Tatar activists Galishan Nuriakhmet and Rafik Karimullin were detained by police in Kazan, capital of Russia's Tatarstan region, for about an hour before being released on October 12, the Tatar youth group Azatlyk reported, after several other activists had been detained in order to prevent them from attending a prayer in the Kol-Sharif mosque. The prayer to commemorate Tatars fallen during the 16th-century siege of Kazan by Russian troops was organized after the Kazan mayor's office banned a public rally. Azatlyk said it had lost contact with some of the detained activists. The then-capital of the Kazan Khanate fell to Moscow on October 15, 1552, when Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible conquered it after two weeks of resistance. The event has been marked in the city since the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, Kazan authorities in recent years have been reluctant to allow activists to hold such events. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Idel.Realities click here.
Tatar Activists Detained After Permission Denied To Mark Anniversary Of Kazan's Fall
The 1552 siege has been marked in Kazan since the collapse of the Soviet Union (in 2013 above), even as city authorities have been increasinglyreluctant to allow such events.