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Putin Aims to Tackle Interethnic Problems
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a visit to the Bashkir republic, suggested on Sunday that a special agency should be created to help Russia solve its interethnic problems.
Putin traveled to Ufa, the Bashkir capital, on an unofficial visit to celebrate a local holiday, Sabantui.
Putin laid flowers to the Friendship Monument in Ufa, then later met with members of the Assembly of the peoples of Bashkortostan, the Interfax news agency said.
"Russia is a unique place on Earth," where different cultures and ethnic groups are located, Putin said. "This fusion has been forming and harmonically developing in Russia for thousands of years."
But, he admitted there are "certain difficulties" in bringing all the country's cultures together.
"Perhaps a special agency should be set up within presidential structures that would engage in solving interethnic problems," Putin told the assembly members.
Putin said all ethnic culture have common national values. "Therefore we would trust the ancient cultures of our people, and this will always produce positive results," he said.
The president helped local residents celebrate Sabantui, a traditional agricultural holiday living in the basin of the Kama River, a tributary of the Volga River, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.
Events include freestyle wrestling, horse-racing and other sports, the news agency said, and the region's best agricultural workers are decorated for their achievements.
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