Supranational Empowerment of National Minorities

Tatars and Tatarstan in Global Politics

Liliya Nizamova

Ethnic minorities raise key questions concerning inclusion and exclusion in a world of nation-states. How can recognition and voice be assured for peoples who do not belong to the dominant nation in a given state? This challenge exists across all continents. The many examples include the Saharawi in Africa, indigenous peoples in the Americas and Australia, Tibetans in Asia, Basques in Europe, and Kurds in the Middle East.

Today all of these groups look partly to global arenas to support their struggles. For instance, they may have a global diaspora of migrants who promote the cause from afar. They may take their case to the United Nations and other global governance institutions. They may use global communications to publicise their grievances. They may appeal for help from global civil society. In these ways and more a national problem is globalised.

The Russian Federation, too, has ethnic and national minorities. The largest of these groups is the Tatars, who today number 5.5 million people, or 3.8 per cent of the country’s population. Tatars have their own language, belonging to a Turkic group, and adhere to the Islamic faith. Their history stretches back to the medieval Bulgar State and the Kazan Khanate (1438-1552).

Today Tatars have their own national Republic of Tatarstan, one of 83 parts of the Russian Federation. Ethnic Tatars constitute a little more than half of the 3.7 million inhabitants of the Republic. Another 40 per cent are Russians and other ethnic groups. The capital Kazan is 800 kilometres east of Moscow.

With this quasi-state in place the Tatar people could be said to have quite good arrangements for recognition and voice, at least on the regional (Republic) and local levels. However, there are concerns about the larger realm of the Russian Federation, where an additional 3.6 million Tatars live. Federal-level policies tend to ignore ethno-cultural differences and push for assimilation into an all-Russia civic identity. Moreover, the trend in Russia today is toward centralisation, with much consolidation of economic and political power in the federal government.

So Tatars have concerns about political, cultural, linguistic and religious exclusion. They demand recognition of their rights for a unique and distinctive identity. They wish to preserve and further develop Tatar language and customs. They oppose Islamophobia and other religious prejudice. They seek to protect and extend the territorial autonomy of Tatarstan, to promote a division of powers between federal and regional levels, and to attain greater economic and political independence.

This is not to suggest that Tatars aim to have their own exclusive country. On the contrary, the majority of Tatars regard their Republic as a multicultural home. In Tatarstan there is peaceful co-existence of Turkic and Slavic cultures, of Tatar and Russian languages, and of Muslim and Orthodox religions. The ‘Tatarstan model’ of multiculturalism contrasts sharply with the painful situation in Chechnya.

Tatars have tapped a number of global channels to bolster their autonomy. For example, Tatarstan is part of the Russian delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) has its Eurasian headquarters in Kazan. Tatarstan also participates in its own right – independently from the Russian federal government – in the Assembly of European Regions (AER).

In addition to these governmental links, Tatar people have formed solidarities in global civil society. For instance, the World Congress of Tatars, founded in 1992, now unites about 150 public associations and cultural centres in 37 countries. Also active is the youth wing of this organisation, the World Forum of Tatar Youth. Between 1991 and 2008 Tatarstan was a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). Tatar writers have joined the global association PEN International, an example that might encourage Tatar participation in other horizontal global networks.

Global communications have provided another important aspect of contemporary Tatar empowerment. Tatar Internet (TatNet) exists since 1994 as a major contributor to cohesion across the Tatar diaspora, which numbers more than one million worldwide. Microsoft software in the Tatar language is available since 2006. Other projects such as Tatar Wikipedia (http://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki), the ‘Tatar Internet library’ (http://kitap.net.ru/), and the ‘Tatar virtual gymnasium’ (http://tatar.org.ru/index.php?lang=en) also overcome geographical, administrative, financial and class barriers.

Most of these tools for Tatar empowerment in global politics could be used by other national minorities. The various global networks can also be used to promote collaboration among national minorities. Together these movements can strive to secure global norms for democratic recognition, voice and influence for these groups the world over.

Watch video footage of Liliya Nizamova introducing her paper on 'including national minorities in global politics' at our international workshop in Rio de Janeiro.

The workshop brought together academics, activitists and policymakers from around the world and generated lively debates and new understanding on how to understand and overcome exclusion.

Read more about:

including the exluded | rio workshop |   workshop findings

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