Xäter Köne: Memory, Dignity, and Freedom of the Tatar People

Greetings, my dear compatriots!

With these words, our people have greeted one another since ancient times — since the era when a great and independent Tatar state existed.

But a day came when our freedom was trampled — when the forces of Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, conquered the Kazan Khanate and began long centuries of suffering for our people.

473 years have passed since then.

Four and a half centuries of pain, humiliation, and destruction.

Yet despite everything, we survived.

Our language is still spoken, our songs are still sung, and our faith remains alive — because the flame of freedom has never been extinguished in the hearts of the Tatar people.

I am proud to be Tatar.
I am proud of my homeland — Tatarstan.

But it is painful to see our language disappearing from schools today, our traditions being forgotten, and our people losing their identity under the pressure of foreign rule.

Tatars!

It is time to awaken from centuries of sleep.

It is time to remember who we are — descendants of great warriors, scholars, poets, and rulers who created one of the most powerful states of Eurasia.

It is time to stand up for our dignity, our faith, our language, and our land.

Over the past 473 years, Russia has brought more suffering to our people than anyone else. Yet no power is capable of destroying the spirit of the Tatar people.

No nation deserves to live in captivity.

The time has come — the time for national revival and liberation.

With respect and faith in the future,
Raushan Gizatullin
Representative of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in Exile in Bavaria