Lovers of sauce tartar and steak tartar will be pleased to learn that the “r” is dispensable.
We don’t use an “r” when we refer to Tatars as members of an ethnic group, or to the Tatar language. But we do use it when we refer to Tartars as descendants of (mythological?) Tartary, such as Turks and Mongols. But they are the same word.
The history of the Tatars, the 12% of the Crimean population who are very much in the news right now, is described in The Globe and Mail on March 7 by Professor Victor Ostapchuk, of the University of Toronto. They are generally pro-Ukrainian, not pro-Russian, he writes. Stalin had them deported from the Crimea, allegedly because they helped the Nazis in WW2. Half of the 225,000 deportees died. Today’s Tatars are the descendants of the survivors who returned to the Crimea.
Eric Koch’s new book, New Beginnings, was launched on September 20. The book is available from 
Unfortunately, his article, interesting as it is, doesn’t tell us who the Tatars are, i.e., their origin, their language family, religion and culture.
nor what seriously might be done to spare them from their next fated encounter with the Russians…