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The emergence of the Crimean Tatar diaspora dates back to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 1783. The utmost reason for Crimean Tatar emigration, which took the form of a series of waves spanning over the period of 1783-1917, was the destruction of their social and economic life as a result of the Russian colonization policies. The Tatars immigrated to the Ottoman Empire, where they were welcomed as fellow-Muslims and as the populace of the formerly protected Crimean Khanate. The Ottoman territory was called "aqtopraq" ("white soil") by the Crimean Tatar immigrants, as they conceived their migration as "hijra" similar to the prophet's temporary retreat to Medina under the pressure from enemies of Islam. The outflow of the Crimean Tatars turned into an exodus after the Crimean War (1854-1856) as the Russian government clearly began to regard the Crimean Tatars as internal threats to its security because of their historical relations with the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the Tatar immigrants were settled to Dobrudja (Dobrogea) region of the Balkans by the Ottoman authorities, but some were directed to various parts of Anatolia, where they had to face serious climate challenges. Although there were those emigrating from the coastal, central, and urban regions of Crimea, the majority were from the steppes and rural parts of the Crimean peninsula and its surroundings, and among them were a significant number of Nogays (who had integrated in the main Tatar population). There are accounts about families or villages perished, as they could not adopt the environmental change. The Crimean Tatar diaspora identity emerges over these long periods of emigration and could be observed in the predominantly oral cultural production about the loss of the "homeland", and the miseries of immigration voiced in stories, songs, poems, myths, and legends. The Crimean Tatars, who lived largely in closed peasant communities, observing endogamy were able to maintain their ethnic identity and language intact almost up until the 1970s.
With the shrinking of the Ottoman Empire in the last quarter of the 19th century, once again the majority of the Crimean Tatars in Dobrudja migrated to Anatolia, and sometimes re-migrated a few times more within Anatolia. This pattern of immigration contributed the severing of kinship ties, and hence ties to the homeland, amalgamating the previously more segregated sub-ethnicities. The Crimean Tatars participated in the building of the new Turkish Republic, as well as the core Turkish identity. Today the number of people of Crimean Tatar descent in Turkey is estimated to be 3 to 5 million although there is no official census data on that. A small number of Crimean Tatar refugees from the USSR joined the diaspora in Turkey after the World War II, and a small number migrated from Romania and Bulgaria to Turkey after the decline of communism. The Crimean Tatar diaspora in Turkey established several ethnic associations, published journals but experienced a rise in ethnic consciousness only after the dissolution of the USSR, and the return to the homeland of their co-ethnics from the places they were deported within the USSR.
On 18th of May, 1944 the Crimean Tatars who were left in Crimea after the massive emigration of their co-ethnics, were deported by the Soviet government from Crimea to mainly the Central Asia. After 1989, nearly 250 000 Tatars were able to return to Crimea from the places of deportation, but another roughly 250 000 Crimean Tatars still remain in Uzbekistan and other parts of the former Soviet Union. This population is best considered as an exiled community rather than a diaspora, although they might develop into a diaspora if their exile is prolonged. The Crimean Tatar diaspora community in Romania, today nearly 20 000 in population, had been a very vibrant one until the beginning of the communist era in Romania, and it also recently experienced an ethnic revival, and renewal of links with the homeland, as well as other diaspora communities, particularly the one in Turkey. The communities in Bulgaria, North America, and Western Europe are only in thousands, but they also recently began to link themselves to the co-ethnics abroad, and especially to the re-patriated Crimean Tatars. The Crimean Tatars in the Western hemisphere are composed of refugees from the former USSR, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as new immigrants. There are also very small numbers of Crimean Tatars in the Eastern Europe, South America, and Australasia.
The main challenges of the Crimean Tatar diaspora in the 1990s were the erosion of ethnic identity as a result of swift modernization of communities, and the consequent difficulties in mobilization of resources among the apathetic diaspora members in order to support the re-patriation of co-ethnics. As in other diasporas, diaspora political activity is mostly conducted by elites, and ethnic organizations. Again, as in other diasporas, Crimean Tatars also suffered from problems stemming from the differentiation of their identities over time due to their acculturation into various host-societies. In the last decade, the various diaspora communities as well as the homeland community have been ardently negotiating what it means to be a “Crimean Tatar” seeking an agreement on a common sense of identity. There are also various approaches among the Crimean Tatars as to what the goals of diaspora and national movement should be, and how to reach those goals hence a lively internal politics, as in other flourishing diasporas of the 1990s. However, the Crimean Tatar diaspora in general seems to be unified in recognizing the legitimacy of Crimean Tatar National Assembly (Medjlis) in Crimea, and its head, Mustafa Abdulcemil Kirimoglu(Dzhemilev, Jemilev)in taking the major decisions about the fate of the nation. The diaspora is also in agreement with the leadership of Cemiloglu with respect to non-violent political struggle for the restitution of the rights of the deported Tatars within the framework of respect to territorial integrity of Ukraine. For the diaspora, the restitution of Crimean Tatar sovereignty seems to be replaced by a contemporary agenda related to how to mobilize political and economic resources for the return of the remaining Crimean Tatars from their places of deportation to homeland, and for the recognition of Crimean Tatar political rights by the Ukrainian, and Crimean authorities. It has to be noted that the Crimean Tatar diaspora views itself as a victim of historical injustice perpetrated by Russia with the illegitimate annexation of its homeland and violation of previous treaty (1774), and therefore entitled to return. However, the collective return of the Crimean Tatars from the diaspora does not seem to be likely for the near future, although it always remains as an option, especially within the more romantic circles of diaspora. As of today however, the most plausible prospect for the diaspora seems be the establishment of certain political rights for the members of diaspora, such as political representation, property-owning, and dual citizenship.
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