7 June 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Conference Discusses Preservation And Development Of Tatar Culture
The activities of government agencies and Tatar public organizations aimed at satisfying the cultural needs of the Tatar population in Russia were discussed at a conference in Kazan on 4 June. The conference was arranged by the World Congress of Tatars, Tatarstan's government, and the Russian Ministry for Nationalities Policy. Tatar community representatives from more than 40 regions in Russia attended the meeting. Officials from the World Congress of Tatars told an RFE/RL correspondent in Kazan that no Russian ministry representatives were present at the gathering. The delegates recommended that the Russian Ministry for Nationalites Policy set up a department to deal with the problems of Tatars, the second-largest ethnic group in the Russian Federation. They also proposed launching an all-Tatar newspaper to be distributed throughout Russia and requested assistance from the federal government in getting the first Tatar satellite television channel off the ground.Finally, they asked Tatarstan's republican government to take into account the problems of the Tatar population in the federation when signing the new intergovernmental treaty with the federal government.
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi