The Ministry of Education and Science of Tatarstan should focus on ensuring a high level of knowledge and proficiency in the Russian language. The President of the Republic Rustam Minnikhanov stated this in his annual message to the State Council. The statement is remarkable - just a couple of months ago, the head of the above-mentioned department, Engel Fattakhov, stated that there are no problems with the study of Russian and Tatar languages in the region.
Archive photo
The study of the Tatar language in general educational institutions of the republic is mandatory, since the Constitution of Tatarstan assigns the status of state languages to the Russian and Tatar languages. At the same time, recently, parents of students in certain classes began to initiate collective appeals to the leadership of both educational institutions and the ministries of education of Russia and Tatarstan, as well as the prosecutor’s office, in which it was a question of either refusing Tatar language lessons or reducing the hours allocated for study of the subject. Many parents complain about the insufficient number of lessons in learning the Russian language.
Of course, this gives rise to a response, which boils down to the fact that “since you live in Tatarstan, you must know Tatar.” But this reaction is, let’s say, informal. The formal one is that officials recognize shortcomings in teaching the Tatar language, primarily due to a lack of personnel and a rather complex program, which is a consequence of the not very successful development of teaching methods. At the same time, the relevant departments of the republic note that the Unified State Examination results in the Russian language in Tatarstan are among the best in Russia.
Therefore, there is no problem? Judging by the statement of the Minister of Education and Science of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov, no.
“Everything is fine with us. We comply with federal standards and do not violate anything. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, we have two state languages. In my opinion, the President of Russia did not mean Tatarstan,” the minister said in July of this year. This is how he commented on the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations in Yoshkar-Ola. Then the president declared the inadmissibility of forced learning of non-native languages.
Vladimir Putin emphasized at the council meeting that the Russian language is the “natural spiritual framework” of the country, and everyone should know it. “Learning these languages is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a voluntary right. Forcing a person to learn a language that is not his native language is as unacceptable as reducing the level of teaching Russian. I draw special attention to this from the heads of regions of the Russian Federation,” Putin emphasized.
Judging by Rustam Minnikhanov’s speech today, statements “we have no problems” failed to close the issue. “Language policy issues require special attention. While maintaining the priorities of studying state and native languages, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic needs to focus on ensuring a high level of knowledge and proficiency in the Russian language,” Minnikhanov said.
At the same time, according to the head of the republic, it is necessary to improve the methods of teaching the Tatar language as the state language of Tatarstan, as well as the training and retraining of teachers. In general, when learning languages, in his opinion, communication skills should be developed first of all.
“These tasks have been repeatedly set before the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic. However, the effectiveness of the work being carried out is still low and causes justified complaints from citizens. The Ministry, as the center of responsibility, should draw appropriate conclusions and take the necessary measures,” Minnikhanov emphasized.
Whether by coincidence or not, on the day of the Tatarstan President’s speech before the State Council, a statement attributed to Engel Fattakhov began to be circulated on social networks. Allegedly, at one of the meetings in the ministry, he stated that “our state language is Tatar, so next time the meetings will be in Tatar.”
“Similarly, when you come to me on official matters, speak Tatar. If you don’t know Tatar, then ask your subordinates to write a text for you on a piece of paper, come in and read it,” the minister continued his speech.
But news about this appeared in the republic’s press five years ago, when Fattakhov had just taken the post of Minister of Education. And whether these words were actually spoken or not is unknown; they referred to an “anonymous source.”
Although, in general, today’s statement by the President of Tatarstan leaves no grounds for discrepancies. It is not very clear, however, how they plan to correct the situation that has developed over the years. And how soon will it be done?
In schools Republic of Tatarstan The second quarter has arrived, and with it - changes and new confusion with language disciplines. Frightened by prosecutorial inspections, schools hastily make changes to their curricula, replacing the Tatar language with such new developments as "Kazan studies", "rhetoric", "heritage of Tatarstan", others don’t change anything at all, because “there is no possibility.” Parents, desperate to write requests to the prosecutor's office about refusing to study their non-native Tatar, are perplexed why, instead of deeper study of the Russian language, children “stagger along the corridors” during national language hours, and local authorities, as if under a spell, repeat the mantra about “a compromise option with the federal center.” ". Meanwhile, December 1 is approaching - the day that became “X-day” for Tatarstan - the deadline set by the President of the Russian Federation, by which the republican authorities must bring the volume of Russian language study to the level recommended by the Ministry of Education. A couple of days before this, the acute problem will be considered in the State Council of the Republic. Read about the features of the new stage of the linguistic conflict in Tatarstan in the material Nakanune.RU.
“Nothing has changed, it’s only gotten worse, the parents are in despair, they don’t know what to do. The children are in the corridors, practically homeless!”- told mother of an eighth-grader Inessa Gudochkina.
At the school where her child is studying, the volume of studying the Russian language was brought to the volume recommended by the Ministry of Education: three hours a week - “Russian language” and two hours - "native Russian language". According to the educational programs of Tatarstan schools, these are two different subjects. Schools, and, consequently, Russian-speaking parents, have a new problem - the lack of curricula and manuals for teaching “native Russian”. Because of this, children whose parents abandoned their native Tatar language are forced to idle while their peers study the national language of the republic. This fact, coupled with pressure on parents, leads to them withdrawing their applications, agreeing to return to Tatar.
"Many parents withdrew their applications. They were called home from school, asked, they rewrote the applications. The pressure on parents is enormous. They offered to transfer my excellent student son to a weaker class. He agreed. They promised that there, instead of the Tatar language, the children would study some kind of then another subject. As a result, there is no other subject, I have it left as a “corridor”, there is nowhere to put it. He and two other boys sit in the same Tatar, but on the back desks and do their homework. This is the case in many schools.", - shared Inessa.
In many, but not all. Mom of second grader Raya spoke about positive changes at the school where her daughter studies.
“We have increased the number of Russian language and literature lessons to the requirements set by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. And instead of the Tatar language (which previously had four lessons per week), we made the native language (two lessons per week). At these hours, the class is now is divided into two subgroups. Those who chose the Russian language study their native Russian (at the moment - without textbooks), those who chose Tatar study their native Tatar language", she told the correspondent Nakanune.RU.
True, a new problem has arisen: the school administration cannot please all parents - some want the child to study for five days, others want to exclude “native Russian”.
