Quote Originally Posted by Crocodile View Post
I think it is all very complex. The Crimeans are about 60 per cent ethnic Russians, 15 percent Crimean Tatars, 20 percent Ukrainians and 5 percent other ethnic groups. The Crimean Tatars are the native peoples of Crimea, but the peninsula has a history of several hundred years being part of the Russian Empire. In 1944 the Tatars were deported en mass into the remote regions of Central Asia as a collective punishment by the Soviet regime which the Tatars strongly associate with Russians. Only in 1991 the Tatars were allowed to repatriate to Crimea which at that time became part of Ukraine. So, the Crimean Tatars do not want to become part of Russia because they strongly associate Russians with the oppression and the genocide. At the same time, the rest of the population are influenced by the two major driving forces: the economic (Russia is a way richer country than Ukraine) and cultural (the majority strongly associate themselves with Russian language and culture). At the same time, Crimea has a long history of their local interests being ignored by the central government in Kiev and the Crimean autonomy only exists on paper. So, part of Crimeans prefer being in Russia to being in Ukraine and the other part the other way around. Hope it clarifies..
Just one thing to add:

Until the late 18th century, Crimean Tatars maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East. About 2 million slaves from Russia and Ukraine were sold over the period 1500–1700. Tatars were known for frequent, at some periods almost annual, devastating raids on the Slavic peoples to the north. In 1769 a last major Tatar raid, which took place during the Russo-Turkish War, saw the capture of 20,000 slaves.
Also, those raids included the killing of Orthodox Christians.
Crimea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What's being clarified for me in this crisis is how little concern the US has for Russia's needs and interests. If I had that little concern for my friends' interests, I wouldn't have any friends.
There will be a lot of difficulties for the Crimean people but they seem to be adjusting to the new situation.
Crimea becomes more Russian by the hour - The Washington Post

But imo, this is only the beginning. I predict there will be more annexations and/or referendums happening soon.
Gorbachev added that the referendum set an example for people in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, who also should decide their fate.
http://news.yahoo.com/putin-approves...074249071.html