Last Minutes Of ATR Crimean Tatar TV Channel

ATR, the only TV channel on the peninsula that broadcasts in Crimean Tatar, ceased its broadcast on March, 31. 

“Crimean Tatars have been through worse. Our people survived Stalin. Surely we will be able to live through the current problems. We will and we will survive. And we will continue to build our home on our land”, says Lilia Budzhurova, ATR channel journalist and deputy director of informational policy at the channel.

ATR, the only TV channel on the peninsula that broadcasts in Crimean Tatar, ceased its broadcast on March, 31. The Russian authorities in annexed Crimea refused to give ATR a broadcasting licence despite numerous requests. Human Rights Watch states that the situation around ATR is “part of a broader pattern of gradually pushing Ukrainian media from Crimea’s air waves and stifling all pro-Ukraine media. Authorities raided offices of several media outlets, sometimes confiscating or damaging their equipment. Numerous journalists and bloggers critical of the authorities have been detained, harassed, or attacked”.

ATR management assured viewers that they will continue to file requests with the authorities for a license, “Yes, we stop broadcasting today, but we know we’ll be back. We always come back. And we will once again say, “ATR TV on air”.

// Video by ATR