Almost the same considerations apply to Bashkiria, located south of Tatarstan. It also has a Turkic ethnic group professing Islam. The only difference is that the Bashkirs do not have such a manifested separatist tradition and such a developed national identity as the Tatars, who were the most active and “advanced” ethnic group in the entire Volga region. For this reason, Tatar-Bashkir ties can in no way contribute to geopolitical stability in this sector of the “inner East” of Russia, and the Center should do everything possible to integrate Bashkiria into the southern Urals regions populated by Russians and tear it away from its orientation towards Kazan . At the same time, it makes sense to emphasize the uniqueness of a purely Bashkir culture, its uniqueness, its difference from other Turkic-Islamic forms.Strengthening the geopolitical ties of Tataria with Bashkiria is extremely dangerous for Russia, since the southern administrative border of Bashkiria lies not far from Northern Kazakhstan, which (given the most unsuccessful development of the geopolitical situation) could theoretically become a springboard for Turkic-Islamic separatism. In this case, the heartland is in danger of being torn apart by a Turkic (pro-Turkish, i.e. pro-Atlantic) wedge right in the middle of the mainland. In this sense, the orientation of Tataria to the south, attempts to integrate with Bashkiria, and even the rapprochement of Bashkiria with the Orenburg region, are extremely negative trends that the continental policy of the Center should prevent at all costs. Bashkiria should strengthen latitudinal ties with Kuybyshev and Chelyabinsk, and meridian contacts with Kazan and Orenburg should, on the contrary, be weakened.