Rafis and his twin brother Nafis (also in political exile), as they themselves admit, are great patriots of Ukraine. Both brothers hold various actions in support of the Ukrainian people, especially actively after the large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation in February 2022.
At the same time, the main goal of the Kashapov brothers is an independent Tatarstan, the Motherland – the struggle for which Rafis and Nafis Kashapov dedicated their lives.
Tatarstan is located in a region called Idel-Ural.
Idel is the name of the river that Russians call the Volga, and the Urals is the geographical region that separates Europe from Asia.
The modern Idel-Ural region is the territory of six republics of the Russian Federation: Mordovia, Chuvashia, Mari El, Tatarstan, Udmurtia and Bashkortostan.
The total area of the Idel-Ural republics is 320,708 square meters. km, it is slightly more than the territory of Poland. Seven titular nations live in these territories, of which the Turkic are Tatars, Bashkirs and Chuvash; and Finno-Hungarian: Erzya, Mokshan, Mari and Udmurt.
Tatars and Bashkirs are considered to be Muslim nations, Chuvash, Erzya, Mokshan, Mari and Udmurt are Christian (Orthodox). The largest by population is the Republic of Bashkortostan, the smallest is Mari El. The most developed is Tatarstan.
Public activists of the national movements of Idel-Ural live outside the borders of the Russian Federation. Outside of Russia, they cooperate in such organizations and platforms as “Free Idel-Ural”, “League of Free Nations”, “Forum of Free Nations of Postrossia”.
In an interview with QIRIM.News , Rafis Kashapov said that he, as the head of the government of Independent Tatarstan in exile, and members of his team have been working with representatives of the peoples of the Idel-Urals regarding their unification for a long time.
“This is not an easy process. It is necessary to agree on many issues with all representatives of the peoples of the region. Long and hard work ahead. However, I think we will be able to unite all nations. We do not yet know whether it will be the Union Republic of Idel-Ural or a confederation. In the future, we will agree on all these issues, and for now, consultations are underway with all of them,” he said.
After February 24, the Tatar national movement came under even more pressure from the Russian authorities. On March 19, 2022, the head of the All-Tatar Community Center in the Russian Federation, Farit Zakiyev, left Russia for Turkey. He stated that he did this as a sign of protest against the war.
“I do not accept this war at all, because I am a person of that generation who studied with Ukrainians and worked at a factory. A war with Ukrainians is absolutely unacceptable for me. In addition, now in Russia it is absolutely impossible to conduct social and political activities, the activities of the All-Tatar Civic Center.” , – he told Radio Azatlyk .
According to Kashapov, the FSB closely monitors all movements of activists, but despite this, about 15 organizations left the World Congress of Tatars, even though it is a pro-government structure.
“This already means that the protest voice in pro-government structures is becoming louder,” he emphasized.
Even in Tatarstan, there are people who support the government in exile independent of the Russian Federation, whose names are currently too dangerous to disclose.
Kashapov’s government is publicly represented so far by himself (the head of the government), Aida Abdrakhmanova , the deputy prime minister for national and religious affairs, and Nafis Kashapov , who is also the deputy prime minister of the government for sports. The government faces many issues, including drafting the Constitution, opening a bank account, own website, YouTube channel, etc.
Kashapov also touched upon the personnel changes in the government of Ukraine, in particular the appointment of the Crimean Tatar Rustem Umyerov as the Minister of Defense. He noted that the Tatars have high hopes for him and hope that Umyerov will help the representatives of the colonized peoples of the Russian Federation.
“We will try to contact him, we want to meet and discuss the situation of the Idel-Ural peoples, the Turks of Russia. For us, he is a worthy person, we are sure that he will defend the interests of Ukraine and the Crimean Tatar people with honor,” he said.
Asif Aliev
Qirim News
