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Valerianus Tulgar, leader of the largest civil society group of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie, is in favor of independence

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Valerianus Tulgar says that an overwhelming majority of the Moldovans who live in the unrecognized country are in favor of independent statehood and have little interest in being absorbed by their ethnic brothers in Moldova, on the other side of the Dniester river. Tulgar is an ethnic Moldovan, a member of Pridnestrovie's parliament and also president of the Union of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie, the country's largest civil society organizations of ethnic Moldovans. Ethnic Moldovans make up a minority of 31.9% of Pridnestrovie's total population. The majority are Russian-speaking Slavs (mostly Russians and Ukrainians).
Here, Valerianus Tulgar speaks to The Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review.

Do Moldovans who live in Pridnestrovie aspire to independence?

" - The reality that nobody can deny is that the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic already exists as a full-fledged and independent state. Our statehood has become the basic value of the citizens of Pridnestrovie. They connect their hopes for the future and the constitutional laws with it."

" - I won't even discuss the bad situation here in Pridnestrovie in the early 1990s. Everyone knows this chapter of our history and remembers it perfectly well. Nationalists from Moldova expected the statehood of Pridnestrovie, which was proclaimed by its people, to be undermined from the inside. It would be done by left-bank Moldovans, they thought: Newly minted Romanians such as Ilie Ilascu, Stefan Uritu, etc. But they failed. Local Pridnestrovian Moldovans raised their voices in a resolute "No!" to Romanization and Latinization of the centuries-old Moldovan language and culture."

Is it possible that a number of the local Moldovans here support integration and absorption into the neighboring Republic of Moldova?

" - Pridnestrovie's Moldovans rejected the plans of the nationalists who went to bed as Moldovans on 30 August 1989 and woke up as Romanians the next day, and then declared that day to be an official State holiday. That event was what pushed us to create our civil society organizations, the Union of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie. Local Moldovans - people of good will united by common aims and problems - joined the Union. The main goal for creating the Pridnestrovian Union of Moldovans at that time was to safeguard the existence of the Moldovan language in its original form, based on the Cyrillic alphabet it had always used."

" - Today the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is the only country in the world where one of the official languages is Moldovan. Pridnestrovie's Moldovans are proud that they are the carriers and safekeepers of this language and its historical roots. When the language is not written in Cyrillic, but in the version using Latin letters, like in Moldova, then we no longer consider it to be Moldovan any longer. It is then similar to Romanian."

" - A well known Moldovan 20th century poet, Alexey Mateevich, wrote that "Our Language is a Treasure." He meant the Moldovan language, and not Romanian. By the way, a special paradox developed in Moldova which is related to this. The national hymn of the Republic of Moldova is based on Mateevich's verses. And the Constitution of Moldova claims that the official language is Moldovan, but it has nothing to do with the original Moldovan any more. Today, the way it is now written by Moldova, is it now indistinguishable from Romanian."

You see yourself as the last safekeepers in th world of the ancient Moldovan language in its original form. What do you do to prevent this language from dying out?

" - The Union of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie works alongside the state to preserve and develop the Moldovan language and the original Moldovan culture. There are two government programs in place for this. One of a program called "Textbook", which each year publishes books and other educational materials in the Moldovan language. The other is a program called "Development of Education in the Moldovan language". These programs supply all schools with the necessary textbooks and training manuals each and every year, at the expense of our state."

" - The Union also publishes its own books. In a year and a half, we published fifteen titles by contemporary authors who write in the Moldovan language using Cyrillic. They are members of the Union of Pridnestrovian Writers, such as G.B. Gurski, V.P. Karadzhov, and P.H. Danich. We also publish books by young first-time authors."

" - Moreover, the Union of Moldovans in Pridnestrovie supports the only PMR newspaper which is published in the Moldovan language. Its slogan is "Moldovans, Protect your Language!" and it is an eight-page newspaper which reports on village life, the political life of the country, Moldovan traditions, etc."

What are the views of the majority of Moldovans who live in Pridnestrovie/Transnistria?

" - We appeal to peace and well-being, and we work and believe in the future of our small country. It is our life. It is full of events. We are not just bystanders, and we intend to prove to the regime of the Republic of Moldova that they need to take our voice into account."

" - True national revival for Moldovans is what is taking place in Pridnestrovie today. This revival seeks to unite the nations by friendship between representatives of various ethnic groups. It is the Pridnestrovian people's ideology and mentality. This is why there can never be any ethnic strife here."

" - We still have many important things to do. And we shall solve the most urgent problems: Independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, as well as preservation of the Moldovan language in its original Cyrillic alphabet."

" - In these past few years, there have been hundreds of meetings among Moldovans here in Pridnestrovie, some of which have been organized by our NGO. The conclusion of all these meetings is very clear: Pridnestrovie's Moldovans love their multicultural Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, their language, their culture, and their history. They want to live in a free and independent republic."

So what is next? How can Moldova be convinced that the Moldovans here in Pridnestrovie don't want to be part of Moldova?

" - There are various models of a way out of this situation. The most correct variant is determining final status of Pridnestrovie through a referendum. As history has shown, coercive consolidation and separation of nations and territories brings no good. In accordance with all international rules, Pridnestrovie - from both historical and legal points of view - has nothing in common with Moldova. The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was in fact an artificial creation. It included Bessarabia, which was a part of Romania. Whereas Pridnestrovie has never been a Romanian province."

" - Besides, Moldavia, by announcing its withdrawal from the USSR in the beginning of 1990s, denunciated by those actions the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which was the only document that gave rise to the artificial unification of the two sides of the Dniester river. By denouncing this move, and calling for the pact and its consequences to be annulled, the Moldovan authorities legally and formally renounced their territorial claims over Pridnestrovie."

See also:
» Ethnic Moldovans want Pridnestrovie's "de facto" independence recognized [1]
» Ethnic Moldovans in Pridnestrovie prefer independence over unification with Moldova [2]