This article is a response to any russian who wonders "Why should a Tatar (or Tatarstan) 
be unhappy in russia?" A Pole, a Fin, or a person from the Baltic region could answer 
this question much faster, saying "Ivan go home." & having in mind "This is my land. Who are
 you even to ask me such a question." Many Tatars would reason similarly, but many have been 
made more realistic. Let's think about the reasons of the latter, by considering quickly Tatars' history and nowadays.

Tatars' independence.
   I skip the controversial origin of the word Tatar, but just notice that Qazan Tatars are heirs of 
Bulgars (yes, Bulgarians are of Turkic origin, but became slavs), who in turn are a branch of Hazar 
state's population that migrated from the Caspian up to the middle Volga river sometimes in 8th 
century.
   First of all, historically there have been many branches of Tatars, including Qazan (Kazan), 
Qirim (Crimean), Nogay (Siberian), Estirhan (Astrahan), Qasim, etc. By now only Kazan, and Crimean 
Tatars can be considered a viable nation. Back in 16th century each of them 
had a separate khanate after the demise of Golden Horde. The demise was caused by competition 
between heirs of the royal family. Russian state was subdued by Golden Horde, and paid a nominal 
"federal" tax of something like 10%. After the Golden Horde, Kazan Khanate assumed the role of 
tax collector. It must be noticed that russia's administrative system (with the only exception 
that Qasim khanate was established under Ryazan), religion, language, economy, education 
 or any other social sphere did not get affected by Tatar patronage. That situation could have 
been viewed as very confederative state where 10% tax served as a fee for enjoying defense 
potential of a stronger state. It is true that it was unvoluntary, but if russia's treatment of 
Tatars after the reversal has been the same, you wouldn't be reading this article right now, 
cause probably I wouldn't write it.
Russian state manouvered skillfully among royal disunity among Tatars. After a series of wars, 
with the about 60% of them started from Russian side, Russian state managed to establish a 
pro-russian gvt in Kazan in late 15th century, thus reversing the patronage. Tatar people 
revolted in about several years, and Kazan khanate was free again. However, in autumn of 1552 
Ivan the Terrible gathered the strongest ever some 150,000-strong russian army and started a new 
assault on Qazan. It must be noticed that historians report that in one of these wars, Ivan the 
Terrible gave his word not to asssault Kazan if Tatar khanbike (khanbeeka, queen) was given to him 
as a ransom. Tatars gathered a Qoroltay (people forum) and accepted Soyombike's self-sacrifice, 
which in retrospect was an inhuman & meaningless act. Soyombike was allegedly treated like an 
animal and "lived" in inhuman conditions, dying shortly after the imprisonment.

Tatars' captivation.
   That said, in 1552 a 150,000-strong russian army, which also included troops of the 
national-traitor Qasim khan who stupidly believed that he would be given Qazan's leadership after 
the war, started besieging Qazan after establishing a depo-castle not far from Qazan. Qazan army, 
according to historians numbered about 30,000. Out of all Tatar khanates, only Estirhan khanate 
reportedly sent a 3,000-strong reinforcement. After several months of battle, & after destroying 
a small forest-castle used by Tatar mobile divisions, russians digged in under the Qazan castle's 
eastern wall and made an incredibly huge by those times explosion (German specialists allegedly 
 were used both to strengthen russian artillery, as well as for mining). Though at first russians 
 weredistracted by gold and jewelry in the city, and were beaten back, the hole was too large 
and the city was now very vulnerable.
Kazan fell, among the last martyrs being religious clergy in Qol-Sherif mosque. Some say a half 
of Kazan Tatars' males was slaughtered. For about 25 years thereafter a guerilla war took place 
as Tatars in villages resisted russian rule. Tatars were prohibited from living near Kazan for 
centuries. And even after they were allowed to do so, the could live only on the outskirts. 
   The Kazan's fall was followed by Estirhan, and Nogay within a few decades. Thanks to Lord, Qirim 
was saved from russian rule until late 18th century, but then too it fell as Ottoman Empire was 
losing strength because of lack of technological development. However, resistence there never ceased, & Tatars attempted to break helped the Ottoman-British-French coalition army during 1855-1856 Crimea war. As to Kazan, allegedly 
sometimes in 17th century there was a popular revolt led by Batyrshah, but it could not
save Tatar freedom.
   It must be said that russian state starting from about 18th-19th century manipualted Kazan Tatars'
religious clergy, and managed to recruit Tatars into its army so that they fight in russia's 
imperial wars. Tatars have always been sincere fighters, and helped russia a lot, the only 
reward for what was permission to build  a mosque on the outskirts of Kazan (after all it was 
the clergy that convinced Tatars to fight for their oppressors). 

