THREE DIMENSIONS OF TATARS IDENTITY: ISLAMIC, TATARI AND RUSSIAN

As most of Russian Muslims are Tatar, then Tatarstan is the most important Muslim republic of Russian Federation. In the past, Tatars have conquered Russia and for 200 years. Yet Tatarstan is important for Russia culturally and economically. Russian leaders consider Tatarstan as a model for the other Muslim republics especially the Caucasians, because Tatari Islam is too modern and in harmony with the Orthodoxy. The question of the paper is: «what are the characteristics of the Tatars’ identity?” The hypothesis of the authors is:» all three Islamic, Tatari or Russian-Slav-Orthodox identities has shaped tatari culture and identity«.