“Curriculums with a native language cannot be implemented with a five-day school week - we do not comply with SanPiN. We do not introduce a curriculum without a native language, as I understand it, also because then Russian-speaking children will begin to qualify for a five-day week. And those who want to study the Tatar language will be forced to study for six days. And so, they say, no one is offended. Everyone has six days. And the fact that our children are doing something incomprehensible in lessons of their native Russian language that are unnecessary for them (because it’s stupid this is to divide the Russian language into “state” and “native” for children who are native speakers of Russian), no one cares", - added the parent.
Children cannot take the “Russian language” program in their “native Russian”: then there will be a imbalance in the speed of mastering the program by those who chose to study Russian as their native language, and those who chose to study Tatar as their native language, she explained.
To fill the lesson of the “native Russian” with content, the directors do their best. Somewhere they introduce “Kazan studies”, somewhere “rhetoric”, and somewhere “heritage of Tatarstan”.
“In one of the schools in Tatarstan, during the lessons of their native Russian language, they even learn to play spoons!”- she added.
The content of Tatar language lessons deserves special attention, where there is often a lack of discipline. This is also confirmed by the fact that after leaving school, children do not speak the national language at a conversational level. And in some schools, Tatar teachers even try to teach political education.
“I am concerned about national classes in schools. My son has a friend from a Tatar class, they meet at recess. He says that they have a Tatar teacher, she is their class teacher, he says that Putin is bad, What allegedly the state of Tatarstan independently that we have our own laws and Putin has no right to interfere, he says that Ivan groznyj was bad, and the Tatars selflessly defended themselves against him. Tatar teachers treat children this way and raise little separatists. And after the parent meeting, when I wrote a refusal to study Tatar, the teacher said to my son: “Go to class, study. And if you don’t want to study, go to Moscow and Russia” , - Inessa Gudochkina recalls openly separatist statements.
“Just as in Ukraine they raised “onizhekids”, so it is with us. When I was studying, we didn’t have such a division, we didn’t think about who was Tatar and who was Russian by nationality. And now at school they divide into Tatars and Russians. It seems "The Kremlin claims the principle of voluntariness, but in reality it does not exist", she added.
The Kremlin, indeed, advocates the voluntary study of national languages in Russian schools. I recalled the position of the federal authorities last week presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
"Everything will be in accordance with the law - national languages are studied on a voluntary basis. This is the rule for all national republics, there will be no exceptions for anyone", - a federal official told RBC.
The local authorities ignored the Kremlin’s statement, said Mikhail Shcheglov, a member of the parent committee of Russian-speaking parents, chairman of the Society of Russian Culture of Tatarstan.
“The Kremlin’s statement did not affect the situation in any way. Schools are fighting this surging problem alone, fighting against parents - not only Russian-speaking, but also Tatars. There is a real war between schools and parents. They act with intimidation, put pressure on children, and demand that they remove their mobile phones during conversations. telephones, so that parents cannot record this conversation on a tape recorder or video and then complain to the prosecutor's office. There is no more regulation on the part of the regional leadership. Schools do not allow them to learn the Russian language in full during the absence of the Tatar language for some students. "They behave like a dog in the manger. Of course, because those children who will study Russian and literature at this time will later turn out to be more competitive, it will be easier for them to enter universities, and so on. It comes to the point that they demand to leave school for this time!"- noted in a conversation with Nakanune.RU Mikhail Shcheglov.
On November 24, during a working trip to Kazan, he introduced specifics to the resolution of a pressing issue. Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District (VFD) Mikhail Babich.
“The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has developed guidelines for the implementation of the right of citizens to study the state languages of the republics that are part of the Russian Federation. For the first time, the curriculum, in the part formed by participants in educational relations, provides for the possibility of up to two classroom hours per week for studying the state language of the republic”, Babich told reporters.
The plenipotentiary added that in all the republics of the Volga region the curricula have been changed, and the number of hours of the Russian language has been brought to the established and recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, in all regions of the district work has been organized, and in some places has already been completed, work on the choice of children and their parents or legal representatives of the native language . According to him, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation will send the corresponding guidelines to the regions in the near future.
“Thus, the issues of studying the Russian language, as well as native languages and state languages of the republics, both normatively and methodologically will be finally settled. And thus the order of the President of the Russian Federation will be fulfilled in full. Further, through the practical activities of regional government authorities, it is necessary to bring these issues to the attention of actual execution", - noted the plenipotentiary, his words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
At the same time, it cannot be said that the Tatarstan authorities are ignoring the problem. The language issue was raised at meetings of the State Council of the Republic in late November and early October.
“How can the state language be voluntary? It is voluntary in Switzerland, where one is chosen out of four languages. And we have one state language of our subject. I agree, we need to work on the rhetoric, on the number of hours. We understand these issues and are carrying out this work! If someone wants to say that the president of the republic does not react, does not engage, I am working on this issue, and there is no need to politicize it!”- stated excitedly President of the Republic Rustam Minnikhanov and asked the prosecutor's office to address all complaints to him, and not to school directors.
“You can’t treat school principals this way. Tomorrow I have to organize elections with them. On the eve of elections, is it really possible to do such things? Or is this being done specifically so that in Tatarstan it will be bad towards our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin?”- the head of the region asked in bewilderment.
Minnikhanov agreed: after 20 years, the laws of the republic have become somewhat outdated and require adjustments.
The discussion continued on November 8 at a meeting of the State Council. Then the president of the republic called on schools to “remain calm” and assured Tatar teachers that they would not be left without work.
The conversation will continue shortly before a significant day for the republic - the deadline set by the president to verify the voluntary nature of studying Tatar in schools. On November 29, at a meeting of the State Council, parliamentarians will consider “the issue of teaching and studying the state languages of the Republic of Tatarstan and the native languages of the peoples living in the Republic of Tatarstan.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Education and Science of the Republic Engel Fattakhov knocks on the thresholds of the offices of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in attempts to approve a “compromise option.” Local media write about this.
“On Tuesday, at a reception with an official of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, I spoke about the current situation in schools and asked what had been decided about the Tatarstan “compromise”. He answered me that they “have” the version of the curriculum from Tatarstan... According to him, Engel Fattakhov happens in the ministry every other day, “he goes from office to office” and everywhere he gets the same answer: “Your option is excellent if it is approved by the country’s top leadership. After all, your option with two hours of compulsory Tatar does not agree with the instructions of the President of Russia", - recounted her dialogue with an employee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation activist of the Internet community "Elabuga Control of Educational Organizations" Oksana Ermakova.
