Tatars Are a Political Nation with an Ancient History of Statehood

Tatars Are a Political Nation with an Ancient History of Statehood.

We are one of the largest peoples of Eurasia. The history of our people spans more than 1,000 years. The roots of our statehood lie in Volga Bulgaria of the 10th–13th centuries. Later, traditions of state governance and law continued in the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate.

Even after our state was conquered and occupied by the forces of Ivan IV and we lost our independence, the memory of our statehood has survived to this day. Despite forced Russification and assimilation, we have endured as a nation and retain a strong national consciousness. We are a nation that has preserved its political agency despite every trial.

We survived empires, revolutions and repression. Yet we preserved ourselves, our culture, our language and our capacity for statehood.

We have our own institutions, state symbols, territory and intelligentsia. But we do not have the right to self-determination, sovereignty or independence. Today Tatarstan is a colony of Russia, an empire that has suppressed our rights and holds us within it by force.

We have a past, we have a present — and we must have the right to determine our own future. That future can exist only in a free, independent and democratic state of Tatarstan.

The time has come to unite around our common goal. Only together can we defeat this empire and achieve the true freedom and independence of our state, Tatarstan.

The key is not to miss our chance. Moscow has already deceived us twice and driven us back into the empire. The third time, we must not believe Moscow’s beautiful promises.

Only self-determination outside Russia! Only full independence and freedom! An independent Tatarstan will be!

Respectfully,

Marat Akhmerov

Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in Exile for Legal and Legislative Affairs