Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in meeting with representatives of Crimean ethnic groups’ public associations

On August 17, while on a working trip to Crimea Interim President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov took part in a meeting with representatives of Crimean ethnic groups’ public associations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is on a working visit in Crimea, chaired a meeting of the presidium of the Russian State Council in Yalta dedicated to the development of the tourism sector.

Later the same day, Putin had an informal meeting with representatives of Crimean ethnic groups’ public associations.

Speaking at the meeting, Putin said that Crimea is “Crimea is essentially a mirror of multi-ethnic Russia”. He reminded that a census was conducted in Crimea last October, and more than 96 percent of the people indicated their ethnic identity. “This is objective data, reliable and obtained through professional work,” he said. There are people from 175 different ethnic groups living in Crimea today. Russians make up the biggest ethnic group (68 percent), followed by Ukrainians (16 percent), and Crimean Tatars (more than 10 percent).

“The census also gave us information on people’s native languages. Eighty-four percent of Crimean residents said they consider Russian their native language, nearly 8 percent said Crimean Tatar is their native language, 3.7 percent Tatar, and 3.3 percent Ukrainian. Russian is the most widely spoken language in the region, with 99.8 percent of Crimea’s population knowing the language,” Putin continued.

According to Russian President, in Crimea, like everywhere in Russia, it is necessary to pay the utmost, constant attention to building greater peace and harmony, combining the efforts of the state authorities and civil society.

“Over this recent period, 75 ethnic and cultural autonomous organisations and 15 ethnic and cultural associations have been established. Organisations of this kind have long since become a tradition in Russia. Their members work effectively together with the authorities at all levels and sit on consultative and advisory bodies,” Putin said.

During the meeting Putin cited Tatarstan as an example where representatives of different religions and ethnic groups live peacefully together.

Saying that Tatarstan is a strong and peaceful region, Putin drew the attention of the meeting participants to this fact and proposed to adopt this invaluable experience.

“Interethnic relations is a very sensitive and delicate area, and ethnic community representatives and the authorities all need to take a careful approach here and keep up constant dialogue, including at the municipal level, where people are actually living side by side together. Any speculation on the notion that people belonging to this or that ethnic group have some particular rights is very dangerous, in my view,” Putin added.

It should be reminded that Tatarstan has been nominated a curator of the Bakhchisaray district of Crimea, which is a homeland for the Crimean Tatars.

During the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov suggested adopting the experience of Tatarstan on the learning of national languages.