Whether the authorities of Tatarstan will have time to come to terms with the need to carry out the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation and whether the region will return to the legal space of the rest of Russia will become clear soon - on December 1. The day after “X-Day,” Russian-speaking parents of the republic are planning a large-scale rally in support of Putin’s decisions, but, as one would expect, local authorities are preventing its approval. By the way, they are not delighted with the activities of the organizers - the committee of Russian-speaking parents. The other day, a person introducing himself as a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs called Inessa Gudochkina, the administrator of the VKontakte committee group, “for testimony.”
In contrast to the activities of Russian-speaking parents, Tatar families are becoming more active, posting videos online of children suffering without the Tatar language. What’s strange is that in one of these videos the girl speaks Russian.
“This is a real information war that children are being forced into”, - commented Inessa Gudochkina.
Follow us
Head of the Committee of Russian-speaking Parents of Tatarstan Eduard Nosov and leader of the Society of Russian Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Mikhail Shcheglov after the speeches of the republican authorities at the session of the State Council of Tatarstan, they sent an appeal to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. In it, they ask him to intervene in the situation and prevent “overt threats to peace and harmony in the region and in Russia as a whole.” Information about this was published on the organizations’ social networks.
Yesterday at the session of the State Council of Tatarstan, the President of the Republic Rustam Minnikhanov that the Tatar language will be taught two hours a week and that such agreements have been reached with the federal center. The Republic is waiting for changes to be made to the federal state educational standards (FSES). Later, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov the situation with the study of the Tatar language in Tatarstan is within the competence of the authorities of the republic.
The authors of the letter to the President of Russia ask the question: “Which of your, Vladimir Vladimirovich, officials is the regional government of the Republic of Tatarstan “agreeing” with in order to carry out your instructions in a different sense than they are very specifically written?”
“At the same time, regional pro-government media and various Tatar national-separatist Internet resources, which are rapidly gaining popularity, began spreading information that openly incited interethnic hatred of the Tatars’ “oppressors,” the authors note in the letter.
Thus, they note that the hashtag #StopLanguageGenocide (and the English version) is used online. The authors spend most of the letter describing the posters.
“A young man is depicted in a green skullcap (the national Tatar color), a certain hand is pulling his tongue up, so that his head is thrown back strongly, and in the other hand he is ready to cut with scissors. A tear is dripping from the young man’s eye in the shape of a Muslim crescent,” they note.
When describing another poster, they note that the boy in it “has had his Tatar eyes corrected.”
“And, finally, posters with obvious calls for disobedience, for the Tatar national revolution, as, for example, in one of them, depicting the plot of the French Revolution, a group of children organizedly draws a bright inscription on the wall of the house “TATAR TELE” (“Tatar language”) above the much less catchy inscription “PAIX” (“peace” - French),” the authors point out.
In addition, the authors complain that they and others who oppose compulsory language learning “are portrayed on all these resources and in the media as haters of the Tatar language and Tatars who want to eradicate this subject from regional education.” Although in reality, the authors note, they only want to protect their children from “the subject “Tatar language” being aggressively imposed in exorbitant volumes and using terrible methods.”
“However, these Russian and Russian-speaking organizations and communities are categorically listed, along with the “federals,” as “enemies of the Tatar language and the Tatar people.” At the same time, the image of “hero-defenders of the Tatar language” is also emphasized,” they are sure.
They also note “the peculiar attitude of the regional leadership towards the power structures of federal subordination.” Bearing in mind the words of the President of Tatarstan at the previous meeting, where he was allegedly dissatisfied with the work of the Prosecutor of Tatarstan Ildus Nafikov.
“Not only is it simply cynical to equate “Russians” and “Tatars” in incitement, the head of the region regularly calls prosecutor Nafikov “prosecutor of the republic,” positioning him almost as his subordinate, and at the previous meeting publicly shamed him for his work in carrying out your instructions, transparently hinting with State Advisor Shaimiev on how to “work with you further?”,” the authors note.
Subscribe to our channel atTelegram . We talk about what others are forced to remain silent about.
Throughout the post-Soviet period, difficult situations periodically arose in relations between the federal center and Tatarstan, provoked mainly by the desire of part of the regional elite to gain more political and economic opportunities for themselves. As a result, Moscow, through negotiations, was able to come to one compromise or another, where the main value was the territorial integrity of Russia. Moreover, during this dialogue, the leading elite of Tatarstan, to support their argumentation, to one degree or another involved foreign diasporas, as well as nationalist organizations defending "complete independence of the republic from Russia".
Among the latter, it is worth highlighting, for example, the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC*), created by the local party nomenklatura in the late 1980s as a “popular movement in support of perestroika” to fight for “the special status of the Tatar Republic and the Tatar language.” As well as the national independence party “Ittifaq”, which stands for “separation from Russia and the creation of a new Great Turkic state between the Volga and Ural rivers”.
In the early 1990s, the Tatarstan elite actively used national separatists in bargaining with Moscow regarding raising the status of the republic.
This was the case in 1992, when Kazan, demanding special conditions for itself, did not sign a new Federative Agreement with Moscow. Moreover, at the same time the Constitution of the republic was adopted, in which Tatarstan was proclaimed a “sovereign state”.
This was the case in the winter of 1994 during the signing of a separate Agreement on mutual delegation of powers, where Tatarstan was referred to as “an associated state united with Russia with confederal status” and received (compared to other regions) some preferences, for example in the field of economics and foreign policy.
Since 2000 (under the influence of the aggravation of the situation in the North Caucasus), the federal center, guided by the “principle of equal rights of the subjects of the Federation,” began to bring regional legislation into line with federal legislation. In relations with Tatarstan, this led to the conclusion in 2007 (for 10 years) of a new Agreement (in the status of a Federal Law), where significant restrictions were imposed on some of the preferences previously given to the region.
