On April 14, the Government of Independent Tatarstan and the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad signed a joint Declaration on Mutual Recognition and Cooperation

Acting on behalf of their peoples and future independent States, the leaders of national movements laid the foundations for interaction during and after independence. The document is based on the basic principles of international law — the right of peoples to self-determination, equality, protection of human rights and other principles established by UN documents.

“Only together we can lead our peoples to freedom, independence and prosperity,” said Rafis Kashapov, Prime Minister of the Government of independent Tatarstan. “The significance of the signed document goes beyond bilateral relations, we sought to set an example and create a model for all peoples who today aspire to freedom.”

The most important provisions of the Declaration are mutual recognition of existing borders, as well as respect for the political, linguistic and national cultural rights of each of the communities — Tatar in Bashkortostan and Bashkir in Tatarstan.

“The Declaration kills the ground from under the feet of all those who would like to quarrel our peoples,” stressed Ruslan Gabbasov, head of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad Committee. “In the process of gaining independence, we are not adversaries, but associates, because our adversary is the empire, which for hundreds of years has obstructed our freedom and a dignified life.”

Declaration

of the Bashkir and Tatar National Movements

on Mutual Recognition and Cooperation

 We, the Government of independent Tatarstan and the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad (hereinafter referred to as the Parties), in order to coordinate efforts in the struggle against Moscow imperialism and the achievement of independence by our republics, have agreed on the following:

1. We recognize that the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad and the Government of Independent Tatarstan are 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 peoples in their quest for freedom and independence. We undertake to notify each other of initiatives that directly concern the partner.

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

4. We guarantee respect for the political and national-cultural rights of each of the communities — the Tartars in Bashkortostan and the Bashkirs in Tatarstan, which includes:

· The right to self-identification and the refusal of overt or covert rewriting of identity;

· The right to complete secondary education in the regional language (which does not cancel the mandatory command of the state language);

· The right to establish national parties and public associations (Bashkir in Tatarstan and Tatar in Bashkortostan), as well as their participation in the political life of both States;

· The right to use the regional language in local self-government.

5. 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.

Government  of                                                        Committee of the Bashkir National

independent Tatarstan                                                movement abroad

Rafis Kashapov                                                                  Ruslan Gabbasov

Aida Abdrakhmanova                                              Ilshat Kinzabaev   

London – Vilnius

April 14, 2023