An Open Letter to the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy
Dear Lisa Nandy,
I am writing to you regarding my twin brother, Nafis Kashapov, who lives in Warsaw. He would like to participate in a gymnastics competition for senior athletes in England.
Despite his advanced age—68 years old—he performs complex gymnastic routines on various apparatus, including the “giant circle” (Sun on a horizontal bar) on the horizontal bar. In the past, he competed in world championships for senior-age wrestlers, where he secured both first and third-place finishes. During these events, accomplished wrestlers and coaches—some of whom are themselves world champions—suggested that my brother Nafis should attempt to set a Guinness (The Guinness Book of Records) “Sun on a horizontal bar” (a full 360-degree rotation around a horizontal bar). The fact is, there is currently no one else in the world capable of performing a “giant circle” on a horizontal bar at the age of 65.
Dear Lisa Nandy,
We are reaching out to you because we lack the influence and financial resources to organize such a championship in the United Kingdom on our own, and we are asking for your assistance. In our youth—back in the Soviet era—we taught karate to both young people and adults, and even organized underground championships for the sport, which was banned in the USSR at the time.
If we could succeed in organizing a celebratory sporting event, it would be a truly significant occasion—both for the British people and for us, the Tatars. Never before in British history have there been sporting events of this kind involving Tatars—and it is worth noting that, in Russia, we Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group, after the Russians.
I should mention that my brother, Nafis, does not speak English, and my own command of the language is not very strong. Learning a foreign language later in life is quite difficult—all the more so given the traumatic brain injury I sustained.
On October 15, 2025, I received my certificate of British citizenship, becoming a British subject and obtaining a full British passport; consequently, I am writing to you now as a British citizen.
It is noteworthy that, while I was unable to become a citizen in my homeland—the Republic of Tatarstan—the British have bestowed this great honor upon me, for which I am deeply grateful to the UK authorities. Furthermore, during the time I lived in Tatarstan (Russia), I faced serious difficulties with the Russian authorities; throughout those years, the British government and various human rights organizations repeatedly provided me with support and helped me defend my rights—I will never forget this assistance.
In the photograph: Nafis Kashapov at a world wrestling championship; in the video, he is shown performing a (“Sun on a horizontal bar”) on a horizontal bar. Email: tatarstan.independentence@gmail.com, toz.milliet@gmail.com; Tel: Nafisa Kashapova, +48 576 3768 80; Tel: Rafis Kashapov, +44 746 774 48 92
Sincerely, Rafis Kashapov — Prime Minister of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile, Tatarstan — United Kingdom
https://t.me/tatarstan_independent/4496
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14g9T14fZ58/?mibextid=wwXIfr
https://tatar-toz.blogspot.com/2026/11/blog-post_290.html
https://x.com/indtatarstan/status/2120158013915025512
https://tatar-toz.blogspot.com/2026/11/an-open-letter-to-uk-secretary-of-state.html
