Tatarstan, a Shangri-La on the Volga

Resource-rich country offers ethnically and religiously divided Middle East a lesson in celebrating oneness instead of accentuating differences

Up-and-coming destination
Image Credit: NINO JOSE HEREDIA/Gulf News
In a gallery annexed to the mosque children learn stories in the Quran with the aid of pictures, objects, dress-up clothing so they can easily relate to the ancient teachings. Kazan has 45 mosques in many architectural styles, including Europe’s largest Kol Sharif that stands close to the magnificent Orthodox Annunciation Cathedral
Gulf News

In today's global village, travel doesn't deliver as many surprises as it did 20 years ago. There is such a predictable sameness about so many capitals that travellers can be forgiven for waking up and momentarily wondering where they are. As a frequent business traveller, I thought I'd seen it all. I was wrong.

When I accepted an official invitation to visit from the oil and gas-rich Republic of Tatarstan, I had no preconceived ideas beyond the fact that its capital city Kazan stood on the banks of a river that flows into the mighty Volga. Drawing from past experience, I expected to be politely greeted by ministers before sitting down to dinner with everyone on their best behaviour making awkward small talk.

Instead, I was treated like a long-lost relative. Their smiles were genuine, their hearts were open and I was made to feel at home from the minute my plane touched down. When two people meet for the first time their chemistry either gels or it doesn't.

It's rare when individuals click from the first moment, but everyone from the President to ordinary men and women in the street exuded such warmth that I couldn't help liking them from the get-go. The Director of Foreign Affairs in the Presidential Office suggested we go for a walk. So we did, and as we strolled along the city streets passersby smiled, waved or stopped to greet us.

It was so refreshing to be around people who haven't adopted social masks to relate to others. Their hospitality reminded me of the way we Arabs once were before we leapt on the fast train. I was so relaxed I could almost have been among my own brothers and sisters.

Tatarstan's 53-year-old President Rustam Minnikhanov, a commodity expert and economist, is a great guy who comes over as intelligent and dynamic. When he's not dealing with affairs of state he flies his helicopter or plays sports. He is also a Rallycross driver and in 2006 he won the ‘Truck Category' of the UAE Desert Challenge driving a KaMaz, manufactured in his homeland.

President Minnikhanov couldn't have received my party more graciously. We met him in a ground-floor palace conference room where we engaged in a friendly 40-minute informal discussion before he showed me his office on the upper floor and was, later, courteous enough to walk with me out of the building.

It was clear that he cares deeply about his people's well-being. He must be doing a good job because his country is generally cited as a success story; its multi-ethnic, multi-religious citizenry benefit from low unemployment and enjoy increased prosperity thanks to their country's flourishing oil, chemical, engineering, aviation, automotive and textile industries.

Up-and-coming destination

He stressed that Tatarstan is a safe country that makes every visitor welcome and secure. Indeed, Kazan is Russia's up-and-coming destination after successful bids to host the Youth Olympic Games in 2013 and the CIS Summit. For the first time, this year, it has an independent exhibit at London's World Travel Market. There is so much for visitors to see and do.

I was bowled over by Kazan. My first impression was how organised and clean the city is; I didn't notice a single paper littering its wide boulevards and spacious squares.

Architecturally it is a mélange of old European grandeur, a Hollywood interpretation of One thousand and One Nights, Baroque and contemporary. Dominating the skyline are minarets, cupolas, spires and the city's historical Kremlin, nominated in 2000 as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Acknowledged as Russia's cultural capital, Kazan has 44 institutes of higher learning, museums, libraries, concert halls, and theatres, including an opera and ballet theatre which hosts an annual classical ballet festival in honour of the Tatars' best-known son Rudolf Nureyev.

Eating out was a real experience. I was invited for meals in some of the older established restaurants and felt like an actor in a 1940s or 50s movie. Their menus were so lavish and the surroundings so plush that they could have been dining rooms in a Tsar's palace.

The highlight of my trip was a visit to a magnificent mosque where the names of the prophets were inscribed on the walls. I was shown around by the mufti and the imam, both fluent in Arabic, and was surprised by the innovative way they teach young children the five pillars of Islam.

In a gallery annexed to the mosque children learn stories in the Quran with the aid of pictures, objects, dress-up clothing so they can easily relate to the ancient teachings. Kazan has 45 mosques in many architectural styles, including Europe's largest Kol Sharif that stands close to the magnificent Orthodox Annunciation Cathedral.

Our troubled, ethnically and religiously divided Middle East can draw important lessons from Tatarstan whose population of 3.7 million is made up of ethnic Tatars, Russians, Ukrainians, Azeris, Armenians, Uzbeks, Tajiks and others. The country is a magnificent example of ethnic and religious tolerance where all people live together in perfect harmony.

President Minnikhanov told me that his people are so integrated that the only way of distinguishing between people of different faiths is when "we go to pray. We are all brother and sisters," he said. If only we in the Arab world knew how to celebrate our oneness instead of accentuating our differences, this region would be a far better and more peaceful place.

 

Khalaf Al Habtoor is a businessman and chairman of Al Habtoor Group.

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