An international conference entitled Hidden Nations

An international conference entitled Hidden Nations, Enduring Crimes: The Circassians and the Peoples of the North Caucasus Between Past and Future was held in Tbilisi on 20-21 March 2010. The conference was organized by the Jamestown Foundation and the International School of Caucasus Studies at Ilia State University.

Activists from the North Caucasian Diaspora and well-known academics, including Professor Norman Stone, Moshe Gammer and Marie Bennigsen, took part in the conference.

The participants addressed historical events as well as current developments related to the region.

At the end of the conference, the Circassian and the Chechen and Ingush delegations signed an appeal to the Parliament of Georgia and parliaments of other countries of the world asking them to recognize as genocide the actions carried out by the Russian state with regard to the North Caucasian peoples in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Circassian resolution also contains an appeal to recognize the town of Sochi as the place and a symbol of the Circassian genocide thus preventing the 2014 Winter Olympics from being held there.

http://peacetocaucasus.com/

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Russian Occupation Is The Real Enemy

Russian Occupation Is The Real Enemy

Puppet President of Kabardino – Balakaria Republic, Kanokov himself is a Russian agent, and particularly an agent to the FSB and the associate underground federal services gangsters.

 

The way Kaderov, the father was. He was the Mufti (undercover) of “independent Chechnya” who worked for Russian FSB, and he had eventually had to appear in the public eye, after he was for long an undercover agent and spy, but only when the Russians needed him to be the head of the puppet government that is designated by the Russian imperial authorities, which made Kaderov Junior to follow his father’s foot-steps and thoughts.

 

All the crimes carried out by the Kaderovists in Chechnya, Ingushetia, KBR, Moscow and even in the European capitals, are well known and even done in coordination with (the master-minds) those who facilitated and organized the murder and assassination, and who got connections with those who created the problems and still, within the same peoples and nations, to create effects according to “divide and conquer”!

 

Even if Kanokov and his gangsters know that the Russians would not appreciate or support what they usually do and they have already done, they wouldn’t dare to do.  

 

In criminal investigations to know the real criminal, it goes by finding out who is benefiting from the crime to know who committed the crime.

 

Even if Kanokov and his gangsters have no other way but to admit their guilt, they wouldn’t dare to say who is behind them.

 

Look at the so-called elections of the CIA, that appeared as a circus, and it was obvious that Kanokov and his gangsters had carried out and accomplished their mission and the conspiracy of doing all what they could to implement the Russian government’s policy and agenda. Also they made their best to marginalize the Circassian youth movement during the eighth conference in Maykop, during the month of October, because its agenda was of a Circassian national one.

 

That is why Russia had worked to get the CIA headquarters imprisoned and isolated in Nalchik, in order to dictate what is good for Russia that harms Circassians and their national identity.

 

I am sure that due to the fact that 10% of Circassians are living in Motherland under the rule of the Russian colonial and imperial authorities, they have to deal with them as the local authorities that implement their so-called “rule of law”, but in the back of Circassians’ minds and with wider scope and horizons, they have to have the real vision, and the detailed picture. 

 

Circassians should not be naive, and they have to pinpoint the real issues that need to be dealt with!

 

What is going on at present time in Motherland between Circassians from one side and Balkar and Karachay on the other one is not in any way a problem between these ethnic groups but a Russian policy to make gaps and even cracks in the historical and solid links and connections between them?

 

Circassians, Balkar and Karachay had defended their common interests together against the Russian invasion and later on occupation, who had personal relations between individuals and families, which no one can deny or ignore, and all of these ethnicities and others were victims of Russian genocide, and they had to be together at the Russian deportation lists!

 

Look at all of those Diaspora deportees! Who are they? Where they came from? What they are up to?

 

Simple answers for those questions: They are victims of Russian crimes and genocide, they all came from the country of Circassia in particular and the North Caucasus in general, and they are disseminating in the global community away from Motherland, but there is an awareness that all of those ethnicities to work together for restoring freedom of self-determination and independence in accordance with the international law and the United Nations Charter and regulations of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

The same evil power that is behind what has happened in Nalchik on the 30th of November, is the same associated devil that cultivates incitement and division among the Circassians and their fellow citizens, and logic states that misunderstanding and variation should not be developed like a snow-ball, but on the contrary, the wise and intellectual people should have wider horizons to look into the problems created by the occupation because conflicts will make everyone gets a share of loss “God forbid”.

