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| 1923 -- 201 |
Garip Sultan, was the first deputy chief
editor of the Tatar-Bashkir broadcast service of Radio Liberty in
1953. Eventually he would become the chief editor of that service and
remain so until RFE/RL left Munich for Prague in 1995. Garip Sultan died
in Munich this week; he was 88 years old.
Ian Johnson's book A Mosque in Munich (2010) details how Garip Sultan arrived in
Germany in World War II, eventually joined Radio Liberty in the early 1950s,
and his activities for RL afterwards.
In a tribute to Garip Sultan, former Radio Liberty staffer Sabirjan Badretdin wrote, in part:
To the listeners of Radio Liberty in the countries that once comprised the Soviet Union, Mr. Sultan is known primarily under the pseudonym Fanis Ishimbay. His voice is still familiar to thousands of people who regularly tuned in to Tatar-language programs of Radio Liberty.
Unfortunately, Mr. Sultan's outstanding contribution to the enlightenment of the Tatar people is still under-appreciated by the leaders of the Tatar organizations in Russia and by the current leadership of Tatarstan. Many Tatar leaders simply don't understand the importance of Mr. Sultan's work for the Tatar people.
Please go to http://www.azatliq.org/content/garip_sultan/24395729.html for Sabirjan Badretkin's full tribute.
In a tribute to Garip Sultan, former Radio Liberty staffer Sabirjan Badretdin wrote, in part:
To the listeners of Radio Liberty in the countries that once comprised the Soviet Union, Mr. Sultan is known primarily under the pseudonym Fanis Ishimbay. His voice is still familiar to thousands of people who regularly tuned in to Tatar-language programs of Radio Liberty.
Unfortunately, Mr. Sultan's outstanding contribution to the enlightenment of the Tatar people is still under-appreciated by the leaders of the Tatar organizations in Russia and by the current leadership of Tatarstan. Many Tatar leaders simply don't understand the importance of Mr. Sultan's work for the Tatar people.
Please go to http://www.azatliq.org/content/garip_sultan/24395729.html for Sabirjan Badretkin's full tribute.
The Tatar-Bashkir
service continues today to broadcast from RFE/RL in Prague, Czech Republic, four
hours a day via short-wave and satellite to Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.
From Dr. Charles Carlson, former Director of the Nationalities Services, RFE/RL: Garip Sultan was the last of a succession of founding fathers of the Central Asian services of RL. He was the founder of the Tatar-Bashkir Service; in fact he was the Tatar-Bashkir Service. I remember the many times we argued about the appropriateness of this name, but Garip always stuck by his principles – it was the Tatar-Bashkir Service and that’s what it would remain!
ReplyDeleteFrom Ian Johnson:
ReplyDeleteIn the course of researching my book on Islam and the Cold War, I was graciously hosted by Mr. Sultan in his Munich apartment numerous times. Over tea and cookies, surrounded by folders, files and photos, we discussed the 1940s, '50s and '60s in detail. He was patient and generous with his time, making that era come alive. As an emigre he had a difficult life--leaving so much behind the Iron Curtain--but managed to recreate in the West a new existence, raise a family and stay committed to his anti-communist principles. He had faced difficult decisions in life but made the best of it and in the end he lived a full and rich life. Would that all of us could say as much.
From Jim Critchlow, author of Radio Hole-in-the-Head and former manager of Radio Liberty:
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of historical accuracy I'd like to enter a correction to Charles Carlson's moving tribute to Garip. He was in no sense the founder of RL's Tatar-Bashkir service. The chief editor from the beginning in 1952 until at least the time I left Munich in 1962 was a Siberian Tatar, a short, stocky man with distinctly Asian features whose legal name in Germany was Aksam Josefoglu (better rendered in English as Yusuf-oghly). Garip was his No. 2.
From Bill Reese:
ReplyDeleteIn my capacities as Director of the Turkic Services, and as Director of the Nationalities Services of RFE/RL , I worked with Garip for almost 20 years. He was always a professional, a real gentleman and an outstanding representative of the Tatar Nation, always a patriot and advocate for his people