Aida Abdrakhmanova, head of the Tatarstan Independence Committee and Vice President of the Anti-Imperial Block of Nations, spoke at a demonstration in Stockholm with a speech dedicated to the referendum of the Republic of Tatarstan held on 21 March 1992, as well as to Tatarstan’s right to independence.
Her speech received a strong positive response: after it, participants of the demonstration actively asked questions about Tatarstan and the referendum itself.
“I was passing through Kazan in 1995,” one participant noted, “but I did not know that such an open and democratic referendum had taken place in Tatarstan.”
The Tatarstan Independence Committee emphasises the importance of informing the international community about the existence of the Tatar people, their true history, and the forced retention of the republic by Moscow.
The Committee notes that this control has led to the involvement of the Tatar people in Russia’s bloody wars against sovereign states, including the war against Ukraine, and to the effective deprivation of rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan.
We bring to your attention the speech of Aida Abdrakhmanova, delivered at the demonstration in Stockholm on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the 1992 Tatarstan referendum:
“I greet all participants and organisers of this demonstration. Thank you for standing with Ukraine in this difficult time.
I am grateful to Sweden for its consistent support of Ukraine, for military, political, and economic assistance. This support is extremely important, and we believe it will continue and even increase. Thank you to Sweden and the Swedish people for this.
My name is Aida Abdrakhmanova. I am a Tatar from the Republic of Tatarstan and the head of the Committee for the Independence of Tatarstan.
This week, on 21 March, marks the 34th anniversary of the referendum on the sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan. It was held in 1992, and its results are documented in a report by the U.S. Helsinki Commission. International diplomats and observers from various countries, including Sweden, were present at the referendum.
The question posed to the residents of the Republic of Tatarstan was:
‘Do you agree that the Republic of Tatarstan is a sovereign state, a subject of international law, building its relations with the Russian Federation and other states based on equal treaties?’
A total of 82.0% of voters participated, of whom 61.4% voted in favour. Many experts described this result as “remarkable.”
Based on the results of this referendum, the state sovereignty of the republic was proclaimed, and on 6 November 1992, the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan was adopted. Today, we also remember all the brave politicians, public figures and citizens of the Republic of Tatarstan who, in 1992, achieved what seemed almost impossible and held the first — and perhaps the last — free and fair referendum in Tatarstan’s history.
However, Moscow did not allow the Tatars to realise their right to self-determination. Under the threat of military invasion and the deployment of tanks in Kazan, the results of the referendum were effectively nullified.
Since the early 2000s, after Vladimir Putin came to power, the Constitution of Tatarstan has been almost completely rewritten under pressure from federal laws. Today, it contains almost no references to the republic’s sovereignty.
Over the past 25 years, the Tatar people have been gradually deprived of their political rights, ultimately leading to the war of aggression in the 21st century, the war against Ukraine.
We understand: this is not our war. We did not start it.
But as long as Tatarstan is governed from Moscow, Tatars and all nations once conquered by the Russian Empire will be drawn into its endless wars.
We do not want to be part of this bloody empire. Yet Russia holds us by force, ignoring international law.
We must clearly understand: Russian imperialism will not stop on its own.
The authorities in Moscow do not even hide their desire to restore the borders of the Soviet Union — and even beyond. This revanchism can threaten any country. This is especially well understood in Ukraine and the Baltic states. In Ukraine and Lithuania, parliamentary commissions have already been established to work with the indigenous nations of Russia.
Therefore, it is especially important today to stand together:
together in support of Ukraine,
together in the fight against Russian imperialism.
The freedom of Ukraine is a step toward the freedom of all nationalities held by the Russian empire.
Thank you, Sweden. Thank you for your attention. Glory to Ukraine!”
Link to the video of Aida Abdrakhmanova’s speech at the demonstration about the Tatarstan referendum:
https://youtu.be/4ip_uaY-qy4
Information Department of the Tatarstan Independence Committee
