Jewish Sect Says Culture Ties It to Motherland
By Talia Lavin
The Jewish Daily Forward - March 27, 2014
(JTA) — Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the strategically critical
peninsula that dangles from Ukraine into the Black Sea, has drawn
international condemnation.
But for the leader of the All-Ukrainian Organization
of Crimean Karaites — a group with an unusual heritage that draws from
Jewish traditions — joining Russia is a welcome development.
“In Crimea, the majority of Karaites support
annexation to Russia, and voted for it,” Vladimir Ormeli, the group’s
head, told JTA. “Culture and people connect us with Russia, more than
Ukraine. But this is a complicated conversation.”
Complicated conversations are typical for the Crimean
Karaites, a small group whose ethnic heritage and religious
categorization has been disputed for hundreds of years. Not in dispute,
however, is their long history in Crimea, a region they consider their
homeland.
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