Tag: Ethnic Minorities

FSB Says Crimean Tatars Must Submit to Russian Rule, Face Prison, or Risk ‘Disappearance,’ Cemilev Says

April 29, 2014

Staunton, April 29 – Mustafa Cemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement whom Russian authorities have banned from entering his homeland until 2019, says that the Russian security service has told him and by extension his nation that its members must submit to Russian rule, face prison, or, even more ominously, “disappearance.” Despite […]

Putin Says Cultural Unity, Not Passport Nationality, is What Matters

April 24, 2014

Staunton, April 24 – In a comment that many non-Russians in the Russian Federation are certain to see as a threat to the existence of their groups and some Russians may view as a danger to Russian-ness as well, Vladimir Putin said yesterday that “it is not so important what is written in the ‘nationality’ […]

Ethnic Russians in Estonia Protest Moscow’s Promotion of Separatism

April 15, 2014

Staunton, April 15 – Moscow’s promotion of unrest and separatism in Estonia has prompted a group of ethnic Russians and other non-titular nations to start a petition drive in support of Estonia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and condemning such outside interference in Estonia’s domestic affairs. Despite its membership in the European Union and NATO and […]

After Crimean Events, Nazarbayev Retreats on Kazakh Language

April 9, 2014

Staunton, April 9 – After Crimea, and apparently fearful that Vladimir Putin might target northern Kazakhstan as its next “Crimea,” Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has slowed down if not entirely stopped his efforts to require all officials in that country to speak the national language. Until very recently, Igor Rotar says in a Rosbalt.ru commentary, […]

‘Russianness’ is a ‘Synthetic Category,’ Moscow Ethnographer Says

April 6, 2014

Staunton, April 6 – “Russianness” is a “synthetic category,” one in which the father of a family can be Mordvin, the mother a German, and the children ethnic Russians, a reflection of the floating quality of identity in that country, government policies, and personal choices, according to a leading Moscow ethnographer. In an interview with […]