The key facts

  • The meeting between Putin and Minnikhanov took place on November 9 in the president's working office at the Kremlin
  • They discussed Tatarstan's socio-economic development, agricultural sector, and oil refining
  • Putin greeted the head of the republic in Tatar — “isenmesez”

The meeting in the Kremlin began with a Tatar greeting

On November 9, Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the Kremlin with the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov. As Gazeta.Ru reports, citing TASS, at the start of the meeting, which took place in the working office of the President of the Russian Federation, Putin greeted the head of the republic in Tatar: “Isenmesez,” he said to Minnikhanov with a smile, who replied with the same greeting. “Isenmesez” is a polite Tatar greeting, fully equivalent to the Russian “zdravstvuyte” (hello).

What was discussed

According to the Kremlin press service, the meeting covered issues of Tatarstan's socio-economic development, as well as the republic's agricultural sector and oil refining industry.

Context

Shortly before the meeting, Minnikhanov saidthat the number of Muslims in Russia exceeds 20 million and continues to grow, as does the number of mosques in the country. He also noted that the opening of the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta within the “Russian Space” cultural zone would allow residents of Indonesia to learn about the history of Islam in Russia. These statements are not part of the Kremlin meeting's agenda, but the outlet cites them as context preceding it.