The president of the autonomous Russian republic of Tatarstan Monday threatened strong measures against nationalists who suggested a war of liberation against Russia, Interfax news agency said.
The nationalists held a congress, or Kurultai, which elected an alternative parliament for the region, some 600 miles east of Moscow, over the weekend.The alternative parliament passed a resolution giving the people of Tatarstan the right "to carry out an active struggle against the Russian invaders up to and including a war of liberation," Russian radio said.
But Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev told parliament Monday that the Kurultai was a social organization and would be severely dealt with if it broke the republic's law on such groupings, Interfax said.
Shaimiev also said the republic's parliament should express its opinion at what he called "the attempt by the Kurultai to replace or influence the legally elected parliament."
Nationalist feelings have been high in Tatarstan since last year.
The industrially powerful region last year demanded the right to join the planned renewed Soviet Union as a full member but its leaders dropped the idea once the country collapsed.
The Kurultai also appealed to the U.N. Security Council and the Islamic Conference Organization for membership, Itar-Tass news agency reported.