RFE/RL: Developments in Tatarstan

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Subject: RFE/RL: Developments in Tatarstan

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RFE/RL: Developments in Tatarstan 


RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report
Vol. 2, No. 46, 20 December 2000
 
A Survey of Developments in the Regions Outside Moscow
Prepared by the Staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

................

TATARSTAN
 
TATARSTAN, BASHKORTOSTAN RESOLVE PASSPORT DISPUTE WITH MOSCOW...
Tatarstan's President Mintimer Shaimiev met in Ufa on 15 December with
his Bashkortostan counterpart Murtaza Rakhimov and presidential
representative to the Volga federal district Sergei Kirienko, RFE/RL's
Kazan bureau reported. The three men reached agreement on resuming the
issuance of passports to residents of the two republics. Both
leaderships suspended issuing passports three years ago to protest the
failure of new Russian passports to indicate the bearer's nationality
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 October and 14 November 1997). Under the
agreement reached in Ufa, a special page will be inserted in passports
issued in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan giving the bearer's data in the
national language. It is not clear whether passports will stipulate
the bearer's ethnic nationality, although birth certificates will do
so. Rakhimov expressed his satisfaction with the compromise, which, he
said, will strengthen federal relations. LF

................

TATARSTAN DEPUTIES DEFEND LATIN SCRIPT. Tatarstan's two deputies to
the Russian State Duma, Fandas Safiullin and Nail Khusnutdinov,
expressed concern at a press conference in Moscow on 15 December over
the adoption by a Duma commission the previous day of a protocol
condemning the planned introduction of the Latin alphabet for the
Tatar language as a manifestation of separatism, RFE/RL's
Tatar-Bashkir Service reported. Safiullin denied that the move has
political implications and described those deputies who oppose it as
"ambitious micro-Stalins." LF
 
TATARSTAN'S PARLIAMENT PRESERVES BILINGUALISM REQUIREMENT FOR
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES... During a plenary session on 18 December,
Tatarstan's State Council rejected a proposal by opposition deputy
Aleksandr Shtanin to amend the law on the presidential election to
abolish the requirement that presidential candidates must be fluent in
both of Tatarstan's state languages (Tatar and Russian), RFE/RL's
Kazan bureau reported. Shtanin argued in vain that this requirement is
discriminatory and violates Russian laws. But State Council chairman
Farit Mukhametshin declared that "there will be no amendments to the
law on the presidential elections before the next ballot," which is to
be held in March or April 2001. LF
 
.AS OPPOSITION CONDEMNS ALLEGED INFRINGEMENTS ON REPUBLIC'S RIGHTS.
The moderate nationalist Tatar Public Center convened a meeting in
Chally on 17 December to protest what it termed infringements by the
federal center on Tatarstan's constitutional rights, RFE/RL's Kazan
bureau reported. Specifically, participants condemned Moscow's ruling
that federation subjects should pay a greater proportion of the taxes
they collect to the center. They argued that this approach contravenes
the main aim of sovereignty, which they defined as economic
self-sufficiency for Russia's republics and regions. The protesters
also expressed concern that the Moscow is implementing a crackdown on
Islam under the guise of eradicating "wahhabism." LF

................
 
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Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
 
"RFE/RL Russian Federation Report" is prepared by Julie A. Corwin
(JAC) on the basis of a variety of sources, including reporting by
"RFE/RL Newsline" and RFE/RL's broadcast services. Regular
contributors are Jan Cleave (JC), Liz Fuller (LF), and Paul Goble
(PG). It is distributed every Wednesday.
 
Direct comments to Julie A. Corwin at [email protected]. For
information on subscriptions or reprints, contact Paul Goble in
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Technical queries should be emailed to <[email protected]>
 
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