Census history Religion Opened in 2005, the Sultan Suleiman Mosque was also built in Mariupol and named after the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It was built by a Turkish Businessman (Salih Cihan). Five times prayers along with the Friday Prayers are offered at the mosque. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 300 Turks, and hundreds more family members (without Turkish citizenship), were trapped in Mariupol; at least 150 people took refuge in the Sultan Suleiman Mosque. The mosque is run by Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs. Education The Simferopol International School opened by Turkish entrepreneurs in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine has been listed the top school in the list of the country’s best 100 schools. Turkish, English, Crimean Tatar, and French are taught at the school. In the third year since its establishment, the school has achieved several successes in the Olympics held in the city and across the country. The Turkish school also won a bronze medal in the International Environmental Project Olympics (INEPO) held in Turkey. Turkish Parliament Speaker of the time, Cemil Çiçek had visited Meridian International School founded by Turkish entrepreneurs in Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 4, 2013. 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Upon the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, nearly 9,000 Turks with Turkish citizenship were reported to have evacuated the country by 3rd March, having arrived in Turkey with Turkish Airlines flights from Warsaw and Bucharest. On February 25, 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Northern Cyprus strongly recommended all Turkish Cypriot citizens to leave Ukraine. Assistance was provided at the TRNC Representative Office in Budapest. On March 17, 2022, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, announced that Turkey had evacuated 15,196 Turkish citizens since the start of the war. Among them were Meskhetian Turks who had already acquired Turkish citizenship, having previously settled in the Üzümlü district of Erzincan in 2015 due to the 2014 Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. Some of these Meskhetian Turks from Erzincan had later returned to Ukraine; thus, the 2022 evacuation back to Turkey has meant that "some of them have seen three deportations in their lifetime." Notable people Miray Akay, actress (Turkish father) Elvira Kamaloğlu, female wrestling champion (Turkish Meskhetian origin) Vasily Kapnist, playwright and nobleman (Turkish mother) Alemdar Karamanov, composer (Turkish father) Dzhemal Kyzylatesh, football player Emre Manuila, football player Emrah Ormanoğlu, freestyle wrestler(Turkish Meskhetian