Rustam Minnikhanov and Vyacheslav Volodin has attended an exhibition at the State Duma dedicated to the 1100 anniversary of adopting Islam by the Volga Bulgaria

On 18 May Tatarstan President Rustam Minnihanov, the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin and heads of all Duma fractions took part in an official ceremony of opening an exhibition at the State Duma dedicated to the 1100 anniversary of adopting Islam by the Volga Bulgaria. 

The exhibition displays main periods of development of Islam in the Volga region starting from the Volga Bulgaria and the Golden Horde and up to the Soviet period and modern Russia. It tells about the development of the Bulgar statehood and Muslim culture, the establishment of the domestic Muslim theological tradition in Russia and the current rebirth of Islam and shrines of the Ancient Bolgar.

Its visitors can get acquainted with unique archive documents, manuscripts, jewelry, costumes and other exhibits from the funds of the Tatarstan National Museum, National Archive and Museum –reserves of Yelabuga, Bolgar and Bilyar. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Rustam Minnikhanov expressed his gratitude to the administration of the State Duma for the possibility to organize this event. “By the decision of the Russian President Vladimir Putin the celebrations of the 1100 anniversary of adopting Islam by the Volga Bulgaria are held at the federal level and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin is the head of the organization committee. We will have many events. Last year we opened the reconstructed Cathedral of the Icon of the Kazan Virgin and this year we are laying a corner stone of the Cathedral Mosque”, he said. 

Vyacheslav Volodin said that the exposition gives the possibility to dive into the history of the country through the history of Islam. ”Thank you very much for the exposition, Rustam Nurgaliyevich. It is our great responsibility to carry on what our ancestors managed to achieve. We are very respectful to the confessions of each other and we should set a high value on this. I hope this is not the last exhibition”, he said.

The Head of the Russian Communist Party fraction Gennadiy Zyuganov, the deputy head of the LDPR fraction Yaroslav Nilov, the head of the One Russia fraction Vladimir Vasilyev and representatives of other parties have said that the example of development of Tatarstan can be exemplary for others and spread to other regions as Tatarstan “does a lot for keeping the multi-confessional peace”.