar community around the world. It was established in 2010 on the initiative of, among others, the Crimean Youth Centre, with 26 June designated as the official date of celebration.
The aim of the holiday is to bring people together and to promote Crimean Tatar symbols. Crimean Tatar Flag Day in Gdańsk is an opportunity to recognise the richness of Tatar cultures—Crimean Tatars, Polish Tatars, as well as Polish Karaites.
It is worth remembering that the first groups of Tatar people—citizens of the Republic of Poland from the former Vilnius and Nowogródek Voivodeships—arrived on the Gdańsk Coast as early as 1945.
The main figure of the ceremony was Susanna Izzetdinova, a Crimean Tatar woman who was forced to leave her homeland following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Today, she is an independent and free woman who successfully runs her own business in Gdańsk and, importantly, is a member of the Pomeranian Women’s Council.
