But Tatar nationalists, proudly focused on their tradition of an Islam Europeanized through 450 years of contact with the West, tend to regard religion primarily as a tool in their national liberation struggle, rather than its rationale, they see themselves as Muslim Tatars , not Tatar Muslims. May 1997 Aslan Maskhadov, Chechnya President, visited Tatars tan. 21 May 1997 Tatars tan signed a friendship and cooperation treaty with Chechnya. Tatars tan s population is 3.7 million. The population is mixed with about 48 percent Tatar and 43 percent Russia.
Intermarriage is common and there appears to be little ethnic tension.
Tatars tan voteed for the Communist Party in the first round of Russia s Presidential elections, reflecting the dissatisfaction of voters with their present situation. In the first round of voting June 16, Zyuganov took 43 of 60 voting districts in the republic. The only rural areas that Yeltsin won were suburbs of Kazan. As many as 60 percent of Tatars voted for Zyuganov. Authorities stated that they might start issuing their own internal passports.