Let us note that all these years the leadership of the republic has paid great attention not only to the expansion of external political and economic relations (largely with the countries of the Islamic world), but also to the dissemination of the Tatar language as a symbol of the “revival of national culture” and “strengthening of Tatar statehood.” Moreover, according to the 2010 census, there were just over 53% Tatars and about 40% Russians in the republic. Accordingly, Russian and Tatar are the most common languages in the region and are used for teaching in schools and universities.
And so, in anticipation of the signing of the next Agreement with the federal center, the leadership of Tatarstan followed the already “proven scenario”, holding several events with the participation of representatives of the foreign diaspora and, as they are now called, “moderate ethnonationalists.” Moreover, the topic of “raising the status of the Tatar language” was immediately brought into play, around which serious political passions are now flaring up in the republic.
On April 8, 2017, a kurultai (congress) of the oldest national-separatist organization VTOTs* was held in Kazan, which brought together about 200 delegates from Russian regions and put forward, as they say, maximum demands to the federal government (according to the principle “ask for more - you’ll see, something will give"). Among them we highlight the following.
First. Signing of a new Agreement (modeled on 1994), taking into account the results of the referendum on the state status of Tatarstan in 1992, where... the republic is called “a sovereign state, a subject of international law, associated with the Russian Federation”.
Second. 70% of income should remain in the republic and 30% should be transferred to the federal center.
Third. Necessity “introduction of the second state language in Russia - Tatar”, since about 2/3 of the Tatars live not in Tatarstan, but in other subjects of the Federation. (Plus - the opportunity to take the Unified State Exam in the Tatar language.)
Let us recall that the VTOC* periodically holds events to “protect the native language,” and in February 2016 the organization organized a conference “Tatar as a state language in the Republic of Tatarstan. Why didn’t it work in 25 years?”, where the “language policy” of the local authorities was sharply criticized.
According to Kazan experts, despite the fact that some representatives of nationalist organizations have been prosecuted in recent years (for extremist actions and calls for separatism), the republican authorities still use ethnonationalists as "a political tool for conversation with federal authorities". And the VTOC kurultai* held with the participation of near-government experts is a clear confirmation of this.
After some time, the leadership of Tatarstan, demonstrating to Moscow the extreme position of the nationalist forces, initiated several major events with more moderate demands.
On April 22, 2017, the III Congress of the Peoples of Tatarstan was convened, bringing together more than 700 delegates and addressing (in its resolution) the federal authorities with two proposals. Firstly, “keep the title of the position President of the Republic of Tatarstan”(Tatarstan today remains the only region of Russia where the head of the republic is called this way). And secondly, “in connection with the expiration of the Treaty... to work out forms for resolving emerging issues regarding the division of powers between the federal center and Tatarstan”.
Let us pay attention to the fact that the two previous congresses of the peoples of the republic were held in 1992 and 2007, that is, shortly before the signing of the Treaties.
Already in June 2017, information appeared that the next agreement between Moscow and Kazan would not be signed. At the same time, some experts named among the reasons for non-signing the position of the current first deputy head of the presidential administration S. Kiriyenko, who, having held office in 2000–2005, post of presidential plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District, responsible for “bringing the legislation of Tatarstan into conformity with the federal one”. At the same time, it is believed that this process was slowed down by the then President of the Republic M. Shaimiev, referring to the 1994 Treaty.
Despite the fact that some representatives of the political establishment of Tatarstan (for example, senator from the republic O. Morozov) believe that “the agreement with Moscow no longer has sacred significance”, there was a stormy reaction from part of the regional elite, who were interested in continuing contractual relations with the Center and who at one time received certain political and economic benefits from this.
Thus, at the end of June 2017, in an interview with the newspaper “Evening Kazan”, the former political adviser to M. Shaimiev, director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan R. Khakimov (considered one of the ideologists of the VTOC*) was indignant at the failure of the campaign to lobby for the renegotiation of the agreement: “They are conferring in our presidential office, but they must sit in Moscow, and the State Council of Tatarstan must move! While promoting the agreement, we have not left Moscow since 2005...”
On July 11, the State Council of the Republic “moved” and made an appeal to Russian President V. Putin with two “sacred” requests: to preserve the right of the head of the region to be called “president” and to extend the agreement as “an important factor in maintaining political, interethnic and interfaith stability”.
In this situation, the unexpected discussion of the issue of the level of teaching the Russian language in the national republics became a convenient excuse for nationalists and part of the Tatarstan elite to continue “bargaining with Moscow.”
On July 21, 2017, a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations was held in Yoshkar-Ola, where Russian President V. Putin drew attention to the violations that have been ongoing for many years in the teaching of the Russian language in the national republics: “Forcing a person to learn a language that is not native to him is just as unacceptable as reducing the level and time of teaching Russian [the language] of state, interethnic communication... The languages of the peoples of Russia are an integral part of the original culture of the peoples of Russia, learning these languages is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a voluntary right".
Please note that such violations, known from numerous complaints from parents of schoolchildren mainly from Tatarstan and Bashkiria, were discussed (and, as it turned out, unsuccessfully) at the previous meeting of the Council in 2015.
In response to this latest message from the federal authorities in Tatarstan, a heated public discussion began about... "preservation of the Tatar language".
On August 2–6, the VI Congress of the World Congress of Tatars (WCT) was held in Kazan, bringing together more than 1,000 delegates and guests from more than 70 Russian regions and 40 countries. Let us recall that the CGT was created in 1992 by the authorities of Tatarstan to unite (and use in dialogue with Moscow) “moderate” and nationalists controlled by it. This time, this public platform was used to voice some “compromise proposals.” At the congress it was again discussed “the positive role of the Agreement on the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between government bodies of the Russian Federation and Tatarstan”, about support “preservation of the position of President in the republic”, about the possibility “to make the Tatar language the second state language in Russia... and pass the Unified State Exam in the native language”.
In the second half of August, the opinion of the First Deputy Head of the Administration S. Kiriyenko about the impossibility of re-signing the Agreement on the Division of Powers with Tatarstan became known: “Right now, statehood is not being built according to a treaty type... all the norms [of the treaty] have already been implemented into the current legislation... There is no need to go back and harp on this topic”. A little later, information appeared that Moscow only agreed to retain the post of President of Tatarstan until 2020, when the term of office of the current head of the republic, R. Minnikhanov, ends. And the question of extending the contract was finally closed.