 

The enemy and the main problem for all is the Russian occupation.

 

Those victims who were targeted to terrorize Circassians through this cowardly act are the Circassian heroes of the 21st Century, and “One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name”.

 

“None are so blind or so deaf, as those who will not see or hear”.

 

Work with the Russian occupiers is the root of all evils and disasters.

 

Unity is strength, and truth will prevail.

 

Eagle

1st of December, 2009

 

Justice For North Caucasus Group

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IWPR: IWPR Caucasus

IWPR Caucasus














March 08 to August 08


In the last six months, the main challenge facing the IWPR Caucasus project has been covering the Georgian-Russia war, which erupted in August over the disputed region of South Ossetia.

The conflict began on the night of August 7-8, and raged for some five days as Moscow intervened to stop Georgian troops trying to regain control of South Ossetia, which won de facto autonomy in the early 1990s.


Coverage of Russia-Georgian war


“IWPR was the only media organisation in Georgia, which did not suspend operations at any time during the Russian-Georgian war and continued to produce balanced and objective reports for thousands of readers.”


Journalists report on aftermath of war


“I am very grateful to IWPR – were it not for its workshops and visits to conflict regions, my work, I guess, would be less balanced,” said Chibchiuri.


Continued success of Accent radio programme


Following the war, IWPR’s Accent radio programme helped a son find his mother, whom he believed to have been killed during the conflict.


IWPR blog counters media blackout


“Even Russian blogs described [IWPR’s blog] as ‘the most unbiased source’ – an assessment which no other media outlets can boast of having achieved during the war,” said Irakli Lagvilava, a journalist from Zugdidi.


IWPR prepares journalists for conflict reporting


“I started to feel responsible. I checked every word I wrote, afraid to make a mistake due to my lack of experience,” said IWPR-trained journalist Irakli Managadze.


Selection of IWPR Caucasus comments and special reports

 


 

















IWPR Caucasus: Biannual Review – March 08 to August 08


Coverage of Russia-Georgian war


“IWPR was the only media organisation in Georgia, which did not suspend operations at any time during the Russian-Georgian war and continued to produce balanced and objective reports for thousands of readers.” IWPR was the only media organisation in Georgia, which did not suspend operations at any time during the war and continued to produce balanced and objective reports for thousands of readers.

The project’s contributors and its Georgia Regional Media Network of journalists rose to the challenge of reacting quickly to gather news from almost all Georgia’s towns and regions. IWPR-trained journalists and staff kept news flowing to local, regional and international audiences.

During and after the war, IWPR Tbilisi produced 20 special reports for the Caucasus Reporting Service. Over 50 IWPR contributors covered the conflict from nearly all the hot-spots – including the frontline, as well as those regions where the Russian military was deployed.

Throughout this period, cooperation continued with Abkhaz and Ossetian journalists, whose reports were regularly published by IWPR.

The report How the Georgian War Began, which was researched and written by Alan Tskhurbayev from Vladikavkaz, Sopho Bukia and Dmitri Avaliani in Tbilisi and Tom de Waal in London, was particularly well received.

BBC journalists Tim Hewell and Nick Sturdee said the article was highly regarded by foreign journalists and experts.

“We think it’s one of the most unbiased articles describing the chronology of what was in the beginning of the war,” said Hewell.


 



IWPR Caucasus: Biannual Review – March 08 to August 08


IWPR blog counters media blackout


During the war, [IWPR’s blog] was the most reliable source of information for me,” said Madona Jabua, a resident of Zugdidi, a city in western Georgia.Readers of a newsblog set up by IWPR to provide balanced coverage of the Georgian war say it played a vital role in countering an information blockade during the fighting.

The blog – http://regionalreporters.wordpress.com/ – was launched by the IWPR Georgian office as soon as fighting over South Ossetia erupted, and ran for two weeks.

It was created by Georgia Regional Media Network staff, in response to a series of cyber-attacks on Georgian servers, which led to almost all online media in the country being shut down.

“Soon after the war began, both Georgian and Russian-language web pages were blocked, telephone communication was interrupted and cable television blacked out,” said Madona Jabua, a resident of Zugdidi, a city in western Georgia.

“Even Russian blogs described [IWPR’s blog] as ‘the most unbiased source’ – an assessment which no other media outlets can boast of having achieved during the war,” said Irakli Lagvilava, a journalist from Zugdidi. “People were more afraid of the prospect of finding themselves in an information vacuum than of coming under bomb attacks. During the war, [the blog] was the most reliable source of information for me.”

