Doc. 8853
5 Octobre 2000

Violation of the right of self-identification of the Bolgars of Volga in Russia

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mr Toshev and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. In Russia, around the town of Kazan, from the 7^th century till the 14^th century, was the state of the Bolgars of Volga^*, which was destroyed by the Tartar invasion and later by the Russian military campaigns, organised by the Tzar Ivan the Terrible.

2. Today, on the same territory, people of Indo-European anthropological type exist, who call themselves Bolgars of Volga.

3. In 1920 the Bolshevik leadership of Russia forced them to be identified as Tartars and since then they have been recorded in administrative documents as such.

4. Today 89% of these people do not agree with the given ethnonime “Tartars” and wish to be called “Bolgars of Volga”.

5. The right of self-identification is essential for democracy and it is also guaranteed by Article 26 of the Russian Constitution adopted in 1993.

6. The Bolgar’s National Congress, a non–governmental organisation located in the town of Kazan in Russia, is fighting for the protection of the right of self-identification of the Bolgars of Volga. It must not violate the right of self-identification of the real Tartars, who constitute the rest of the population of the region.

7. Several complaints have even been brought to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

8       Bearing in mind the above, the Assembly:

i. calls on the Russian authorities to respect the right of self-identification of the Bolgars of Volga in accordance with the Article 26 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the principles of the Council of Europe;

ii. instructs the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments of Member States to include on the agenda of their next visit in Russia a meeting with the representatives of the Bolgars of Volga and to monitor the development of this problem.

Signed : ²

Toshev, Bulgaria, EPP/CD

Busic, Croatia, EPP/CD

Diana, Italy, EPP/CD

Hoeffel, France, EPP/CD

Hornhues, Germany, EPP/CD

Ivanov, Bulgaria, EPP/CD

Kirilov, Bulgaria, SOC

Loutfi, Bulgaria, LDR

Martinez Casan, Spain, EPP/CD

Pollozhani, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", EDG

Poptodorova, Bulgaria, SOC

Saglam, Turkey, EPP/CD

Sinka, Latvia, EDG

Spindelegger, Austria, EPP/CD

Stoyanova, Bulgaria, EPP/CD

Surjan, Hungary, EPP/CD

Tahir, Bulgaria, EPP/CD

^* The Bolgars of Volga should not be considered as persons of Bulgarian nationality who have their own communities in Russia as well.

²        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group