The first congress (
qorıltay) of Tatar nationalists was held in February, 1989. The newly formed organization was named the
Tatar Public Center (
Tatar İctimağí Üzäge). The charter and the program of the ATPC were adopted at the second congress (February, 1991). At this congress, the name of the organization was changed to the
All-Union Tatar Public Center and the 35-member presidium was elected. Subsequently, after the fall of the
Soviet Union, the name was changed once again to what it is now (1992). The ATPC was established by
M. Molekev (the first chairman), I Amikhanov,
Fauziya Bayramova, Z. Zaynulin, R. Safin, F. Safiullin and some others. Most of them were intellectuals from
Kazan State University. The current chairman is Rafis Kashapov. In late 1980s- early 1990s, the ATPC organized many demonstrations and public meetings demanding that the government of Tatarstan proclaims the republic independent of Russia. The only time when these manifestations resulted in clashes and street fighting was on October 15, 1991, when Russian nationalists arranged a counter-demonstration which provoked a violent confrontation. In response the organization held a series of emergency meetings between February 13 and 24 and appealed to the court to "show objectivity and protect our constitutional rights." On 17 October 2021 the
Ministry of Justice suspended the organization citing "extremist activities". On 10 June 2022 the Tatarstan government recognized the All-Tatar Public Center as an extremist organization and dissolved it. The organization was later added to the Russian government's list of "extremist organizations". ==Functions==