Irakli Lagvilava, a journalist from Zugdidi, a city in western Georgian, said everyone acknowledged how balanced the blog was.

“Do you know what pleased me most? The fact that even Russian blogs described our blog as ‘the most unbiased source’ – an assessment which no other media outlets can boast of having achieved during the war,” said Lagvilava.

IWPR IT/Technical Manager Mirian Koridze said that the project chose to place the blog on the foreign server worldpress.com in order to protect against any hacker attacks.

Once established, word of the blog quickly spread and it received 20,000 hits on the day of its launch. By the end of the conflict, the site was receiving more than 130,000 hits a day.

IWPR’s frontline journalists contributed to the blog, bringing news of the conflict to national and international audiences.

“During those days [of reporting on the conflict], I did not care about my health or life. I only wanted to let people know what was going on in the town,” said Lasha Zarginava, an IWPR-trained journalist, and resident of Poti.Lasha Zarginava, an IWPR-trained journalist, said he was one of just two journalists to stay in the Georgian port town of Poti following its invasion by Russia. For several days, as the entire region remained in an information vacuum, he worked round-the-clock to report on local developments.

“Poti was bombed [by Russia] for the first time on August 8. By the evening of August 9, the town was empty. The local television and radio stations were shut down, newspapers stopped [being produced], while national ones stopped [being delivered],” he said.

Zarginava said he was determined to continue reporting from the town.

“During those days, I did not care about my health or life. I only wanted to let people know what was going on in the town,” he said.

When the bombing of the town began, Zarginava went off to the site of the first explosion, camera in hand. He was met there by scenes of carnage.

“Pools of blood and several maimed people scattered around were the first thing I saw,” he said.

In the ten days it was open, the blog published up to 550 news pieces and articles, as well as 34 items of photo reportage and 7 video reports. Dozens of volunteers helped to collect and process information alongside the project team of editors and journalists.

“The blog played an important role not only for Georgian internet users, but also for people, who were abroad at the time and had no access to Georgian media,” said IWPR web editor Giorgi Kupatadze.The blog was produced in the Russian language so that information would be understood by both Russian and Georgian readers, as well as many people abroad.

“I think the blog played an important role not only for Georgian internet users, but also for people, who were abroad at the time and had no access to Georgian media,” said IWPR web editor Giorgi Kupatadze.

Senior lawyer in the education ministry Nodar Megrelishvili confirmed the blog was his main source of information during the clashes.

“[The blog’s creators] have definitely done a great job. It was an effective and timely initiative, especially at a time when it was very difficult to obtain unbiased information,” he said.

“It also provided interesting and unbiased opinions from both local and foreign experts. The information was invariably objective and verified.”

According to Dimitri Avaliani, an editor at the newspaper 24 Hours, the blog was the best source of information available in Georgia during the war, “I am a journalist myself, but I must admit that no other outlet has worked as effectively at this time in Georgia as that blog.”

He added that many journalists from other countries – including Poland, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine – called to say how grateful they were that the blog was available.

“I also know that many foreign journalists used the blog’s reports in their own analytical articles. I am a journalist myself, but I must admit that no other outlet has worked as effectively at this time in Georgia as that blog,” he said.


 



IWPR Caucasus: Biannual Review – March 08 to August 08


Journalists report on aftermath of war


“I am lucky to have taken that course on how to work in a conflict zone, otherwise I might have failed to provide an unbiased coverage of the war,” said head of Trialeti radio service Nino Chibchiuri.Once it ended, IWPR journalists strove to document the aftermath of the short yet devastating conflict. They spoke to refugees to gather first-hand accounts of their suffering.

On August 27, reporters from the Georgia Regional Media Network visited the war-damaged town of Gori in eastern Georgia, which had been occupied by Russian troops.

“The impressions of what I saw in Gori are going to haunt me for a long time,” said one of the journalists Marika Tsikoridze.

“I will never forget how [people] rummaged through the ruins of their homes, hoping to find photos or other memorabilia precious to them. I will never forget how people pulled down their burnt houses that were no longer fit to live in.”

Some of the members of the Georgia Regional Media Network were unable to take part in the visit as, at that time, the main road connecting eastern and western parts of the country continued to be blocked by the Russian military.

