Nariman Dzhelyal

Nariman Dzhelyal is a prominent Crimean Tatar journalist, activist, and politician known for his strong advocacy for the rights of the Crimean Tatar community. Born in 1979 in Navoi, Uzbekistan, his family was among those deported by Stalin in 1944. Dzhelyal returned to Crimea in the 1980s, where he became deeply involved in activism, particularly during the Maidan revolution in 2013-2014. He was a member of the Mejlis, the representative body for Crimean Tatars, and opposed the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Arrested in 2021 and sentenced to 17 years in prison for allegedly plotting to blow up a gas pipeline, he was released in 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange. Dzhelyal has recently been appointed as Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, reflecting his significance in Ukrainian-Tatar relations and the ongoing struggle for Crimean Tatar rights.