Circassian Activist Accuses Moscow of Treating Kabardino-Balkaria Like a Colony
By: Valery Dzutsev
Circassian civil rights activist Valery Khatazhukov (Source: Caucasian Knot)
In an interview with the Kavkazskaya Politika website, Valery Khatazhukov, a well-known civil rights activist based in Kabardino-Balkaria, detailed his disappointment with the way the Russian government treats the North Caucasus. “Moscow constructs its governance system in the ethnic republics of the North Caucasus on the basis of relations between the metropolis and its colonies,” he said, adding that locals tapped by Moscow to rule there “are given carte blanche in the subordination of their fellow citizens.” As a result, Khatazhukov said, in a republic like Kabardino-Balkaria, which is a pro-Russian entity, people become resentful. “The attitude toward the North Caucasus as a colonial periphery contributes not to preserving the unity of Russia, but to […] its disintegration,” he said (kavpolit.com, September 15). Read more
