Counter Thesis

       Russia does not have a territorial claim to the Crimean Peninsula. Russia took the Crimean Peninsula from the Ottoman empire in 1771 then subsequently annexed it after three different invasions of their land in 1783. after the Peninsulas annexation Russia began the mistreatment of the native people. it is estimated that "out of a population of approximately one million, some 300,000 Tatars fled Crimea and settled in Turkey". (Marples and Duke, 1995, 263).  This emigration to turkey in addition to the subsequent Russian immigration to the region created a population distribution by 1917 of the Tatars "slightly more than 25%, with Russians comprising almost 50% of the population and Ukrainians and other nationalities the remaining 25%." (Marples and Duke, 1995, 263). With the new Russian majority, they were now able to restructure Crimea as they pleased.

Marples, D. R., Duke, D. F. (1995). Ukraine, Russia, and the question of Crimea.

Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, 23(2), 261-289.