On their visit, the journalists went to two districts of the town that were hardest hit by Russian bombs, as well as a tented encampment at a soviet-style amusement park, where refugees from South Ossetia’s Georgian villages live.

Residents there told the journalists that they appreciated them coming to report on the conditions they faced.

“Under the circumstances, any signs of attention, however insignificant, mean a lot to us,” said a resident of the village of Tkviavi Maia Abashidze, whose house was bombed and then razed to the ground by bulldozers.

“Here, in the tent town, we don’t hear shooting any more, but we still live in fear. We are many here, and this helps us not think about what we suffered and what we may be doomed to go though in future.”

“I am very grateful to IWPR – were it not for its workshops and visits to conflict regions, my work, I guess, would be less balanced,” said Chibchiuri.“Never have I ever seen so many sad children in one place,” said Zaur Dargali, who participated on the mission.

“In the tent town in Gori, I saw hundreds of such kids, with no wish to play because of what they’ve gone through. People there sleep on grass. They have no toilets or showers. I got the impression that they still did not realise fully what had happened to them.”

On their mission, the journalists also the met former minister for refugees and settlement Koba Subeliani, who is in charge of providing for those driven from their villages.

He gave them details of measures he was introducing to help.

“The government has launched a whole series of programmes to support the refugees, to find those who went missing during the conflict, to establish identities of the dead,” said Subelini.

He pointed out the important job that journalists were doing to report this service, “It is of vital importance to us to convey the information as soon as possible to each person affected by the war – all the more so since most of the regional media are paralysed – which is why I am grateful to see journalists visiting here in an organised way.”

Journalists also visited Trialeti – a TV and radio station looted during the war.

Head of the radio service Nino Chibchiuri, a member of the Georgia Regional Media Network project, said that past training he was given by IWPR on conflict resolution helped him when reporting on the war.

The residents of war-damaged town of Gori told IWPR journalists that they appreciated them coming to report on the conditions they faced.“I think I am lucky to have taken that course on how to work in a conflict zone, otherwise I might have failed to provide an unbiased coverage of the war,” said Chibchiuri.

“I started to feel I had a responsibility towards both the Georgian and Ossetian communities. I chose every word I wrote carefully, afraid to make a mistake due to my lack of experience.

“I am very grateful to IWPR – were it not for its workshops and visits to conflict regions, my work, I guess, would be less balanced.”


 



IWPR Caucasus: Biannual Review – March 08 to August 08


IWPR prepares journalists for conflict reporting


“I started to feel responsible. I checked every word I wrote, afraid to make a mistake due to my lack of experience,” said IWPR-trained journalist Irakli Managadze, who reported from the Georgian villages of Frone and Nuli in the conflict zone during the conflict.Before the war broke out, the project had prepared dozens of journalists for covering ethnic conflicts and war-time situations.

For example, a workshop held in Tbilisi, from August 2 to 3, focused on restrictions imposed by the government on breaking news and on coverage of public disorders and conflicts.

Just three days later, when conflict erupted, workshop participants had a chance to put the knowledge they had gained during the training session into practice.

“I think I am lucky to have taken that course of theory of working in a conflict zone,” said Irakli Managadze, who reported from the Georgian villages of Frone and Nuli in the conflict zone during the hostilities.

“I started to feel responsible. I checked every word I wrote, afraid to make a mistake due to my lack of experience.”

Trainer Nino Gerzmava said the journalists had understood the importance of keeping reports from hot-spots restrained and based on fact rather than on emotion.

“The proof of this is how our journalists worked in the conflict zone – some of them had a difficult time trying to control their emotions, but never once was an unverified report published on IWPR’s special blog,” he said.


 



IWPR Caucasus: Biannual Review – March 08 to August 08


Continued success of Accent radio programme


Following the war, IWPR’s Accent radio programme helped a son find his mother, whom he believed to have been killed during the conflict.At the end of August, IWPR considered the problems faced by those refugees who fled the fighting on its radio programme Accents.

The programme, which is broadcast twice-monthly as part of the Georgia Regional Media Network Project, gave an unprecedented account of the damage inflicted during the war and conditions faced by the refugees.

Work on the programme – which involves journalists from around the country and from unrecognised territories – began at a time when there was no accurate official information available and when Russian troops still remained in Georgian regions.

The programme team found it difficult to get hold of correspondents, as they all had gone to report on war-torn regions. As a result, journalists had to record interviews with people in the field, in a number of different towns, instead of in the studio, as they normally do.

