"Стамбульская хроника" написала статью о Башкирском национальном движении.

Bashkir People and The Movement From Their Words

The Bashkir uprising, located close to the Ural Mountains, has been known by people over the years and has been gaining an increasing popularity. This movement is mainly about the freedom and welfare of the Bashkir Turks at the borders of Russia, close to Eastern Europe. As The Istanbul Chronicle, we reached out to Ruslan Gabbasov, the Head of the Committee for the Bashkir National Movement Abroad, to learn more about the status quo of the movement to provide us with more detailed information.

Before delving into the response we received, it is important to learn more about the Bashkir Turks. Bashkirs are a Turkic group living in the Bashkir Federated Republic, which is part of Russia. Their origin is based on the Kipchak Turks, who left Turkestan and headed northwest. According to some sources, they even moved to Hungary. Currently, they use their native language Bashkir mainly in Bashkir villages and and they live according to Bashkir culture elements and customs.

After we contacted Ruslan Gabbasov with our questions, he started his email by explaining the roots of the movement. He suggested that ever since the Bashkir lands had fallen under Moscow’s control in the 16th century, their rights began to be violated and the Bashkir took action to defend themselves as well as to break away from the Russian Empire. The Bashkirs and Chechens contributed the most to the rebellion against Russia. However, the Bashkirs believe that they did not receive enough attention from the rest of the world.

The Committee for the Bashkir National Movement Abroad has been active for several years and has given speeches at different forums and conferences, making statements to raise awareness on the hardships Bashkir people are facing and how the Republic of Bashkortostan is a colony of Moscow. They add that their culture is being suppressed and several important monuments of Zeki Validi Togan, who they see as their hero since he made the uprising more popular outside of Russia, were destroyed.

Gabbasov mentioned in his email that they want to gain independence as a result of their struggle and they believe that independence is the only way to save Bashkir people from assimilation and disappearance in the end, as well as their desire for the Bashkortostan to become a member of the Organization of Turkic States. He expressed their will to develop as an independent country and what they have to do for this, such as creating an educated population, a strong industry, and strong resources. Furthermore, he included that at the moment, their committee has supporters from around the world and that they are a part of the Free Nations League, which is an organization that represents 15 seperatist movements in Russia, adding that their representatives meet with politicians from different European countries.

The uprising of the Bashkir people in Baymak in January occurred after one of the leaders of the Bashkir people, Fail Alsynov, was imprisoned. Gabbasov used these words to express his feelings about the leader and the things that he did while trying to contribute to the uprising: “In 2014, Faíl Alsynov and I founded the ‘Bashkort’ organization, which for many years defended the rights and interests of the Bashkir people, and protected the Bashkir language, culture, history, and traditions.”  Ruslan Gabbasov added that the organization was banned in Russia in 2020 and Faíl Alsynov was sentenced to several years in prison; and since he did not leave Russia, many people came to support him during his trial. However, these people faced the police and as a result, many people were arrested. “The Bashkir uprising showed the world that our people have not submitted to the Russian colonial regime and that we are ready to fight for our freedom and rights,” he included in his words.

The words of Ruslan Gabbasov provided information from their perspective regarding the uprising and movement of the Bashkir people in Russia. Hearing and learning more about the ideology behind the acts of the Bashkirts provided us with helpful insights to better understand their politic state. As far as we understood, the Bashkir Turks will continue their movement and their actions to raise awareness on what they value: their nationality, culture and identity.

Edited by: Oya Yamaç