Tatarstan Exile Government Backs Return of Kuriles to Japan

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 6 – In advance of the Seventh Forum of Free Nations of PostRussia which will take place next month, the government of Independent Tatarstan in exile has announced that it supports Tokyo’s efforts to recover the Russian-occupied Northern Territories in the Kuriles and hopes Japan will join with other peoples to secure their independence and compensation.

            This declaration comes in the form of an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida from Rafis Kashapov, the prime minister of the government of Independent Tatarstan, and other leaders of the independence-minded Tatar diaspora (abn.org.ua/en/documents/we-demand-the-return-of-the-kuril-islands-to-japan).

            While some may be inclined to dismiss this appeal as an effort to attract attention both to Tatarstan and the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum, it is in fact more than that and an important step to forming alliances between the peoples now occupied by Moscow and foreign countries, in this case Japan.

            Relatively few nations within the current borders of the Russian Federation have taken this step and even fewer have done so with countries outside of Europe. But Tatarstan, like the ethnic Ukrainians of the Green Wedge in the Russian Far East are welcome exceptions; and they may have success because Tokyo insists that Russia is in occupation of Japanese territory.

            For a discussion of what is happening among the ethnic Ukrainians of the Far East, obviously allies of what the Tatars and Japanese are about, see jamestown.org/program/moscow-alarmed-by-kyivs-interest-in-russian-far-east-and-with-good-reason/ and the sources cited therein.