Russia's Domestic Policies Towards Non-Slavic Regions of the Federation

Friday ,September 6, 2013

Russia's Domestic Policies Towards Non-Slavic Regions of the Federation.

My name is Deepak Jayaraj.I am doing MA in Center for Russian,East European and Eurasian Studies at University of Kansas.Through this blog, I would like to discuss on Moscow's policies towards the non-Slavic Turkic republics of the Russian Federation.In this week and coming weeks, i will discuss on the relationship between Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).I still have to decide the third case.

 This week, i like to introduce my research problem with the help of three sources :

• Tatar Nation Building Since 1991 : Ethnic Mobilization in Historical Perspective.
• The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) : The Evolution of Centre - Periphery Relations in the Russian Federation.
• Social Status and Ethnicity in Russian Republics.

The first work is an article which is written by Christopher Williams and it is  discussing about the revival of Tatar nation building in the post-Soviet space. Tatarstan is one of the four Turkic republics of the  Russian Federation and the majority of its Turkic inhabitants are the followers of  Islam.Tatarstan is the home of Volga Tatars,the descendants of Golden Horde.The modern Tatarstan is famous for its oil based industries.So economically, it is considered as one of the most prosperous provinces of Russian Federation.This article is based on the four major points.

• First,the process of ethnic mobilization in Tatarstan over the last twenty years.
• Second,changing strategies used by the Tatar leadership and elite to achieve greater sovereignty from Moscow in the period from Mikhail Gorbachev to Vladimir Putin.
• Third,the influence of various factors and strategies on the Tatar drive for economy.
• Fourth,the impact which all this had on Tatar regional identity on one hand,the center-periphery relations on the other since 1991.

Tsarist Russia occupied the land of Volga Tatars in 1552.But Tatar language and culture survived to the twentieth century. Tatar language and culture enjoyed the patronage of Lenin,the first soviet leader.In 1920,the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed (TASSR).But these things had changed during Stalin's period due to his support for Russification.The process of Russification negatively affected the growth of Tatar language and culture. Tatar elites began to prefer Russian over their native tongue.Besides post-second world war witnessed the mass scale Russian migration into Tatarstan due to its rapid industrialization.It also precipitated the growth of Russian at the expense of Tatar. The period of Gorbachev witnessed the rise of nationalist movement in Tatarstan as else where in Soviet Union.But it never led to the separation of Tatarstan from the Russian Federation.It is mainly due to the able leadership of Mintimer Shaimiev. Twenty year rule of Shaimiev brought stability and prosperity to the republic.In return to respect and equal treatment for his republic,Shaimiev offered full support to president Yeltsin and Russian Federation.Putin's period witnessed the power change in Tatarstan; Mintimer Shaimiev is replaced with Rustam Minnikhanov. Minnikhanov also followed the footstep of his predecessor.In short the political elites of Tatarstan was successful in gaining political power and  economic wealth without provoking Moscow openly.

The second work is also an article which is written by Daniel R.Kempton and it is discussing about the evolution of  center-periphery relation between Moscow and the  Republic of Sakha in Siberia.What is the uniqueness of Sakha Republic? First of all Sakha is one of Russia's largest and most resource-laden region.It comprises 20% of Russia's total land area and it produces 98% of Russia's diamonds,21% of its gold and 100% of its antimony.According to the chairman of Sakha's supreme Soviet, Klimet Ivanov, Sakha has more than 1000 mineral deposits with an estimated value of $10 trillion. It shows the economic significance of Sakha for Russian Federation. Sakhas were a nomadic Turkic tribe who migrated to this part of Siberia almost seven centuries ago.They came under Tsarist rule and remained under Soviet rule.In contrast to abundance of its natural resources Sakha were always remained as one of the most backward part of Soviet Union.It was mainly due to the underdeveloped nature of connectivity to other parts of the Union.Most time of the year it lies separated from other republics due to severe weather.This situation  started to change especially during the initial years of Soviet disintegration.As an autonomous republic in newly formed Russian Federation, Sakha command more respect and attention. It is mainly due to the interpersonal relationship between Sakha President Mikhail Nikolaev and the then Russian President Boris Yeltsin.As a staunch supporter of Yeltsin, Nikolaev bartered political support for economic privileges from Moscow.Through that he improved his republic for good. Kempton conclude this article with a point towards the volatility of Russian constitution.According to him in contemporary Russia centre-periphery relation is in a continual state of flux and open to reinterpretation.

The third work is a press report which  based on a lecture given by Viktoria Koroteyeva, senior researcher, Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Science at Kennan Institute on 3 April 2000. Through her lecture she agrees with the statement of her institute’s director Leokadia Drobizheva. According to these two researchers the various issues lying in the sphere of politics divide the people of post-Soviet Russia. They came into this conclusion after their survey of three non-Russian minority dominated republics of Russian Federation: Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Sakha (Yakutia).Contrary to the wider post-1998 Russian experience, in the minority dominated republics, there are big number of population still identify themselves with middle class. Besides these titular groups dominate political life. According to local Russians, it eliminates their chances to come top in the native dominated national republics. So it led to their degradation into lower strata of the society just contrary to the soviet period. This report conclude with two major arguements: 1) The post-soviet transformation didn’t affect titular nationalities as it affected the Russians, 2) Russian self-perceived decline caused further resentment towards minority nationalities and it led to the political unification of ethnic Russians behind strong nationalist leader such as Vladimir Putin.

Sources :

1) Williams,Christopher (2011), "Tatar Nation Building Since 1991:Ethnic Mobilization in Historical Perspective," Journal of Ethno-Politics and Minority Issues in Europe,10(1): 94-123.

2) Kempton,Daniel R (1996) , "The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) : The Evolution of Centre-Periphery Relations in the Russian Federation",The Europe-Asia Studies,48(4) : 587-613.

3)Koehn,Judi Social Status and Ethnicity in Russian Republics ( Source: www.wilsoncenter.org/Social Status and Ethnicity in Russian Republics).