Tatars are sent to the margins

The  Мин татарча сөйләшәм (“I speak Tatar”) traditional action was held in Kazan on the central Bauman street for many years. Two years ago it was moved to the square in front of the Theater named after Kamal. This year the action was sent even further from the center, and it will be held near the circus building.

The Tatar Scout Telegram channel reminds that the situation is similar with the Хәтер көне rallies, that first were held as march in the center of Kazan. In the early 90s, several (and sometimes tens) of thousands of people participated in the action, who, after the rally on Freedom Square, marched to the Kazan Kremlin, namely to the symbol of the Tatar people – the Syuyumbike Tower – where it ended with a collective prayer in honor of the fallen defenders of Kazan.

The march was first banned in 2013, and the organizers were forced to hold Хәтер көне as an ordinary rally. Then the location of the rally was moved to an inconvenient place – the park named after Karim Tinchurin. Already in 2020, the authorities  banned Tatars from gathering in general.

Мин татарча сөйләшәм is one of the few actions that allows Tatar youth to adhere to their national identity. That is why the authorities are gradually scaling it back too.

Tatars are being turned into Russians, and those Tatars who disagree with this are declared Nazis and Russophobes.