Tatars in the 20th  century.
   As soon as the press started developing freedom-loving, intellectuals in Kazan started spreading 
the word of freedom & unity. Many Tatars were persecuted, and have either to hide constantly or 
to flee. This and communist-due migration led to significant Tatar population in Manchjuria, Japan,
 Poland, Finland, Turkey, etc. 
Communist movement brought about weakness in the russian state, and freedom movements took 
advantage of this opportunity both in Idil-Ural (Volga-Ural region, populated by heirs of Kazan, 
and partly Nogay khanates: Tatars, Bashqorts, and others (Chuvashs, Maris, Uydmurts, etc.),
 and in Crimea. Shortly after 1917 revolution, democratic republics were established both in 
Idil-Ural and Crimea. Here is an indicator of how advanced Tatars were at the time: 
the 1918 democratic constitution of Idil-Ural (whose main autors were Sadri Maqsudi & 
Gayaz Iskhaqi) granted suffrage to woven. It also must be noted that despite absence of any 
financing from the empire Tatars had more books printed per capita and were more literate on 
average than russians. The existence of Tatar republics however was not long. As communists got 
stronger they ruined both republics, persecuting their leaders. Some Tatar communists who helped 
russia in doing so in case of Idil-Ural, hoped that moscow would declare a similar Idil-Ural 
republic but on communist basis. Once again, pro-moscow Tatars were fooled:
some time later a decree from moscow established a whole bunch of republics (Chuvash, Mari, 
Uydmurt, and devided Tatars and Bas(h)qorts into 2 separate republics). In the process, less than 
25% of Kazan Tatars was included into so-called Tatar autonomous republic, and (while separation 
between the 2 is totally artificial) there were more Tatars in Bashqort republic than there were
Bashqorts. Such facts as appropriation of prospering Tatars' property (of course, including 
religious clergy, which concerned my great-grandfather) could be skipped, but 
what could you say about bringing free vodka to Tatar villages to demoralize decent, & religious 
population?
  In Crimea soviet republic was established in 1921. While there was an attempt to establish
 a communist but Tatar-led regime, such policy was changed with russianization in 1929.
  In general, russian policy towards Tatars can be expressed as
 exploitation when Tatars can be of use, & then repression when there is nothing needed from Tatars.

Tatar language & culture issue.
   Russian rulers of all types played a lot with alphabets of all Muslim nations. Tatars were one of 
the victims. During the 20th century 5! (yes, FIVE) alphabets were changed:
1. Arabic (was used for more than 9 centuries.);
2. distorted Arabic (around 1905; with it you wouldn't understand Arabic script, & would have some 
difficulties understanding your Turkic brothers. The goal was obviously preparation of a Latin 
script, which would not be so bad unless ...)
3. ridiculous Latin (around 1928; included many ridiculous characters that betrayed the real ultimate 
goal: moving on to russian alphabet.)
4. Cyrillic (around 1939; here we go.)
5. Latin, again ridiculous (1999; involves 3 non-Latin characters that prevent usage on the web, 
contains phonetical flaws, & separates from other Turkic languages.)
People opposing these changes ended up in prison. More on alphabet in .doc format.
   After the destruction of Idil-Ural republic Tatar language underwent russianization:
many Arabic words were thrown out, and replaced by russian words, which currently constitute such a large part of vocabulary that language's image suffers enourmously. The Cyrillic alphabet itself 
contained many purely russian letters (phonemes), such as "ts", "sch", "yo", "ya", "ye", and such 
'intellectual properties' as "firmness sign" and "softness sign". It must be noted that all russian impositions were put into the language without any amendments to reflect Tatar language's phonetic and other peculiarities. They sound in Tatar, approximately the same way as a Chinese word would sound in English. In 1985, there was only 1 Tatar 
school left in Qazan. On the other hand, up to this very day Tatars' last names carry the "ov"s, "in"s etc. that can be perceived and earmarks saying "this people can't even have their names their own way".

   This cultural genocide policy was Kazan Tatars' reward for their heroic fight against fascism: Tatars 
had the greatest number of killed in WW2 after russians. The importance of this fact becomes 
much more pronounced after you consider the fact that Ukranians for example were in the midst of 
this war (whereas, Idil-Ural only fought by providing weaponry) and had a population that was 5-6 
times larger than that of Tatars (in all region, including those that were stripped of from Tatar 
land). The same can be said about Belorussians. My grandfather (on mother's side) died in tank 
battle under Kursk. And a question involuntarily comes to mind:
Maybe Tatars should have moved on the German side and have fought russia? Maybe then we could 
have restored our freedom? It is a terrible logic, but russian oppression is more terrible.

   Crimean Tatars on the other hand were subjected to physical genocide through exile to Siberia and 
Kazakhstan deserts because they tried to break free from oppression during the WW2.

Economy
   In the economic field, Tatarstan provided more than half of Soviet Union's oil supplies for several
decades since 1950's. By now they have largely been depleted, and the oil left is projected to 
finish in about 35 years. Bas(h)qortostan is rich in oil too. Add its contribution, and you'll see 
how much shorter Soviet Union & currently russia would have existed without Idil-Ural. 
If you think there must be a Quwait out there, here is a suprise:
Tatarstan started using food coupons long before other regions of previously Soviet empire. 
Reasoning? Food shortages, which required limitation of individual purchases. Where did the money 
go? Good question. Some demanded that russia refunds Tatars the money. Good idea, Kremlin 
should start thinking about that. What about adding a 1 square km of Tatars' territory for every 
year of delay in repayment?

