Throughout the post-Soviet period, difficult situations periodically arose in relations between the federal center and Tatarstan, provoked mainly by the desire of part of the regional elite to gain more political and economic opportunities for themselves. As a result, Moscow, through negotiations, was able to come to one compromise or another, where the main value was the territorial integrity of Russia. Moreover, during this dialogue, the leading elite of Tatarstan, to support their argumentation, to one degree or another involved foreign diasporas, as well as nationalist organizations defending "complete independence of the republic from Russia".
Among the latter, it is worth highlighting, for example, the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC*), created by the local party nomenklatura in the late 1980s as a “popular movement in support of perestroika” to fight for “the special status of the Tatar Republic and the Tatar language.” As well as the national independence party “Ittifaq”, which stands for “separation from Russia and the creation of a new Great Turkic state between the Volga and Ural rivers”.
In the early 1990s, the Tatarstan elite actively used national separatists in bargaining with Moscow regarding raising the status of the republic.
This was the case in 1992, when Kazan, demanding special conditions for itself, did not sign a new Federative Agreement with Moscow. Moreover, at the same time the Constitution of the republic was adopted, in which Tatarstan was proclaimed a “sovereign state”.
This was the case in the winter of 1994 during the signing of a separate Agreement on mutual delegation of powers, where Tatarstan was referred to as “an associated state united with Russia with confederal status” and received (compared to other regions) some preferences, for example in the field of economics and foreign policy.
Since 2000 (under the influence of the aggravation of the situation in the North Caucasus), the federal center, guided by the “principle of equal rights of the subjects of the Federation,” began to bring regional legislation into line with federal legislation. In relations with Tatarstan, this led to the conclusion in 2007 (for 10 years) of a new Agreement (in the status of a Federal Law), where significant restrictions were imposed on some of the preferences previously given to the region.
Let us note that all these years the leadership of the republic has paid great attention not only to the expansion of external political and economic relations (largely with the countries of the Islamic world), but also to the dissemination of the Tatar language as a symbol of the “revival of national culture” and “strengthening of Tatar statehood.” Moreover, according to the 2010 census, there were just over 53% Tatars and about 40% Russians in the republic. Accordingly, Russian and Tatar are the most common languages in the region and are used for teaching in schools and universities.
And so, in anticipation of the signing of the next Agreement with the federal center, the leadership of Tatarstan followed the already “proven scenario”, holding several events with the participation of representatives of the foreign diaspora and, as they are now called, “moderate ethnonationalists.” Moreover, the topic of “raising the status of the Tatar language” was immediately brought into play, around which serious political passions are now flaring up in the republic.
On April 8, 2017, a kurultai (congress) of the oldest national-separatist organization VTOTs* was held in Kazan, which brought together about 200 delegates from Russian regions and put forward, as they say, maximum demands to the federal government (according to the principle “ask for more - you’ll see, something will give"). Among them we highlight the following.
First. Signing of a new Agreement (modeled on 1994), taking into account the results of the referendum on the state status of Tatarstan in 1992, where... the republic is called “a sovereign state, a subject of international law, associated with the Russian Federation”.
Second. 70% of income should remain in the republic and 30% should be transferred to the federal center.
Third. Necessity “introduction of the second state language in Russia - Tatar”, since about 2/3 of the Tatars live not in Tatarstan, but in other subjects of the Federation. (Plus - the opportunity to take the Unified State Exam in the Tatar language.)
Let us recall that the VTOC* periodically holds events to “protect the native language,” and in February 2016 the organization organized a conference “Tatar as a state language in the Republic of Tatarstan. Why didn’t it work in 25 years?”, where the “language policy” of the local authorities was sharply criticized.
According to Kazan experts, despite the fact that some representatives of nationalist organizations have been prosecuted in recent years (for extremist actions and calls for separatism), the republican authorities still use ethnonationalists as "a political tool for conversation with federal authorities". And the VTOC kurultai* held with the participation of near-government experts is a clear confirmation of this.
After some time, the leadership of Tatarstan, demonstrating to Moscow the extreme position of the nationalist forces, initiated several major events with more moderate demands.
On April 22, 2017, the III Congress of the Peoples of Tatarstan was convened, bringing together more than 700 delegates and addressing (in its resolution) the federal authorities with two proposals. Firstly, “keep the title of the position President of the Republic of Tatarstan”(Tatarstan today remains the only region of Russia where the head of the republic is called this way). And secondly, “in connection with the expiration of the Treaty... to work out forms for resolving emerging issues regarding the division of powers between the federal center and Tatarstan”.