At the end of August, Russian President V. Putin instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office and Rosobrnadzor to check compliance with the rights of Russians to “voluntary study of the native language from among the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation and the state languages of the [national] republics”. And bring “the volume of study by schoolchildren in the regions of the Russian language to the level recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science”. Inspections have begun in Tatarstan.
At the same time, over the past two months, a whole series of actions have taken place in the republic, which allows us to talk about the organization of a propaganda campaign against the federal center.
Firstly, according to experts, there was obvious sabotage of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation among the officials of the republic.
Secondly, numerous materials from experts and local politicians, as well as various petitions and polls on the Internet, were devoted to the topic of “protecting the national language.” At the same time, numerous legal demands of parents to give schoolchildren the opportunity to “study Russian in full” and “Tatar on a voluntary basis” were interpreted in the republican media as “the struggle to ban and oust the Tatar language”.
Thirdly, rallies and pickets began with the participation of nationalists, including demands to “resign” the federal government and regional leadership.
On September 21, during his speech with the annual message to the State Council of Tatarstan, the President of the Republic R. Minnikhanov spoke rather restrainedly regarding the non-extension of the agreement on the division of powers with Moscow, pointing out that the region, even under the new format of relations “takes full advantage of the wide opportunities available in the Russian Federation”. At the same time, R. Minnikhanov announced the need “ensuring a high level of knowledge and proficiency in the Russian language” in the republic.
In fact, checks on the “language issue” began in the region only after September 27, when the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu. Chaika visited Tatarstan. Schools began to receive instructions from the district prosecutor's offices on “elimination of violations of the requirements of federal legislation on education”, including “correction of the curriculum towards increasing the Russian language” and studying Tatar "on a voluntary basis".
Meanwhile, the propaganda campaign in defense of compulsory study of the Tatar language in schools was gaining momentum. A letter to the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin, Prosecutor General Yu. Chaika and the head of the republic from 60 writers of Tatarstan (among them is the founder of the Tatar National Independence Party “Ittifaq” F. Bayramova)... Appeal to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R. Minnikhanov from the delegates of the III in Berlin Forum of Tatar Youth of Europe...
On October 14, two major events were held, where, in addition to the “issue of the national language,” the topic of “the need to extend the agreement between the republic and the federal center”. A traditional meeting was held in Kazan dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of those who fell during the capture of Kazan by the troops of Ivan the Terrible in 1552, which brought together about 400 representatives of national movements from Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia and Mordovia. After the rally, its participants held a constituent meeting of the Coordination Council (CC) of the peoples of the Volga region and the Urals, which proclaimed “restoring the rights of national education systems”.
Let us pay attention to what F. Bayramova, elected to the Constitutional Court, as she is called, “grandmother of Tatar nationalism”, said: “We must demand the cancellation of Putin’s order in Yoshkar-Ola!.. During the elections, there is no need to choose either Putin or United Russia.” It should be written like this [in the meeting resolution]: ...the non-Russian peoples of Russia urge not to elect a president who is against our language... Better than Yabloko.
At the same time, at this meeting one could hear from the Mufti of the Kirov region Z. Galiullin about the need “to assemble the Congress of the Peoples of Russia”, and also how “The Moscow principality is robbing the entire country”. All these theses were included in the resolution of the Coordination Council (the next meeting of which is scheduled for November 6, Constitution Day of Tatarstan).
Let us note that on November 4 (Day of National Unity, celebrated, among other things, by “Russian Marches”), Russian-speaking parents and public organizations are planning a Republican parent meeting dedicated to the issue of “voluntariness of learning the Tatar language”.
Thus, it can be assumed that in Tatarstan, on the eve of the start of the 2018 presidential campaign, they are trying to provoke a major, as it is called, ethnolinguistic, or rather, interethnic conflict. And election topics play an important role here.
On October 22, an open letter to “to the future presidential candidate of Russia K. Sobchak” where the request is made “to stand up for our native Tatar language”, as well as for “Bashkir, Chuvash, Yakut, Mari and many other languages of the Russian Federation”.
That is, Tatar ethnonationalists are already directly addressing opposition liberals, with whom they have such common themes as “overthrowing the Putin regime” and “giving Crimea to Ukraine.” Let us also recall the contacts of white ribbon activists with local nationalists and Islamic radicals during the protest campaign of 2011–2012.
In the second half of October, the World Congress of Tatars (WCT) declared “a decisive protest against absolutely illegal attacks on the state status of the Tatar language in the republic”.
Note that in this case, the position of the Tatarstan leadership was latently announced, trying to prevent open harsh statements against the federal center. Thus, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the VKT is State Council Deputy R. Zakirov. And the Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan V. Shaikhraziev headed the National Congress Council (Milli Shura), created at the aforementioned VI Congress of the CGT. Thus, Republican officials continue to use "moderate" nationalists. But, as experts suggest, the real leadership of the VKT, and therefore part of the Tatarstan elite, is carried out from foreign terminals.
By the end of October, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (DUM) of Tatarstan had already taken part in the developing propaganda campaign, announcing the launch of a training program (“We are Tatars”) for the study of the Tatar language in the mosques of the republic. A letter from about 250 teachers of the Tatar language and literature to deputies of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan appeared on the Internet... As well as “Appeal of the Tatars of the Russian Federation” (on behalf of more than 40 representatives of the national intelligentsia), addressed to the senior leadership and deputies of the State Council of the republic and which gathered about 13 thousand signatures.
This text can be considered as a kind of ultimatum from an influential part of the regional elite to the current government. For example, it says the following: “Your decision is our last frontier. Depending on what it is, you will receive our support or alienation. Our paths will diverge when “interested” people come for Tatneft, TAIF or some leading personnel. There will be no one to support you..."
Please note that the appeal names large companies that are directly related to R. Minnikhanov (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tatneft) and the son of the former President of Tatarstan R. Shaimiev (who owns more than 11% of the Tatar-American Investments and Finance holding).
It should be noted that the reaction to this appeal, in which the regional authorities were accused of silence and inaction towards teachers and school principals, was swift.
Literally the next day, October 26, at a meeting of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, the President of the Republic R. Minnikhanov, partly understanding the “man-made” catastrophe approaching him, gave the regional prosecutor’s office and some officials a real scolding: “We are working on this. And there is no need to politicize it... Now oppositional structures are trying to be supporters of the Tatar language, so that there is discord between Russians and Tatars... We are back in the 90s... Unfortunately, it turned out that school principals were left to blame ... School principals cannot be treated this way. Tomorrow I have to organize elections with them. On the eve of the elections, is it really possible to do such things?.. Or is this being done on purpose so that in Tatarstan it will be bad towards our President V. Putin?”
