MOSCOW -- Radical Tatars in central European Russia completed a two-day congress Sunday in which they declared their independence and threatened a 'war of liberation' against Russia.
The Tatars vowed to join the Islamic Conference and to seek recognition of their independence.
However, Russia's latest ethnic separatist movement also split the Tatar community into those supporting the weekend events and others dismissing them as a radical fringe.
There was no immediate reaction from Russia, which has watched a steady growth of Tatar nationalism in the region, which gained a measure of autonomy even under Soviet rule.
But the latest events go well beyond the October 1990 declaration of sovereignty made by more moderate Tatars.
Among the 20 resolutions by the radical Tatars was one saying the Tatar people have the right to use any means possible 'to conduct a liberation movement against Russian invaders, including a war of liberation,' according to the Russian Information Agency.
While independence-minded Tatars talk about a future Tatar state, what they are really trying to do is restore a Tatar state that existed centuries ago.
When the so-called Golden Horde swept through the region in the 13th century, the ruling khan established a capital in Kazan, which remains the Tatar capital and was the site of the weekend assembly.
After Tatars settled in the region, Tatar-Russian ties developed over two centuries, but anti-Russian forces built up against the Muslim Tatars and in the 16th century the czar put the region under his control.
The Kurultai, or Tatar assembly, unanimously voted to restore Tatar independence 'suspended on Oct. 2, 1552, as a result of aggression from the neighboring state,' meaning Russia.
The Kurultai established a separate national congress, adopted a Tatar flag (green with a crescent moon and seven-pointed star), decided to apply for membership in the Islamic Conference and in the United Nations and to seek independent recognition in the Commonwealth of Independent States, according to the Tass and Interfax news agencies.
Some 900 Tatars attended the assembly from Tatarstan and other regions of the C.I.S., Interfax said. The Tatars voted to recall their representatives from the Russian parliament and to create a congress of 50 representatatives from Tatarstan and 25 members from the Tatar diaspora.
The Kurultai voted to outlaw Russian political parties and assert control over resources, among other political, social and economic resolutions, RIA reported.
The Kurultai said it 'recognizes Russian, Chuvash, Udmurdti, Marii, Mordovian and other languages Tatarstan people speak.'
However, the first Kurultai meeting in more than four centuries was rejected as radical by the mainstream Tatar Public Center, which says it represents Tatars across the former Soviet Union.
The Tatar Public Center center refused to participate in the Kurultai and Interfax reported the assembly drew members from the radical wing of the Ittifak Party and representatives from the Islamic Democratic Society Marjani and the youth movement Azatlyk.
Radical Tatar 'claims for power are absolutely groundless,' said Rafail Khakimov, a member of moderate Tatar State Council, who said the self-chosen radical Tatars were not representative and would find themselves isolated.
The Kremlin permitted formation in 1920 of a Tartar Autonomous Republic under Soviet rule as an apparent payback for strong support for the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
