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Tatarstan (Russian Federation)

Presentation of Tatarstan
Flags of Tatarstan

See also:

Russian Federation

Presentation of Tatarstan

Full name: Republic of Tatarstan
Location: central Eurasia
Status: Ambiguous. Self-proclaimed 'sovereignty'.

Notes: Tatarstan is peopled by both Russians and Tatar peoples. The latter trace their heritage to the powerful Kazan state which was finally conquered by the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1552. A Tatar ASSR was established early in the history of the USSR, in 1920. The Tatars were supposed to form an ideological spearhead for the Communization of other non-Slavic peoples. In 1990, this ASSR declared itself a full Union Republic (being amongst the first to do so). A new flag was adopted in November 1991. It is dark green over red, with a thin white stripe dividing the two colours. The colours purportedly stand for the Muslim Tatars and the Russians. In 1992, the Republic passed, by referendum, a resolution of independence. Since then, however, the constitutional crisis this posed appears to have been defused, with the signing of a unique accord between Russia and Tatarstan defining mutual roles and obligations.

stuart notholt 25-NOV-1995

Tatars as a nation originated as a result of mixing of Turkic tribes that came from Asia to what is now Tatarstan in the 7th century AD with local Finnish tribes that lived there. As a result, Tatars' athropological type is pretty much European. In Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, it is impossible to tell who is a Tatar and who is a Russian.

Tatars created their own state in the 9th century AD in what is now Tatarstan. It was one of the first states in Eastern Europe (it came into existence earlier than Russia). In the year 922 AD Islam was adopted by the Tatars (who in those ancient times called themselves Bulgars). In the 13th century Mongols invaded the Bulgar state and subjugated it. When the Golden Horde collapsed, the ancient Bulgar state became a foundation for the Kazan Khanate. During that time very few Mongols settled in Bulgar and there was very little intermarriage. But Mongols occupied all the high posts in Kazan Khanate, so it became prestigious to call oneself a "Tatar".

During 16th-19th centuries the Bulgar people had changed its ethnic name and adopted the name "Tatars". Hence the confusion on the part of many people not familiar with the Tatar history. Modern Tatars are always confused with Mongols, which is a mistake similar to confusing American Indians with Indians living on the subcontinent. There is little in common between them.

Some of the most famous Tatars that are known in the West are: great ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, the strongest chess player in the US Gata Kamsky, composer Sofia Gubaidulina (who was called by the New Yorker magazine "the greatest female composer in the world").

sabirzyan badertinov 01-JUL-1997

Flags of Tatarstan

Tatars declared the indipendence from Russian Federation on 31 August 1990 and named their Rupblic as "Tatarstan". They used many temporary flags, red and green colors with white star and crescent, typically taken from local political movements. The flag officially adopted on 29 November 1991 holds those colors in a 7:1:7 three horizontal stripes.

In a TV reportage I saw in the seat of the indipedentist movement (it wants Tatarstan to be indipendent from Russia) the movement's flag. It is divided into two equal triangles by the topleft-to-rightbottom diagonal: the upper triangle is red and the lower triangle is green. In the center of the flag there are a white crescent halfmoon with a white star, the same symbols of Turkey's flag:

+------------------------------+
| \                      red   |  
|     \                        |
|         \ /                  |
|          |  \  *             |
|           \     \            |
|                     \        |
|                         \    |
| green                       \|
+------------------------------+

In the seat there were two other flags: the Turkey's one and the Turkish Northern Cyprian Republic. So I suppose the indipedentists hold the official Tatarstan colors (red green and white) adding the Turkish symbols because they aim at joining to the other Turkish nations (Azerbajian, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey...).

giuseppe bottasini