Some experts suggest that among the organizers of a powerful anti-Russian campaign that affects the position of the current heads of Tatarstan and Bashkiria, there may be an entourage of the former leaders of these regions, M. Shaimiev and M. Rakhimov, respectively, who are trying to defend their “conquests of the 90s.” And also local national separatists, whom the authorities can no longer control as closely as before. Foreign diasporas associated with the leaders of the “Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People” (an organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), and their curators interested in the destruction of Russian statehood are also named. Let us recall that in 2014, the current leadership of Tatarstan (unsuccessfully) tried to play the role of a mediator, persuading M. Dzhemilev and R. Chubarov to negotiate with the Russian authorities. And a certain “merit” for the breakdown of these negotiations belongs to Western intelligence services.
What is revealed during public “discussions about language” in the media and prosecutorial checks in Tatarstan regarding violations of all-Russian educational standards?
The regional law of 1992 declares that in educational institutions Tatar (as the “state language of Tatarstan”, according to the constitution of the republic) and Russian languages are studied compulsorily and in equal volumes. In 2008, the then President of Tatarstan M. Shaimiev spoke out against “new educational standards, where the national and regional components were abolished”, stating that “the study of the Tatar language will be carried out in the same volume”.
However, in 2011, representatives of the Society of Russian Culture of Tatarstan sent a letter to the President of the Russian Federation (then this post was held by D. Medvedev), which stated that in the republic “Children receive only 700 hours of Russian instead of 1200 for the entire period of study”. Let us note that at that time the region practically did not react to the comments from Moscow.
As a result, by 2017, in many schools of the republic, due to the study of two independent subjects “Tatar language” and “Tatar literature”, the number of hours allocated to the Russian language turned out to be 1.5–2 times less. And only during the current prosecutorial checks did the government of Tatarstan make a decision “on bringing, from January 1, 2018, the volume of studying the Russian language to the volume recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation”.
At the same time, as Kazan historians and experts themselves say, “in urban areas only a third of families speak literary Tatar, two thirds speak Russian”. And from 2002 to 2010 “the number of people who know the Tatar language in the Russian Federation has decreased by about 1 million people”.
Let us add that back in 2013, during the preparation of a unified history textbook, serious disagreements arose between the central and regional authorities regarding the interpretation of the periods associated with the existence of the Golden Horde. As a result, the Tatar-Mongol yoke was called “the system of dependence of Russian lands on the Horde khans”. At the same time, in some university textbooks on the history of Tatarstan one could find a description "occupation of the Kazan Khanate in 1552 by Muscovy".
In 2015, the State Council of Tatarstan opposed the federal bill introducing “basic textbooks” in Russia, as well as the educational concept providing for “teaching basic school subjects in Russian”. And by 2017 the theme "sovereign independent state of Tatarstan"(ranked with Turkey, France, Great Britain and Russia) has already been actively developed in certain school textbooks on the Tatar language used in teaching, despite the ban by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Experts point out that as a result of such arbitrariness of the regional authorities “in Tatarstan and other republics, for example, in Yakutia and Chuvashia, for 25 years there has been the formation of ethnic consciousness, the formation of a consciousness of republican citizenship among the speakers of these languages...”
How does this policy relate to the declared support of the Tatarstan elite? “the course of the leadership of the Russian Federation... on the implementation of the Strategy of the state national policy and... the formation of an all-Russian civic identity”? And what other “time bombs” are being laid under the territorial integrity of Russia in some national republics by short-sighted and provocative decisions of part of the local elite (and its foreign partners)?
Engel Fattakhov told Yuri Chaika a firm no in advance: the Tatar language remains a compulsory subject for all in the schools of the republic
“Parents of all schoolchildren in Tatarstan should know that a real opportunity has arisen to study the Tatar language voluntarily or not to study it at all,” the Tatarstan authorities responded to such messages, massively disseminated through instant messengers and social networks, and at the same time responded to a document published on the Kremlin website. The Tatarstan prosecutor's office has not yet received orders from Moscow regarding relevant inspections. But it seems that if politicians and experts do not sit down at the negotiating table, a “head-on collision” is inevitable.
The main defender of the Tatar language in schools of Tatarstan - Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov - speaks consistently / Photo: "BUSINESS Online"
“CALLS TO REFUSE STUDYING THE TATAR LANGUAGE CONTRARY TO CURRENT LEGISLATION”
The Tatarstan authorities broke the silence on the issue of compulsory study of the Tatar language in the republic’s schools, which had continued since the instruction of the President of the Russian Federation to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, published on August 28. According to him, the department Yuri Chaika until November 30, it must check the provision of learning “the native language from among the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation and the state languages of the republics that are part of the Russian Federation, on a voluntary basis at the choice of their parents (legal representatives).” A similar requirement was put forward to the heads of regions; the deadline for the report is December 1.
And last night, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan published on its website “Explanation of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan on the issue of teaching the Tatar language in educational institutions of the Republic of Tatarstan.” The reason was the spread of calls on social networks and instant messengers to abandon the study of the Tatar language in educational institutions.
Department Engel Fattakhov adamantly. “As the state language of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan (Article 8) and the law of the Republic of Tatarstan “On the state languages of the Republic of Tatarstan and other languages in the Republic of Tatarstan” establishes the Tatar language along with Russian. In accordance with the federal legislation, the laws of the Republic of Tatarstan “On Education” and “On the State Languages of the Republic of Tatarstan and Other Languages in the Republic of Tatarstan” provide for its study as the state language of the Republic of Tatarstan in the field of general education,” says the explanation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Tatarstan.
After this, the well-known ruling of the Constitutional Court of Russia from 2004 is again cited, according to which the study of Russian and Tatar languages in general educational institutions as state languages in the Republic of Tatarstan is recognized as not contradicting the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, the Tatar language as a compulsory subject is subject to study in all educational institutions of the Republic of Tatarstan. Thus, calls (and sample statements) disseminated on social networks to refuse to study the Tatar language contradict current legislation and mislead parents of students.
