Rustam Minnikhanov meets Tatar Diaspora living in Great Britain

On November 26, during his working visit to London, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov met representatives of the Tatar Diaspora living in London. Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Milli Shura National Council of the World Congress of Tatars Vasil Shaikhraziev also took part in the meeting.  

Currently, more than 500 Tatars are living in the United Kingdom. Almost all of them are representatives of a new wave of emigrants from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the Baltic countries. Most of them are living in England.

In 2017, the Youth Wing of the Zaman Tatar-Bashkir Community was organized. The community is aimed at preserving  the national identity of the Tatars and Bashkirs, as well as to acquaint British citizens with the history, customs and traditions of the two peoples. Now Zaman has about 40 activists, who arrange various events, meetings and educational courses.

Coordinator of Zaman Community Diana Yakhina said that the organization has held more than 20 events, including national holidays, creative evenings. This year, the UK will be taking part in the international campaign to write dictation in Tatar for the first time.

Special attention is paid to the preservation of the Tatar language. Today the London’s central mosque offers Tatar language courses for beginners. The community plans to hold a master class in the Bashkir language.

Minnikhanov appreciated the active position of the Zaman Tatar-Bashkir Community, which is working hard both to preserve and to develop the culture, native language, customs and traditions of the Tatar people.

Tatarstan President noted that there are relatively few Tatars in Great Britain, therefore it is necessary to keep in touch with each other, to organize joint meetings. Minnikhanov suggested actively using social networks for this purpose.