The World Congress of Tatars: much has been done in 2018, there is still much to be done

November 29, 2018

The end of the year is the time to sum up and plan for the future. Today, an expanded meeting of the National Council of the World Congress of Tatars was held – a kind of reporting event on the work done. The event was attended by the leaders of Tatar organizations and Tatar cultural centers from 52 Russian regions and 13 foreign countries, as well as representatives of state structures of the republic.

The meeting was opened by  Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan, Chairman of the National Council of the World Tatar Congress Vasil Shaikhraziev. He voiced the issues to be discussed at the meeting and the schedule of speeches.

The first deputy head of  Executive Committee of the World Congress of Tatars, Danis Shakirov, spoke about the activities of Tatar organizations in foreign countries. According to him, ¾ parts of all Tatars live outside Tatarstan, 145 Tatar organizations operate in 45 countries. And the cooperation of the Congress of Tatars with these associations of compatriots is multifaceted.

– The leadership of the republic also pays great attention to interaction with compatriots. Wherever the President of Tatarstan would travel, he will meet with the Tatar Diaspora. Successful work in terms of  preservation and popularization of Tatar traditions and customs are conducted in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Turkey, Lithuania, Finland, Belgium, Poland, America, Canada, Australia, etc., said Danis Shakirov.

We want to update the information base in order to assess the national and cultural status in each country. To do this, each of you will be sent a table that should be filled. It should reflect the number of Tatars living in the country, the number of Tatar associations, religious organizations, Sunday schools, associations of Tatar women, youth organizations, Tatar creative teams, etc.

According to  deputy head of  Executive Committee of the World Tatar Congress for work with the Russian regions  Mars Tukayev, this year  the Tatar world has been  rich in events. He settled on the most important of them.

– There are a lot of events. Among them, of course, there are scientific conferences, and events of historical, spiritual orientation. However, they are mostly cultural by nature. All this, of course, is fine. However, the fact that in the cities where about 40-60 thousand Tatars live there are no  not only Tatar schools, but  even national classes, it  sounds depressing. Some organizations turn a blind eye to the repression of the Tatar language in cities and villages and direct all their activities only to songs and dances. The question arises, are they not living with the thought that when they die, we will die with a song. It is worth learning from such regions as Samara, Izhevsk Dmitrovgrad, where much is being done to revive national education, ”Mars Tukaev said in his speech.

Deputy head of  Executive Committee of the World Tatar Congress on work with Tatar youth organizations, Tabris Yarullin, presented on the map the youth organizations operating in each district. According to him, if there are Tatar organizations in the region, there should  be a youth wing.

– We are ready to provide all-round assistance. We will tell what events can be organized, how to act, etc.

Tabris Yarullin spoke about the events held this year. In particular, about the action tatarcha dictation, which gathered 10 thousand participants around the world. The following year the ambitious task is put to collect 100 thousand participants. He noted the ongoing competition “Tatar Kyzy”, the World Forum of Tatar youth and others.

Gulnaz Shaykhieva, Head of Information Support and Media Relations, made a presentation on management activities and products prepared  by the Congress – the official website, the Khalkim Minem newspaper, the Khalkim Minem program on the TNV channel, and a radio broadcast on Bulgar. She also presented a report on which regions are actively working and, most importantly, they are able to show their work and actively interact with the Congress in terms of information.

Kadriya Idrisova, head of the Ak Kalfak organization of Tatar women, said that Tatar women’s associations are active throughout the world. In her speech, she raised issues of educating the younger generation, preserving our national traditions and language, etc. She emphasized the importance of the field visits, which serve to revive the forgotten heritage of the Tatar people and rituals.

Then, the leaders of Tatar public organizations of Astrakhan, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan Oblast, the Republic of Mari El, the Republic of Komi, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Belgium, Novosibirsk and others spoke about their activities.

The plan of work of the World Congress of Tatars for 2019   has been  unanimously adopted.