26 June 2026
(PHOTO: Intent)
Crimean Tatar Flag Day, observed on June 26, was celebrated in Odesa with a flag-raising ceremony on the Primorsky Steps in the city center.
An Intenta correspondent attended the event.
Fevzi Mamutov, a member of the Odesa Regional Council and head of the civic organization “Crimean Tatars of Odesa Region,” attended the event,and singer Aziza Eskender gave a short concert.
“This is a day of remembrance, solidarity, and support for the indigenous people of Ukraine, who, despite decades of repression, deportation, occupation, and attempts to destroy their identity, continue to fight for the right to live on their own land. The Crimean Tatar flag has become a symbol of resilience, freedom, and dignity,” the event organizers noted.
The Crimean Tatar flag is a blue banner with a yellow coat of arms (tamga) in the upper left corner. Blue—the traditional color of the Turkic peoples—was already used on the banners of the Crimean Khanate. The flag was adopted at the first Kurultai of the Crimean Tatars in 1917. The Second Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people in June 1991 reinstated the flag’s status as a national symbol. It was designed by Fikret Yurter, a U.S. citizen of Crimean Tatar descent.
Crimean Tatar Flag Day was also celebrated in Izmail, where the flag was raised on a flagpole near the city council.
“Raising the Crimean Tatar flag is not just a sign of respect for the indigenous people of Ukraine. It is our joint statement to the whole world: Crimea was, is, and will remain Ukrainian. No occupation can break the will of a people who value freedom above all else,” said Mayor Andriy Abramchenko.
In Lviv, the Crimean Tatar flag was also unfurled in the city center and raised on the flagpole in front of the city council. The national flag of the Crimean Tatars was also ceremonially raised on the flagpole of the Kyiv City State Administration.
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