Let us pay attention to the fact that the two previous congresses of the peoples of the republic were held in 1992 and 2007, that is, shortly before the signing of the Treaties.
Already in June 2017, information appeared that the next agreement between Moscow and Kazan would not be signed. At the same time, some experts named among the reasons for non-signing the position of the current first deputy head of the presidential administration S. Kiriyenko, who, having held office in 2000–2005, post of presidential plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District, responsible for “bringing the legislation of Tatarstan into conformity with the federal one”. At the same time, it is believed that this process was slowed down by the then President of the Republic M. Shaimiev, referring to the 1994 Treaty.
Despite the fact that some representatives of the political establishment of Tatarstan (for example, senator from the republic O. Morozov) believe that “the agreement with Moscow no longer has sacred significance”, there was a stormy reaction from part of the regional elite, who were interested in continuing contractual relations with the Center and who at one time received certain political and economic benefits from this.
Thus, at the end of June 2017, in an interview with the newspaper “Evening Kazan”, the former political adviser to M. Shaimiev, director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan R. Khakimov (considered one of the ideologists of the VTOC*) was indignant at the failure of the campaign to lobby for the renegotiation of the agreement: “They are conferring in our presidential office, but they must sit in Moscow, and the State Council of Tatarstan must move! While promoting the agreement, we have not left Moscow since 2005...”
On July 11, the State Council of the Republic “moved” and made an appeal to Russian President V. Putin with two “sacred” requests: to preserve the right of the head of the region to be called “president” and to extend the agreement as “an important factor in maintaining political, interethnic and interfaith stability”.
In this situation, the unexpected discussion of the issue of the level of teaching the Russian language in the national republics became a convenient excuse for nationalists and part of the Tatarstan elite to continue “bargaining with Moscow.”
On July 21, 2017, a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations was held in Yoshkar-Ola, where Russian President V. Putin drew attention to the violations that have been ongoing for many years in the teaching of the Russian language in the national republics: “Forcing a person to learn a language that is not native to him is just as unacceptable as reducing the level and time of teaching Russian [the language] of state, interethnic communication... The languages of the peoples of Russia are an integral part of the original culture of the peoples of Russia, learning these languages is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a voluntary right".
Please note that such violations, known from numerous complaints from parents of schoolchildren mainly from Tatarstan and Bashkiria, were discussed (and, as it turned out, unsuccessfully) at the previous meeting of the Council in 2015.
In response to this latest message from the federal authorities in Tatarstan, a heated public discussion began about... "preservation of the Tatar language".
On August 2–6, the VI Congress of the World Congress of Tatars (WCT) was held in Kazan, bringing together more than 1,000 delegates and guests from more than 70 Russian regions and 40 countries. Let us recall that the CGT was created in 1992 by the authorities of Tatarstan to unite (and use in dialogue with Moscow) “moderate” and nationalists controlled by it. This time, this public platform was used to voice some “compromise proposals.” At the congress it was again discussed “the positive role of the Agreement on the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between government bodies of the Russian Federation and Tatarstan”, about support “preservation of the position of President in the republic”, about the possibility “to make the Tatar language the second state language in Russia... and pass the Unified State Exam in the native language”.
In the second half of August, the opinion of the First Deputy Head of the Administration S. Kiriyenko about the impossibility of re-signing the Agreement on the Division of Powers with Tatarstan became known: “Right now, statehood is not being built according to a treaty type... all the norms [of the treaty] have already been implemented into the current legislation... There is no need to go back and harp on this topic”. A little later, information appeared that Moscow only agreed to retain the post of President of Tatarstan until 2020, when the term of office of the current head of the republic, R. Minnikhanov, ends. And the question of extending the contract was finally closed.
At the end of August, Russian President V. Putin instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office and Rosobrnadzor to check compliance with the rights of Russians to “voluntary study of the native language from among the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation and the state languages of the [national] republics”. And bring “the volume of study by schoolchildren in the regions of the Russian language to the level recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science”. Inspections have begun in Tatarstan.
At the same time, over the past two months, a whole series of actions have taken place in the republic, which allows us to talk about the organization of a propaganda campaign against the federal center.
Firstly, according to experts, there was obvious sabotage of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation among the officials of the republic.
