Shaimiev's 'Khanate' on the Volga and its Russian Subjects

Abstract

This paper examines some aspects of post-Soviet transition in Tatarstan, one of 21 ethnic autonomous republics of the Russian Federation, the population of which is almost equally divided between Tatars, Russia's largest ethnic and religious minority, and Russians. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Tatarstan together with Chechnya championed a fundamental reform of the rigid 'centre—periphery' relations with Russia. The Tatarstan leader Mintimir Shaimiev has exploited the post-Soviet weakening of the federal centre, as well as the incompetence of successive Yeltsin governments in national and regional policies, to secure a special relationship between Kazan and Moscow. In 1994, Tatarstan's special status was legitimised by a power-sharing Treaty which, both within post-Communist Russia and internationally, has been termed the 'Tatarstan model'. The Treaty secured for the Tatarstan leadership considerable independence from the Kremlin and allowed Kazan to establish direct economic and political links with the outside world. Domestically, the 'Tatarstan model' has been presented as a more viable and less painful form of transition to a post-Communist society. In the inter-ethnic sphere also, it has claimed to represent a model of transformation into a modern, democratic, civic nation of Tatarstanis. The widely accepted image of Tatarstan as a society successfully negotiating the transition from Communism conceals, however, far less attractive political, economic and cultural realities. This analysis, which is based on 2 years of field research, offers evidence that President Shaimiev has used Tatarstan's unique status to create an authoritarian regime, to manipulate and neutralise the forces of Tatar radical nationalism and to discriminate at all levels against the Russians of Tatarstan.