THE QUESTION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY AMONG TATARS IN THE 20th CENTURY (Summary)

Prof Dr. Nadir DEVLET

The name of "Tatar": Currently two peoples are using the name "Tatar" as their official identity. First are the Tatars from the Volga-Ural region numbering some seven million souls. They are located mainly in the republics of Tatarstan, and Bashkordstan (of the Russian Federation) in neighboring republics, in oblasts (regions) and in Central Asian republics. The second are the (Crimean) Tatars who have started to resettle again in their historical Crimean peninsula. Some are in Uzbekstan and the majority are at abroad (Turkey, Romania, USA, etc.).

In the tsaristic period the Turkic peoples of Russia preferred a religious expression Islam) rather than a special national name for their identities. Russian administration also used the term "Tatar" for its Muslim subjects.

In the second half of the XIXth century famous scholars in the Volga-Ural region like Sh. Marjani (1818—1889) or K. Nasyri (1824—1902) were arguing that just religious identity was not enough and therefore the people should use their national name "Tatar". But there was also a trend among intellectuals to suggest the use of "Turk" as a national identification.

The name of "Turk-Tatar": After the first Russian revolution (1905) the debate about he topic became more lively. In 1917, between February and October the majority had to reconcile their differences on the issue, a middle way was found and the expression "Turk-Tatar" became very popular. Alter the Bolsheviks took power in the Moscow region, they created an autonomous republic and named it Tatarstan (Tataria) and its native people was then officially called "Tatars". Under the Soviet rule, the native Turkic people of "the Crimean peninsula was called (Crimean) Tatars. But after their deportation in May 1944 the name "Crimean Tatars" ceased to be used officially at least until the end of the 1980's."

The name of "Tatar" abroad : The discussion on the name "Tatar" was continued mainly by the scholars and intellectuals of Tatar origin who left their country after the Bolshevik revolution. In Turkey, where the majority of Crimean Tatar emigrants lives, instead of "Tatar" the expression "Crimean Turks" was used. Instead of "Tatar" the intellectuals belongs to the Volga Tatars were using the expression of .İdil-Ural Turks" or, more frequently, "Kazan Turks" in their cultural activities.

The most complicated situation has been in Romania where there are mainly two different groups of Turkic people, namely the Crimean Tatars and the Anatolian Turks. The majority of the Crimean Tatars in Romania use the name Nogai for their subnational identity and they have a native tongue which is a branch of the Kipchak language. The other group of Crimean-Tatars comes from the coastal parts of Crimea and has a native tongue which is very close to Ottoman Turkish and belongs to the Oguz language branch. These and other facts {for example Anatolian Turkish cultural influence) led to chaos in defining a name for the national identity. Even though different names do not contradict each other in reality, there are a lot of expressions such as Dobruja Tatars/Dobruca Turks, Turk-Tatars, Nogay-Turks of Romania-Romanian Muslim Turkish Tatars, Romanian Tatar Turks etc.

Debates on The Name of "Tatar" : In Tatarstan the discussion on the name of "Tatar" started in the early 1990's with the political changes in the former Soviet Union. Also, research was conducted in the sub-national issues and Mishars', Tipter's, Kasimov Tatar's. Sibirean Tatar's, Kreshen (baptized Tatars) and their origins started to be discussed. Interest groups and even some scholars argued that the name of "Tatar" has been imposed upon native people and therefore it had to be changed to "Bulgar" which was an ancient Turkish State on the banks of Volga until the 13th century.

One of the leading advocates of this theory was (he well known Tatar bibliography professor Ebrar Kerimullin. His book on this question was published first in Russian (1988), then in Tatar (1991) in very big circulation, and it created a lively discussion on the topic. His work, which was not so scientific as it was popular, created an opposition among the majority of Tatar historians. Historian Ravil Fahretdinov had a lending role in arguing that Tatar is an ancient historical and original name of the native people.

Conclusion: In the Soviet period the national consciousness was suppressed and popular or scientific discussion on the topic was forbidden. Therefore especially in Kazan consciousness building, popular, cultural and scientific activities were introduced.

Perhaps with the exception of Turkey, among the rest of Turkic peoples if is not usual to stress their common kinship, therefore their inter-ethnic relations are vague. But in Kazan we beared or read on different occasions about the kinship between Crimean Tatars and Kazan Tatars.

Commonly the majority of people and scholars prefer to use "Tatar " for stressing their national identity. Even in countries where "Tatar" is not used in publications so often, the Tatars usually use this term in private for stressingtheir national background. Still, we cannot say that the question of identity has been completely solved. But we believe that with its old heritage (not only the Russians, but even the Ottomans called them Tatars) the name "Tatar" will be used in the long run. The Anatolian Turks adopted "Turk" as their own national name, the  other Turkic peoples have also their own separate national names as Kazakh, Kirghiz etc. and after having won independence many of them insist on their official names, even though there are some: claims that they are atrificial. Therefore the name of "Tatar" as national identity will get the upper hand even though some people abroad use different expressions.

Sempozyum Bildirisi : (Köstence , 17-20 Kasım 1994) 

Originea Tãtarilor - Locul lor în România şi în lumea Turca / 

Tatarların Kökeni - Romanya'da ve Türk Dünyasındaki Yeri / 

(The Origin Of The Tatars - Their Place in Romania and in The Turkish World)

Editura Kriterion Bükreş,1997 sf.38