Secondly, numerous materials from experts and local politicians, as well as various petitions and polls on the Internet, were devoted to the topic of “protecting the national language.” At the same time, numerous legal demands of parents to give schoolchildren the opportunity to “study Russian in full” and “Tatar on a voluntary basis” were interpreted in the republican media as “the struggle to ban and oust the Tatar language”.
Thirdly, rallies and pickets began with the participation of nationalists, including demands to “resign” the federal government and regional leadership.
On September 21, during his speech with the annual message to the State Council of Tatarstan, the President of the Republic R. Minnikhanov spoke rather restrainedly regarding the non-extension of the agreement on the division of powers with Moscow, pointing out that the region, even under the new format of relations “takes full advantage of the wide opportunities available in the Russian Federation”. At the same time, R. Minnikhanov announced the need “ensuring a high level of knowledge and proficiency in the Russian language” in the republic.
In fact, checks on the “language issue” began in the region only after September 27, when the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu. Chaika visited Tatarstan. Schools began to receive instructions from the district prosecutor's offices on “elimination of violations of the requirements of federal legislation on education”, including “correction of the curriculum towards increasing the Russian language” and studying Tatar "on a voluntary basis".
Meanwhile, the propaganda campaign in defense of compulsory study of the Tatar language in schools was gaining momentum. A letter to the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin, Prosecutor General Yu. Chaika and the head of the republic from 60 writers of Tatarstan (among them is the founder of the Tatar National Independence Party “Ittifaq” F. Bayramova)... Appeal to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R. Minnikhanov from the delegates of the III in Berlin Forum of Tatar Youth of Europe...
On October 14, two major events were held, where, in addition to the “issue of the national language,” the topic of “the need to extend the agreement between the republic and the federal center”. A traditional meeting was held in Kazan dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of those who fell during the capture of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible in 1552, which brought together about 400 representatives of national movements from Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia and Mordovia. After the rally, its participants held a constituent meeting of the Coordination Council (CC) of the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals, which proclaimed “restoring the rights of national education systems”.
Let us pay attention to what F. Bayramova, elected to the Constitutional Court, as she is called, “grandmother of Tatar nationalism”, said: “We must demand the cancellation of Putin’s order in Yoshkar-Ola!.. During the elections, there is no need to choose either Putin or United Russia.” It should be written like this [in the meeting resolution]: ...the non-Russian peoples of Russia urge not to elect a president who is against our language... Better than Yabloko.
At the same time, at this meeting one could hear from the Mufti of the Kirov region Z. Galiullin about the need “to assemble the Congress of the Peoples of Russia”, and also how “The Moscow principality is robbing the entire country”. All these theses were included in the resolution of the Coordination Council (the next meeting of which is scheduled for November 6, Constitution Day of Tatarstan).
Let us note that on November 4 (Day of National Unity, celebrated, among other things, by “Russian Marches”), Russian-speaking parents and public organizations are planning a Republican parent meeting dedicated to the issue of “voluntariness of learning the Tatar language”.
Thus, it can be assumed that in Tatarstan, on the eve of the start of the 2018 presidential campaign, they are trying to provoke a major, as it is called, ethnolinguistic, or rather, interethnic conflict. And election topics play an important role here.
On October 22, an open letter to “to the future presidential candidate of Russia K. Sobchak” where the request is made “to stand up for our native Tatar language”, as well as for “Bashkir, Chuvash, Yakut, Mari and many other languages of the Russian Federation”.
That is, Tatar ethnonationalists are already directly addressing opposition liberals, with whom they have such common themes as “overthrowing the Putin regime” and “giving Crimea to Ukraine.” Let us also recall the contacts of white ribbon activists with local nationalists and Islamic radicals during the protest campaign of 2011–2012.
In the second half of October, the World Congress of Tatars (WCT) declared “a decisive protest against absolutely illegal attacks on the state status of the Tatar language in the republic”.
Note that in this case, the position of the Tatarstan leadership was latently announced, trying to prevent open harsh statements against the federal center. Thus, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the VKT is State Council Deputy R. Zakirov. And the Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan V. Shaikhraziev headed the National Congress Council (Milli Shura), created at the aforementioned VI Congress of the CGT. Thus, Republican officials continue to use "moderate" nationalists. But, as experts suggest, the real leadership of the VKT, and therefore part of the Tatarstan elite, is carried out from foreign terminals.
By the end of October, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (DUM) of Tatarstan had already taken part in the developing propaganda campaign, announcing the launch of a training program (“We are Tatars”) for the study of the Tatar language in the mosques of the republic. A letter from about 250 teachers of the Tatar language and literature to deputies of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan appeared on the Internet... As well as “Appeal of the Tatars of the Russian Federation” (on behalf of more than 40 representatives of the national intelligentsia), addressed to the senior leadership and deputies of the State Council of the republic and which gathered about 13 thousand signatures.
