Bashkortostan is a special region where representatives of different ethnic groups and faiths live in peace and mutual respect, the head of the Republic, a member of the Group of Strategic Vision "Russia – Islamic World", Radiy Khabirov said, speaking at the special session "Russia and the Islamic world: mutual role and mutual influence" in the framework of the XVI Annual meeting of the Valdai international discussion club.
According to him, 67% of the 4 million people living in Bashkortostan are Muslims. Approximately 36% are Russians, 30% Bashkirs, 24% Tatars and several other major ethnic groups.
At the same time, relations between ethnic groups in the Republic, as Khabirov emphasized, have little in common with the fashionable concept of "tolerance" in contemporary political science, which literally translates as " to endure".
"Bashkiria is more characterized by the friendship of peoples, when there is no division into Islamic and Orthodox areas in cities and villages, and all people live in peace and mutual respect," said, in particular, the head of the Republic.
The XVI Annual meeting of the Valdai international discussion club is held from September 30 to October 3 in Sochi. This year's topic is"The dawn of the East and the world political order".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Михаил Почуев/ТАСС