Draft Declaration of the Bashkir and Tatar National Movements on Mutual Recognition and Cooperation

We, the government of independent Tatarstan in exile and the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad (hereinafter referred to as the parties), with the aim of coordinating efforts on the path of fighting Moscow imperialism and gaining independence by our republics, have agreed on the following:

1. We acknowledge that the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad and the government of independent Tatarstan in exile are the legitimate and authorized representatives of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, respectively.

2. We undertake not to take steps that could harm the national movements of the Tatar and Bashkir people in their striving for freedom and independence. To notify each other about initiatives that directly concern the partner side.

3. We recognize the rights of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan to gain independence, secede from the Russian Federation, and undertake to support each other along this path.

4. We guarantee the observance of the political and national-cultural rights of each of the communities – the Tatars in Bashkortostan, the Bashkirs in Tatarstan, which includes: the right to self-identification and the refusal to covertly rewrite identity; the right to receive a full cycle of education in the regional language (which does not cancel the mandatory knowledge of the state language); the right to create national parties and public associations (Tatar in Bashkortostan and Bashkir in Tatarstan), as well as their participation in the political life of both states; the right to use the regional language in local government.

5. We recognize the inviolability of the existing borders between our republics.

6. We undertake to resolve all disputes and conflicts between republics and national movements exclusively through negotiations.

London-Vilnius April 7, 2023