Tatarstan President: The main thing is to be in touch with origins

On March 20 Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov met with compatriots living in Japan in Tokyo Mosque founded by Tatars in 1938. Activists of Tatar community and its elders were introduced to Rustam Minnikhanov.

In Japan Tatars are represented by a small ethnic group of 90 people. Most of them live in Tokyo, and a few families live in Yokohama, Kobe and Kawasaki. Members of Tatar communicate with each other, attend the Mosque, are interested in events happening in their historical homeland, and keep in touch with relatives living in Tatarstan.

Rustam Minnikhanov said it is not easy to maintain identity, but the main thing is to keep spiritual affinity with historical homeland and origins.

Tatarstan leadership takes measures on maintaining relations with compatriots. In particular, the educational project “Ana tele”, TV channel “TNV planet”, and the World Congress of Tatars are functioning.

“Wherever we go, we have to be in touch with people of the same nationality, religion and culture. It is important to maintain traditions, native language, teach young people to respect culture of our ancestors,” Rustam Minnikhanov summarized.