“Russia is oppressing us all.” Who in Warsaw came out to honour the memory of the defenders of Kazan in Khәter kөn
“Russia is oppressing us all.” Who in Warsaw came out to honour the memory of the defenders of Kazan in Khәter kөn
On 13 October, a rally dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Kazan — Khәter kөne — was held in the center of Warsaw. The action was organized by political emigrant Nafis Kashapov, who lives in Poland and represents the League of Free Nations and the “government of Tatarstan in exile.” Solidarity with Kashapov was expressed by representatives of the Belarusian opposition (traditionally, they hold their rallies at the monument to Nicolaus Copernicus on Sundays at 2 p.m.), representatives of the people of the Caucasus, and Dmitry Ushatsky, a delegate to Ilya Ponomarev’s “Congress of People’s Deputies.”
Despite the pouring rain, more than thirty people gathered, to whom Nafis Kashapov handed out posters of his own making. The inscriptions on the posters were in different languages - Russian, Tatar, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, and English.
- “In 1552, 180,000 Russian troops in Kazan destroyed the Tatars, and today this genocide continues in Ukraine”;
- “Ivan IV destroyed the Tatar state in 1552, Putin continues his work”;
- “October 15, 1552 – Tatars, do not forget this date,” read the inscriptions on the posters.
Several representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) in exile attended the rally.
The first to receive the microphone was the Honorary Consul of the CRI in Poland, Adam Borowski.
— Russia must fall apart, and then there will be peace. As long as Russia is big, as long as Putin is in power, there will be no peace. All nations that call themselves free must do everything so that Ukraine beats Russia. [Then] there will be a free Tatarstan, a free Crimea, a free Ichkeria… And there will be Belarus without Lukashenko, — Borovsky said.
Another representative of the CRI, blogger and press secretary of the Chechen volunteer battalion fighting on the side of Ukraine, Islam Belokiev, stated that he came “to express his solidarity with the oppressed people.”
— We are united by one thing — we are all oppressed by Russia. They oppress the Bashkir people, who are being Russified by force, trying to rid them of their culture, language, and religion — as well as the Tatars, Chechens, Dagestanis, Chuvashes, Yakuts, Belarusians… And we, being in Poland today, express solidarity with the Polish people. Because the Poles know firsthand what the “Russian world” and Russian “imperialism” are, — Belokiev said, specifying that he has “nothing against the Russian people” and is ready to live on equal terms in the Caucasus with those Russians who choose freedom.
Nafis Kashapov mentioned in his speech that the authorities’ attitude towards Khater Kone changed with the arrival of Putin. According to Kashapov, his twin brother Rafis, who is currently living in Great Britain as a political refugee, was detained by Tatarstan security forces under far-fetched pretexts “five or six times” to prevent him from participating in the action. In the last few years, the Tatarstan authorities have completely banned rallies in memory of the day of Ivan the Terrible’s conquest of Kazan in 1552, the activist recalled.
Erdogan is going to Tatarstan, and Tatar activists are fleeing to Turkey
As Idel.Realii has already reported, that on October 12, police detained several Tatar activists in the republic before a group prayer dedicated to Khatera Kone. The security forces gave activist Rafik Karimullin a warning, stating that his personality “indicates prerequisites for committing extremist activity,” and the prayer had not been agreed upon with the authorities.
After the rally, a correspondent from Idel.Realii asked Nafis Kashapov why, in his opinion, the authorities are fighting so harshly against national activists, de facto declaring public events dedicated to Khater Kone illegal.
Kashapov suggested that the Kremlin has taken a course “towards an interethnic and interreligious war.” Moreover, in the case of the Tatars, the activist added, the ruling regime is afraid that “the Tatars will wake up and take revenge for the past.”
– But this will not happen. Kazan is multinational, and the people there live in peace. There have been no interethnic wars in Tatarstan in all 35 years since the collapse of the USSR. But Moscow does not give up trying to anger people of other nationalities, – Kashapov shared his version.
Ibrahim Yaganov, a representative of the Circassian National Movement, is confident that the tightening of the screws in the national republics is evidence that preparations for a civil war have begun in Russia.
— An organization called the “Russian Community” has been created. Russia has become convinced that it will not win the war in Ukraine and has begun to prepare for a civil war within. The process will worsen as Russia’s fear of the end of the empire develops. This is simply agony, this is how all empires perished. And today the Russian empire is dying, — Yaganov believes.
The representative of the Circassian National Movement added that he came to the rally dedicated to Khater Kone because “this is an all-Russian pain.”
— History moves inexorably forward, empires have become a thing of the past, but the Russian empire is still alive. In this imperial prison, in addition to the Caucasians, and the Tatars, there live many nations. Many have died… Therefore, we need to consolidate and put the squeeze on this empire. Nations must receive freedom and the right to self-determination, — concluded Yaganov.
Dmitry Ushatsk, a representative of Ilya Ponomarev’s “Congress of People’s Deputies,” who adheres to regionalist positions (he advocates for the independence of the “Baltic Republic” from Moscow—regionalists from the Kaliningrad region prefer this name for their region), stated that “the history of the storming of Kazan is especially indicative,” because it “essentially marked the beginning of the formation of an empire that still exists today.”
Ushatsky agrees with Yaganov that attempts to tighten the screws on nationalists and regionalists are “an indicator of agony.”
— All opponents of the so-called “collapse” say that there are no centrifugal sentiments in the regions, so the security forces support this picture with repressions. The situation is reminiscent of the late eighties. No one seriously thought that Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia would separate, except for people in the Baltic countries themselves. In the end, even in Moscow, people came out for their independence. It’s just that all this is dormant in people now, — Dmitry Ushatsky believes.
A rally dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Kazan was held in Warsaw
In 2023, Tatar activists in Kazan were also denied permission to hold a rally in honour of Remembrance Day. A group of representatives of the national movement gathered near the Syuyumbike Tower to pray.
- Khәter kөne (Memory Day) has been celebrated by the Tatar community since 1989: at first, it was a multi-thousand-strong procession along the central streets of Kazan. In the 2000s, the authorities banned the procession, allowing only a rally to be held, which first took place on Freedom Square, then at the square in front of the Kamal Theatre, and then in Tinchurin Park.
- Khәter kөne recalls the events of October 1552, when the troops of Ivan the Terrible captured the capital of the Kazan Khanate. Tatar scholars consider this a turning point in the history of the Tatars: the nation lost its independence, and other Tatar khanates fell after the Kazan Khanate.
Andrey Grigoriev
Idel.Реалии
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