This text can be considered as a kind of ultimatum from an influential part of the regional elite to the current government. For example, it says the following: “Your decision is our last frontier. Depending on what it is, you will receive our support or alienation. Our paths will diverge when “interested” people come for Tatneft, TAIF or some leading personnel. There will be no one to support you..."
Please note that the appeal names large companies that are directly related to R. Minnikhanov (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tatneft) and the son of the former President of Tatarstan R. Shaimiev (who owns more than 11% of the Tatar-American Investments and Finance holding).
It should be noted that the reaction to this appeal, in which the regional authorities were accused of silence and inaction towards teachers and school principals, was swift.
Literally the next day, October 26, at a meeting of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, the President of the Republic R. Minnikhanov, partly understanding the “man-made” catastrophe approaching him, gave the regional prosecutor’s office and some officials a real scolding: “We are working on this. And there is no need to politicize it... Now oppositional structures are trying to be supporters of the Tatar language, so that there is discord between Russians and Tatars... We are back in the 90s... Unfortunately, it turned out that school principals were left to blame ... School principals cannot be treated this way. Tomorrow I have to organize elections with them. On the eve of the elections, is it really possible to do such things?.. Or is this being done on purpose so that in Tatarstan it will be bad towards our President V. Putin?”
Some experts suggest that among the organizers of a powerful anti-Russian campaign that affects the position of the current heads of Tatarstan and Bashkiria, there may be an entourage of the former leaders of these regions, M. Shaimiev and M. Rakhimov, respectively, who are trying to defend their “conquests of the 90s.” And also local national separatists, whom the authorities can no longer control as closely as before. Foreign diasporas associated with the leaders of the “Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People” (an organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), and their curators interested in the destruction of Russian statehood are also named. Let us recall that in 2014, the current leadership of Tatarstan (unsuccessfully) tried to play the role of a mediator, persuading M. Dzhemilev and R. Chubarov to negotiate with the Russian authorities. And a certain “merit” for the breakdown of these negotiations belongs to Western intelligence services.
What is revealed during public “discussions about language” in the media and prosecutorial checks in Tatarstan regarding violations of all-Russian educational standards?
The regional law of 1992 declares that in educational institutions Tatar (as the “state language of Tatarstan”, according to the constitution of the republic) and Russian languages are studied compulsorily and in equal volumes. In 2008, the then President of Tatarstan M. Shaimiev spoke out against “new educational standards, where the national and regional components were abolished”, stating that “the study of the Tatar language will be carried out in the same volume”.
However, in 2011, representatives of the Society of Russian Culture of Tatarstan sent a letter to the President of the Russian Federation (then this post was held by D. Medvedev), which stated that in the republic “Children receive only 700 hours of Russian instead of 1200 for the entire period of study”. Let us note that at that time the region practically did not react to the comments from Moscow.
As a result, by 2017, in many schools of the republic, due to the study of two independent subjects “Tatar language” and “Tatar literature”, the number of hours allocated to the Russian language turned out to be 1.5–2 times less. And only during the current prosecutorial checks did the government of Tatarstan make a decision “on bringing, from January 1, 2018, the volume of studying the Russian language to the volume recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation”.
At the same time, as Kazan historians and experts themselves say, “in urban areas only a third of families speak literary Tatar, two thirds speak Russian”. And from 2002 to 2010 “the number of people who know the Tatar language in the Russian Federation has decreased by about 1 million people”.
Let us add that back in 2013, during the preparation of a unified history textbook, serious disagreements arose between the central and regional authorities regarding the interpretation of the periods associated with the existence of the Golden Horde. As a result, the Tatar-Mongol yoke was called “the system of dependence of Russian lands on the Horde khans”. At the same time, in some university textbooks on the history of Tatarstan one could find a description "occupation of the Kazan Khanate in 1552 by Muscovy".
In 2015, the State Council of Tatarstan opposed the federal bill introducing “basic textbooks” in Russia, as well as the educational concept providing for “teaching basic school subjects in Russian”. And by 2017 the theme "sovereign independent state of Tatarstan"(ranked with Turkey, France, Great Britain and Russia) has already been actively developed in certain school textbooks on the Tatar language used in teaching, despite the ban by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Experts point out that as a result of such arbitrariness of the regional authorities “in Tatarstan and other republics, for example, in Yakutia and Chuvashia, for 25 years there has been the formation of ethnic consciousness, the formation of a consciousness of republican citizenship among the speakers of these languages...”