Thus, the Tatarstan authorities have demonstrated that they are not yet going to give up their positions on this issue, despite the direct instructions of the Russian President Vladimir Putin Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.
In recent days, a message has been distributed in parent mailings in a popular messenger calling on parents to refuse to study the Tatar language in schools and kindergartens Photo: kpfu.ru
"DON'T FOLLOW THE LIES"
Indeed, in recent days, a message has been distributed in parent mailings on the popular WhatsApp messenger calling on parents to refuse to study the Tatar language in schools and kindergartens. It said, in particular: “Parents of all schoolchildren in Tatarstan should know that a real opportunity has arisen to study the Tatar language in schools and kindergartens voluntarily or not to study it at all. To do this, you just need to write a free-form application addressed to the school director or kindergarten manager and register it with the secretary. Fulfilling the order of Russian President V.V. Putin, they will be obliged to exempt your child from compulsory study of the Tatar language. The order on the voluntariness of studying national languages is included in the list of instructions of the president and is on the Kremlin website... Execution is controlled by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and Rosobrnadzor. And further. The school administration is misleading (outright lying) about the mandatory exam in the Tatar language at the end of 9th grade. In fact, this is not an exam, but a VOLUNTARY test. This has nothing to do with the GIA, OGE and is not an admission to take other exams. Exams are required only in Russian language and mathematics. Don't fall for the lies."
At the same time, members of the VKontakte community “Committee of Russian-speaking Parents of Tatarstan” - there are many similar ones on social networks now - post detailed instructions in their group on where and to whom to contact with statements about refusal to study the Tatar language with samples of these same statements.
In response to this message, another message appeared, sent not in parental, but in teacher chats, which explained that the order of the President of Russia concerns not the state languages of the republics, but the native ones. “Putin spoke about native languages, in Tatarstan these are Chuvash, Mari, Udmurt and so on. There are schools where these languages are taught, naturally, voluntarily. Tatar is the state language and is taught as the state language. There is a decision about this by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. To be against the culture and language of an entire people is everyday chauvinism.” However, the authors of this newsletter are mistaken: the instructions on the Kremlin website talk about both the native and the state language.
It was precisely in order to put an end to this dispute, as well as to stop the growing hysteria, apparently, that the above-mentioned official statement of the Ministry of Education of Tatarstan appeared.
IS NOT EVERYONE IN THE KAZAN KREMLIN SATISFIED WITH ENGEL FATTAHOV'S HARD POSITION?
The main defender of the Tatar language in Tatarstan schools is Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan Fattakhov, who speaks consistently. Immediately after Putin’s famous statement in Yoshkar-Ola, he told reporters that there were no violations in the republic: “We have the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, we have a law on languages, a law on education, we have two state languages: Russian and Tatar. We work according to the federal standard; we have no violations in this regard.”
At the same time, yesterday’s explanation from Fattakhov’s department also contains a somewhat ambiguous wording: “Based on the proposals of the interdepartmental commission for the implementation of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation following the meeting of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation on interethnic relations, held on July 20, 2017 in the city of Yoshkar-Ola, the Prime Minister Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan A.V. Pesoshin decided to bring, from January 1, 2018, the volume of studying the Russian language to the volume recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Other measures are also being developed to improve language policy in the Republic of Tatarstan.” It turns out that before this, the republic still ignored the recommendations of the federal Ministry of Education and Science? In addition, if the volume of studying the Russian language increases, the question of additional hours of the Tatar language arises - the requirement for equal volumes of study is included in the Tatarstan law on languages.
It is also noteworthy that the last decision is made by Alexei Pesoshin, for whom the sphere of language and culture is not close. On the one hand, he thus covers up the higher authority, maintaining clearance for further maneuver. On the other hand, the Russian surname of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan in this case looks like some kind of nod towards Moscow.
At the same time, according to informed sources of BUSINESS Online, there are those in the Kazan Kremlin who are dissatisfied with Fattakhov’s tough position. In particular, the names of the head of the department of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Tajikistan on domestic policy issues are named Alexandra Terentyeva and directly subordinate to him the head of the department for the implementation of national policy Danila Mustafina, who allegedly write notes to the very top calling for a compromise with Moscow. One of the newspaper’s interlocutors claims that Terentyev is a long-time supporter of children from non-Tatar families learning Tatar on a voluntary basis.
And supporters of Fattakhov’s position continue to appeal to clause 3 of Art. 14 of the Federal Law “On Education”, which states that teaching and learning the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation can be introduced in accordance with the legislation of the republics of the Russian Federation. The Federal State Educational Standards states that curricula “provide<...>the opportunity to teach and study the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation and the native language from among the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation.” The principle of voluntariness is not explicitly stated anywhere, as in other subjects of the school curriculum. This means that if it is possible to make changes to this system, then only through the adoption of new federal laws, which must pass through the State Duma and the Federation Council.
The Federal Ministry of Education, we recall, has taken an ambivalent position. Minister Olga Vasilyeva never gave a clear answer to the question of whether national languages should be compulsory for learning. “When we talk about forced, involuntary [language learning]... Although I think that each case should be considered separately... It seems to me that it is not entirely correct if you were born and live on the territory of Bashkiria or Tatarstan and do not know the language household level. And the Tatar language is so rich. Therefore, each individual case must be considered. And we do it,” she said, recalling the above-mentioned decision of the Constitutional Court. But the “consider individually” recipe doesn’t really work in practice.
The last decision is made by Alexey Pesoshin, that is, the Prime Minister of Tatarstan with a Russian surname turns out to be the main conductor of the policy of studying national languages / Photo: BUSINESS Online
WILL IT GO ACCORDING TO THE “BASHKIR SCENARIO”?
Even ardent supporters of maintaining the current status quo regarding the study of the Tatar language in schools admit that developments in the republic along the “Bashkir model” are quite possible, and it will ultimately lead to the fact that the Tatar language will be studied only on a voluntary basis.
“Forcing a person to learn a language that is not his native language is just as unacceptable as reducing the level and time of teaching Russian,” let us recall that these loud words of the Russian President at a July meeting in Yoshkar-Ola were provoked by the situation in the neighboring republic. There, in one of the schools in Ufa, a committee was formed to protect the rights of Russian-speaking schoolchildren, which complained to the prosecutor of the Republic of Belarus Andrey Nazarov to impose teaching of the Bashkir language. He carried out an inspection of over three hundred schools in Bashkortostan, as a result of which on May 25 he issued a report addressed to the head of the republic Rustem Khamitov. The essence of the complaints was that the schools included the Bashkir language as a compulsory part of the program, and in some places to the detriment of Russian.
This was followed by a series of statements by Khamitov himself, as well as the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Belarus Gulnaz Shafikova, not always consistent, and sometimes even contradictory. There, too, at first they focused on the difference in the legal status of the Bashkir language as a “native” and as a “state” language. Like, native language classes really should be optional, but state language classes should be for everyone. But in the end it didn't work. On August 22, an explanation on this issue appeared on the website of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Belarus: “Teaching and studying the state languages of the republics of the Russian Federation may be introduced in schools; citizens have the right to study their native language from among the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation (Article 14 of the federal law “On Education in the Russian Federation”). Federation“). Thus, the law enshrines the right, and not the obligation, to study native languages and state languages of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.” And further: “Teaching native languages, including the Bashkir language, contrary to the consent of the parents (legal representatives) of students is not allowed. For violations of the equality of rights and freedoms of man and citizen, criminal liability is provided under Art. 136 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation." As a result, the issue was brought down to the school level: by hook or by crook, statements are collected from parents that they want to learn Bashkir. The Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus Shafikova recently reported that 80% of parents wrote applications.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Tatarstan told BUSINESS Online that at present no order has been received from the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation on this issue, and checks in this area have not yet been carried out by the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic. Nevertheless, an exacerbation seems to be becoming inevitable. So far, a confrontational scenario is unfolding - at the level of authorities there is a legal dispute with the exchange of “courtesy” through documents published on websites. At the level of the public and parents, there is increased emotional pumping, which may not end harmlessly. It would seem that the axiom has long been clear to everyone: issues of language and national politics are so delicate and sensitive that they need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity. Isn't it time for the parties to sit down at the negotiating table and come to a compromise without accumulating mutual grievances and misunderstandings?
Even ardent supporters of maintaining the current status quo regarding the study of the Tatar language admit that in the republic it is quite possible for events to develop along the “Bashkir model”
Photo: Maxim Bogodvid, RIA Novosti
“THE QUESTION OF LANGUAGES IS LIKE THE LAST STALINGRAD BATTLE FOR SOVEREIGNTY”
BUSINESS Online experts have different assessments of the current situation.
Mikhail Shcheglov- Chairman of the Society of Russian Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan:
— Unfortunately, this explanation from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan does not say anything about the order of the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate the voluntary nature of teaching the Tatar language in the republic. The issue of languages for our regional authorities is like the last Stalingrad battle for sovereignty. They will try to keep his teaching going until the last minute - maybe until Putin taps his finger on the table or furrows his eyebrows. But no matter how much the rope twists, you still have to do something. And the reaction of the Ministry of Education is understandable, because parents are spreading information that they can refuse the Tatar language. They are afraid that now there will be a flurry of such statements, and they do not know what to do with them.
What will happen next? The worst option is that the prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Tatarstan will write a response that the law is not being violated, and the ministry will give the command to “tighten the screws.” And then everything will depend on the parent community; the group on the VKontakte social network “Committee of Russian-Speaking Parents of Tataria” has doubled the number of subscribers in a week, everything is seething and seething there. But the Internet is the Internet, and in order for parents to go to talk with the director, it requires personal courage. Such parents, as a rule, begin to feel pressure, including from other parents, saying that you are “setting up” the entire class and school. Although the directors shake hands with the most tenacious and principled parents, and children are allowed to play the “fool” in [Tatar] lessons, and then they “draw” the grade so that they don’t make a fuss. But there will be more and more such parents, and something will need to be done about it.
But, in my opinion, the republic’s leadership cannot persist in this situation. I think that the emphasis now needs to be placed on native speakers of the Tatar language, and money should be invested there, but Russians have never been native speakers of the Tatar language and will never become one. If teaching the Tatar language were voluntary, in a positive way, then maybe 20 percent of Russians would know the language, but now, excuse me, you won’t be forced to be nice. Five hours of a subject you don’t need a week, and on a grammatical basis, are taught to you! In the explanation of the Ministry of Education it is written about improving the methods, but we have been talking about them for 20 years, and now, as they say, it’s too late to drink Borjomi. But I would like to emphasize that we are not at all against the Tatar language, we are for the voluntary nature of learning, let it be mandatory for the Tatars, but for the Russians it should be voluntary: if you want to learn, teach.
Rkail Zaidulla— writer and ex-editor-in-chief of the magazine “Gailә һәm mәktәp”:
— I think that the law should be a priority. There is the Constitution of the Russian Federation, there is the Constitution of Tatarstan, there is a decision of the Constitutional Court... I’m just surprised that people are against teaching the Tatar language; in Europe they usually study three or four languages, this is natural for them. But for some reason our population is generally against learning other [non-Russian] languages. This is the inculcation of imperial consciousness, I think. That the Russian people are great, their language is great and powerful, and other languages are supposedly some kind of second-rate, this consciousness is still active. I think that all citizens of Tatarstan should study the Tatar language. But if Moscow’s pressure increases, then? I think it is necessary to divide schools according to national, maybe religious, principles. How to divide children from mixed marriages? If a person is Tatar by origin, but considers himself Russian, then for God’s sake: it depends not on blood, but on culture, self-identification. If someone does not want to study the state language of Tatarstan, then I think there is no other way. But this is a very subtle thing. We know how in Moldova and other countries the war started over language; some of the residents there did not want to learn the Moldavian language and treated it with disdain. It is important not to cross this fine line.
I myself was born in Chuvashia, lived there for 18 years, and although I did not study the Chuvash language (now in my village they teach Chuvash as the state language), I still know the Chuvash language. I read the latest Chuvash literature with interest and feel comfortable, proud that I know the Chuvash language. In my small homeland, all Tatars know the Chuvash language, and the Chuvash speak Tatar, and they feel great. We need to be interested in each other, know the culture of our neighbor - this is wonderful. I especially don’t understand when Tatar women oppose it: yesterday they just arrived from the village to the city, maybe they married a Russian, and they consider themselves more Russian than the Russians themselves, and they oppose their language.