Address on the 36th Anniversary of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan
On August 30, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the republic. It was a real restoration of the statehood that had been lost.
Thirty-six years have passed since that major historical moment.
The circumstances, the political situation, the general mood in society, people’s hopes and expectations created a special energy at that time. Sovereignty is always born in moments like these. From a historical point of view, those events contained so much that historians still struggle with the question: how can all of this be properly explained?
The Tatars are a dispersed and divided nation, living across a very wide territory. More than seventy percent of Tatars live outside the administrative borders of Tatarstan. But sovereignty united us all into one political community.
We have travelled a long and eventful road. We went from almost full sovereignty, with all its main attributes, to the present day, when Moscow has drawn Tatarstan into a criminal war and taken away almost all elements of its independence and statehood.
Under pressure, the Constitution was rewritten. Tatarstan was forced to remove the concepts of “sovereignty” and “citizenship” from it. The system of national education was dismantled. The Tatar language was, in practice, pushed out of public and functional life — and with it an important political instrument.
Inside the republic itself, the public sphere has come under strict control. Independent ideas and the spirit of sovereignty have been removed from public life by force.
Today, Tatarstan is allowed to be discussed only within the framework of official Russian patriotism.
Almost three and a half decades ago, we were making history. Through a revolution, we achieved sovereignty. Through the fall of old idols and the empire, we moved toward democracy.
But if we look at it carefully, we must also admit that we ourselves were not fully able to carry this heavy burden. A revolution can be made, but one must also know how to prevent a counter-revolution and a return to the old system. Euphoria passes. Routine and political grey return and take back what was lost.
In 1960, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. It recognized “the passionate yearning for freedom in all dependent peoples and the decisive role of such peoples in the attainment of their independence.” It also stated its belief that all peoples have an inalienable right to complete freedom, to exercise their sovereignty, and to preserve the integrity of their national territory.
The Declaration solemnly proclaimed:
“All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”
The Declaration also stated that “all armed action or repressive measures of all kinds directed against dependent peoples shall cease in order to enable them to exercise peacefully and freely their right to complete independence…”
Thirty years later, in August 1990, Tatarstan was able to turn these principles into political reality — but only for a short time.
Our collective sovereignty must bring back the idea of genuine freedom. Freedom and sovereignty must always be clearly expressed, spoken about and heard. At the same time, they must remain connected with history and in step with political reality.
The will of the people must be expressed now. Simply declaring our goal of achieving freedom is already an act of political agency.
History reveals itself through movement and change.
Let us unite our republic around serious political goals and meaning!
Great historic work still lies ahead of us. We must not forget this.
May this great celebration be blessed!
Freedom for our Tatarstan and for the Tatar people!
Council of the Tatar World
August 30, 2026