How does this policy relate to the declared support of the Tatarstan elite? “the course of the leadership of the Russian Federation... on the implementation of the Strategy of the state national policy and... the formation of an all-Russian civic identity”? And what other “time bombs” are being laid under the territorial integrity of Russia in some national republics by short-sighted and provocative decisions of part of the local elite (and its foreign partners)?
On November 8, deputies of the State Council of Tatarstan discuss the future of teaching the Tatar language in schools of the republic. An attempt by the regional Ministry of Education and Science to leave two hours of compulsory Tatar per week in grades 1 to 9 encountered opposition from the Tatarstan prosecutor’s office. At the same time, in Kazan, dissatisfied parents have already begun to go to court demanding compensation for moral damages for being “forced” to study the Tatar language in past years.
By December 1, the Tatarstan authorities must fulfill the order Vladimir Putin and bring the volume of Russian language learning to the level recommended by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. In addition, the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov must ensure that the study of the national language in schools takes place exclusively on a voluntary basis at the choice of parents, as required by the federal authorities.
The Tatarstan authorities remained silent for three months on the issue of compulsory teaching of the Tatar language. Only on October 26, at a session of the State Council of Tatarstan, President Rustam Minnikhanov stated that “we have gone too far and returned to the 90s,” after which he asked the question, “how could it be possible to divide society?”
On the eve of the presidential elections in 2018, the President of Tatarstan recalled that it is schools that “conduct all election processes.”
– Or is this being done on purpose so that Tatarstan will have a bad attitude towards our President Vladimir Putin? – Minnikhanov wondered. On the same day, the Tatarstan branch of the Yabloko party issued a press release in which it called his statements about teachers’ participation in the elections “unacceptable.”
On October 26, before the State Council session, several dozen activists gathered near the parliament building. They sang the unofficial anthem of the Tatar people “Tugan Tel” (“Native Language”) and distributed the Tatar alphabet to deputies of the republican parliament. Let us note that they tried to hold a rally in support of the Tatar language in the republic, but the city authorities refused to approve it, citing shortcomings in the submitted notification.
On October 18, the Tatarstan prosecutor's office issued a warning to the chairman of the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC) Farita Zakieva"On the inadmissibility of extremist activities."
Political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin believes that the firm position of the federal authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding increasing the volume of studying the Russian language is just one form of bargaining between the federal authorities and Tatarstan:
– I think that in the near future the situation will develop towards a tightening of the rights of the regions, in particular Tatarstan, and their transfer to state support, following the example of Chechnya. In Chechnya, as you know, there is no economy, and everything that it receives, it receives from the center, and therefore it tiptoes around and looks into Allah’s mouth, and Allah gives money. (In one of the interviews, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, when asked where his republic gets considerable funds for various projects, answered “Allah gives” - KR). Tatarstan differs from Chechnya in that it represents an independent economic value, so it does not want to curry favor with Moscow. This means that Moscow’s task is to take more money from Tatarstan, to make it poorer and more obedient. Tatarstan will resist, and Moscow will put pressure, the expert believes.
The reason for the new aggravation of relations between Tatarstan and the federal center could be the expiration this summer of the agreement on the delimitation of jurisdiction between Tatarstan and Russia, signed by Boris Yeltsin. In those days, relations between the republic and the center were also difficult, recalls Dmitry Oreshkin:
The Kazan Kremlin wants more independence and better status from the Moscow Kremlin
– When the elites of Tatarstan butted heads with the Moscow Kremlin in order to raise their status, they even wanted to take customs duties for the passage of trains from Moscow to Vladivostok through the territory of sovereign Tatarstan. The Kazan Kremlin had to somehow put pressure on the Moscow Kremlin, and then, in a strange way, the movement of Tatar nationalists stirred up in Tatarstan, as if spontaneously. And in the 1993 elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, turnout in Tatarstan was only 14 percent. As it turned out, this was done with the help of local elites, who simply did not issue ballots on voting day for voting in the all-Russian Duma, but instead issued ballots for voting on internal Tatarstan issues,” says the political scientist.
