Negiat Sali
Negiat Sali is a Romanian economist and politician, a member of the Democratic Union of Turco-Islamic Tatars of Romania and former member of the Chamber of Deputies in 2000-2004.Biography
A Muslim member of the Tatar minority and graduate of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance and Accounting, he was first employed as a construction worker before the fall of the Communist regime, present on the building site of the Danube-Black Sea Canal in 1980-1982. From 1982 until 2000, he worked at the Murfatlar Vineyard research station.
In 1990, after the Romanian Revolution, Sali was among the founding members of the UDTTMR. He became the Union's Vice President the following year, and its President in 1997.
Negiat Sali is noted for his views in respect to the total number of Tatars in Romania, arguing that the community is subject to under-counting, due to the alleged tendency of its members to declare Romanian ethnicity in censuses. According to Sali, this practice has reduced the number of Tatars from approx. 70,000 to approx. 55,000 people.
