NEGIP HAGI FAZAL – 100th year anniversary (1906-1948)

In December 1918, the famous Romanian historian, Nicolae Iorga was underlying that Romania has been endorsing an indiscriminatory political system, treating all citizens, including minorities, as equals. Dobrogea can reflect very well the ethnic inter-relations which is based on reciprocal respect between the Romanians and Crimean Tatar minority.

Dobrogea was the oasis where the Crimean  Tatars, like Ali Bekmambet, Mehmet Ablay, Necati, Mehmet Niyazi, Mustecip Ulkusal, Newzat Yusuf, Ismail Ziyaeddin, Mehmet Yurtsever and others who sacrificed their life for Crimean Tatars spiritual and political cause.

Among the Tatars who worked tirelessly in the cultural and political arena, was Negip Hagi Fazal. He was born to Hagi Fazal and Serife on April 17, 1906 in the village Tatarul, Dobrogea.  After having finished his studies at the Muslim Theology Institute, he went to Bucharest to study Economics Science. However, he returned to Dobrogea to make his contribution to a political magazine, “Emel”, whose chief editor and founder was his brother Mustecip Ulkusal. Through this magazine, Negip Hagi Fazal was able to dessiminate the ideology of the Crimean Tatars who were punished during the Stalin era and later found refugee in Romania. During this constant work of writing poems and publications against the Russian Stalinist regime, he encouraged and reminded the Crimean Tatars the cause of their fight against this political destabilization. Furthermore, Negip Hagi Fazal made a mass organization in how to hide the Crimean Tatar refugees from NKDV agents. Unfortunately, this lead the NKDV agents to physically and mentally torture Negip for eight days until his death on October 22, 1948.

Negip Hagi Fazal will remain one of the most celebrated  romanian Crimean Tatar hero who sacrificed his life for the Tatar ideology.

Iskender Ibram
Hamilton,Ont.