In his opinion, Tatar nationalism, which has recently increasingly frightened the federal authorities, is just one of the tools of dialogue between Kazan and Moscow:
In Tatarstan, the topic of teaching Russian and Tatar languages in school has again become relevant. The local Society of Russian Culture sent a letter to the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Olga Vasilyeva, stating the “suffering of at least half of the children” in the region: they are being taught “a virtually unnecessary subject “Tatar language”” to the detriment of Russian language and literature. Previously, Vladimir Putin stated that it was inadmissible to reduce the hours of studying the Russian language. Tatarstan officials say there are no language problems in the region. Experts, recalling the expiration of the agreement on the division of powers between Tatarstan and the Russian Federation, expect a “political decision” from the federal center.
Yesterday, the Society of Russian Culture of Tatarstan reported that, together with the Committee of Russian-Speaking Parents of the Republic, it had prepared an appeal to the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Olga Vasilyeva, about the “situation with language learning” in the region. Social activists say that the leadership of the republic has “taken it to the limit” and, despite the fact that “the President of Russia has already announced the problem... the suffering of at least half of the children in the republic... will continue from this September 1st.” Activists note that Russian-speaking schoolchildren in the region study Russian language and literature in reduced quantities. In addition, they attend “5-6 lessons a week on the virtually unnecessary subject “Tatar language”.” “It is obvious that the overall situation in our region already poses a threat to the security of the country,” the appeal says. Activists express the hope that Mrs. Vasilyeva, who was born in Bugulma, “will be able to not only easily and quickly understand the situation, but also find ways to correct it”: “It is obvious that teaching... Russian-speaking children the Tatar language does not have any effect on preserving the Tatar language, and that the emphasis here needs to be on its speakers and those willing to study it.”
The appeal was written a month after Vladimir Putin’s speech at a retreat of the Council on Interethnic Relations in the capital of Mari El, Yoshkar-Ola. “Forcing a person to learn a language that is not his native language is just as unacceptable as reducing the level of teaching Russian. I draw special attention to this from the heads of regions,” the president said then. He noted that “everyone should know” the Russian language, it is “the state language, the language of interethnic communication, and nothing can replace it.” At the same time, other languages, according to Mr. Putin, should not be studied compulsorily: “The languages of the peoples of Russia are also an integral part of the original culture of the peoples of Russia. Studying these languages is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a voluntary right.”
At the same time, in Tatarstan the Tatar language is taught in schools without fail. This is provided for by the regional law of 1992. It guarantees that both languages are studied in equal amounts in general education institutions and institutions of primary and secondary vocational education. Tatar and Russian are the state languages in Tatarstan, according to the Constitution of the republic.
In 2011, supporters of the Society of Russian Culture already sent a letter to the then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in which they indicated that in Tatarstan “children receive only 700 hours of Russian language instead of 1.2 thousand for the entire period of study.” This year, activists held a rally “against linguistic tyranny” in Kazan. However, he gathered no more than 50 people.
The head of the Society of Russian Culture of Tatarstan, Mikhail Shcheglov, told Kommersant yesterday that a new appeal to Olga Vasilyeva is planned to be handed over “personally” at the All-Russian parent meeting on August 30. A copy of the letter has already been sent by mail. Attached to the appeal are documents and previous correspondence between parents and regional and federal officials, which “did not produce results.” Mr. Shcheglov expects that in connection with Putin’s statement, a “fundamental solution to the issue” will be made, including changing the language legislation of the republic.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science of Tatarstan denies that Russian-speaking schoolchildren in the region are experiencing any problems. “We have a Constitution of the republic, a law on languages, a law on education, two state languages: Russian and Tatar,” regional minister Engel Fattakhov previously commented on Vladimir Putin’s statement. He noted that in Tatarstan they work according to federal standards: “In this regard, we have no violations. All our actions are coordinated with the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.” And the vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, Rafael Khakimov, told Kommersant that if state languages in the republics are not taught in schools, then this threatens the “liquidation of the republics”: “What then will be the difference between the republic and the Kirov region?”
Political scientist, professor at the Kazan National Research Technological University Sergei Sergeev believes that this time “there is a chance” that the federal center can respond to parents’ appeals. He recalls that now relations between the republic and the federal center are quite complicated due to the termination of the agreement between Tatarstan and the Russian Federation: “I think the Kremlin is well aware of the problems with teaching languages in the republic. The leadership of Tatarstan may politely be asked to bring regional legislation into line with federal legislation.” He considers it a “compromise option” if the curriculum is changed in some schools and the Russian language is taught to the same extent as in other regions. “In any case, the decision regarding Tatarstan will be political. And if it is not accepted, this is also a political decision,” the expert concludes.