1990's on.
   Again some weakening of the oppression led to a new freedom movement, which culminated in 1990 
when Tatarstani parliament accepted "Declaration of Sovereignty" whereas tens of thousands of 
exaulting demonstrators gathered by the parliament with national flags & slogans. Crimean Tatars'
 situation is more difficult because many are still trying to return back home from exile, and 
have difficulties with getting land and housing.
The euphoria of those days did not last long though. Negotiations with Kremlin did not leave much 
promise, whereas international recognition otherwise is hardly possible. In 1994, a referendum was
 held in Tatarstan with a question, going something like this:
"Do you agree that Tatarstan is a sovereign state associated with russian federation on the basis 
of free will and international law?" Leaflets were brought to Tatarstan from russia on many trucks
in an effort to agitate people against to say "No". Tatarstan's TV, & media in general,
 is product of cultural genocide policy & does not show much beyond "1 ton of potatoes have been 
cropped in X region", so most people watch moscow's stations even today (the alternative is not 
to watch TV) which then made their best to scare people into saying "No". russian military units 
including tanks gathered on Tatarstani border. The atmosphere was tough. It was even tougher, if 
you consider another product of cultural genocide policy:
at the time less than 50% of Tatarstani population were Tatars, about 43% russians, etc.
   The result: about 81% voted, and about 64% said "Yes"! The OSCE observers then confirmed objectivity and fairness of the referendum. If human rights mattered the most in this 
world right now Tatarstan would have become a member of the UN, but other things matter more ...
Russian gvt did sign an agreement with Tatarstan in about 2 years, and though it sounded more or 
less like a free association of sovereign states, it was obvious that russia would break its word 
more or less soon (as soon as it feels strong enough for it). In fact, the agreement was not what 
Tatarstanis voted for and what Tatarstani constitution forseas:
Tatarstan had to pay 50% of VAT, and about 20% of income tax after gathering them to moscow. 
   Tatarstan did not even have a right to certify a university, it must be done in moscow. Tariffs for 
transit of exported oil were close enough to what Turkmenistan rejected because there was little 
left to make profit. Export of oil itself, as well as tax percentages were to be re-negotiated 
every 5 years (You already know how to read that: enjoy this untill we can grab it back). But 
with russia you should always know that even if you get little, you should be expecting to be 
getting even less.
   The agreement obviously involved under-cover portions & personal responsibilities on the part of Tatarstani president Mintimir Shaimiev (former Prime-Minister, Mohammad Sabir(ov) once said Shaimiev became very closed (recluse, if you wish) some time after the agreement was signed), in particular that russian services control
   Tatar opposition, that freedom of speech is restricted, that future Tatar alphabet not be good 
enough for revival of the language. Let's assume these weren't included, but they did take place, 
& recent developments in russia itself explicitly suggest who is to blame. I personally felt censorship in the media, and even when I tried to publish a calendar. No, nobody now tells you right away that it is censored, but when somebody edits your article into a censored one or delays pubslishing samples of you
 calendar for 4-5 months, you can figure it out. A major Tatar 
national movement leader, Kashapov, made 2 statements last spring:
-in one he blamed Tatarstani security services, which are under mutual control on the paper, but obviously are led by moscow, for preventing divided (by them) national movement from uniting;
-in the other, Tatar Public Center in Chally, 2nd largest city, stated that its planned meeting to protest putin's arrival to Tatarstan was cancelled, because of "pressure from security services".
It is also interesting to note that Tatarstani Mufti approved of moscow's genocidal war in Chechnya and then called upon people to vote for putin in March 2000 elections!!!
There have been only 2 positive developments since that agreement:
-Tatarstan's budget started getting at least somewhat reasonable amount of this land produces;
-Tatar schools started slowly developing.
   Both of them, however, are overshadowed. People are still reluctant to give their kids 
to Tatar schools because there are no  credible Tatar universities. On the other hand, the 2001 budget accepted in moscow has discarded power-sharing treaties that moscow made both with Bashqortostan and with Tatarstan, and virtually is going to usurp their money the Soviet way.
   Now is the horizon, Putin is explicitly planning to cancel republics and make a bunch of gubernas 
led by his co-workers from KGB and the military (just see his appointees, and those contesting 
gubernatorial elections). What about Tatarstan referendum? Nothing, Putin weren't elected by 
and doesn't care about the will of even people of the russian federation (please refer to articles on election fraud, psychotropic syringe in Kursk submarine victim's mother's back, and murdered journalists). Cultural genocide can hardly draw much attention nowadays that physical genocide in Chechnya is being carried out without much obstacles.

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