The Accent programme helped a son find his mother, whom he believed to be dead. Finding lost relatives was a great challenge for many refugees following the war.

The man, who was evacuated to Guria during the fighting, overheard – quite by chance – Accent’s audio-diary based on a story told by his mother Taliko Gugusian.

“From the Kodori Gorge, together with other refugees, I was sent to Guria,” recalled Nodar Gugusian.

“I searched for my mother for several days, not knowing whether she was alive or dead. I don’t have a TV set in the refugee collective centre, where I live together with my children. Radio is the only source of information for us,” he continued.

“I couldn’t believe my ears, when I heard my mother’s voice [on the radio]. Later, local journalists helped me find the author of this report about my mother. Now we have [been] reunited.”

Accent is broadcast by four popular radio stations in Georgia, and is intended improve the flow of news and information to the country’s regions and breakaway territories.



IWPR Caucasus: Biannual Review – March 08 to August 08


Selected articles


Comments
Caucasus Burning, by Thomas de Waal, 19-Aug-08
South Ossetia: An Avoidable Catastrophe, by Thomas de Waal in London, 11-Aug-08
Top of the Class, by Salla Nazarenko in Tbilisi, 23-Jul-08
Bullies of the Caucasus, by Thomas de Waal, May 15 08
The Caucasus Election Script, by Thomas de Waal, 2-Apr-08


Special Report
How the Georgian War Began, by Dmitry Avaliani and Sopho Bukia in Tbilisi, Alan Tskhurbayev in Vladikavkaz and Thomas de Waal in London, 22-Aug-08

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=348591&apc_state=henh#01

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GSN: Intelligence Community To Ask Applicants And Employees About Their Ancestry And Ethnicity

Intelligence community to ask applicants and employees about their ancestry and ethnicity

By Jacob Goodwin, Editor-in-Chief

Published June 19th, 2009

Admiral Dennis Blair
Director of
Nat’l Intelligence

The Director of National Intelligence wants to ask job applicants and current employees in the U.S. intelligence community to identify their “ancestry” and “ethnicity” to enable personnel officers to assess their progress in recruiting and retaining U.S. citizens with knowledge of certain languages, cultures and societies.

Applicants and employees will be asked to identify their “country of origin” from a list of 58 different countries (plus “Other”); their “ethnicity” from a list of 71 possibilities – ranging from the familiar, such as Arab, Chinese, Jewish, Kurdish, Serb and Ukrainian, to the distinctly unfamiliar, such as Azeri, Banyakole, Dagestani, Kikuyu, Oromo, Tigre and Zhuag – and their “cultural expertise” from a list of 113 countries or ethnic groups, including relatively obscure ones, such as Circassian, Fulani, Hausa, Kpelle, Peuhl, Sara and Yezidi.

The ancestry and ethnicity data will be collected in addition to the personal information typically collected on Standard Form 181 to “assist the Intelligence Community in recruiting and retaining employees of various national, sub-national, cultural and ethnic backgrounds important to the Intelligence Community’s mission,” explained a notice posted in the Federal Register on May 11.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed information collection procedure until July 10 by visiting www.regulations.gov and citing “OMB Control No. 3440 – NEW,” but as of June 19, no comments have been submitted.

The Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, within the larger Office of the Director of National Intelligence (a position currently held by Admiral Dennis Blair), estimates that 50,000 applicants and employees in the intelligence community will respond to the ancestry and ethnicity query, and take about three minutes each to answer all three questions.


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Window On Eurasia: Economic Crisis Threatens To Kill Off The CIS

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009

Window on Eurasia: Economic Crisis Threatens to Kill Off the CIS

Paul Goble

Vienna, June 25 – The economic crisis in the Russian Federation and other post-Soviet states may finally lead to the complete collapse of the Commonwealth of Independent States because, in the absence of agreement on a common plan of action, the number of conflicts among its member states is growing, according to a leading Moscow financial analytic center.
In a 27-page study entitled “The Countries of the CIS and the World Crisis: Common Problems and Different Approaches” that was released yesterday, the FBK accounting firm said that the deepening economic crisis across the former Soviet space is creating “a moment of truth” for the Russian-led CIS (www.fbk.ru/upload/contents/561/anticrisis-CIS.pdf).
Its authors argue,, as “Nezavisimaya gazeta” journalist Sergey Kulikov put it today, that Russia’s weak economic performance especially in recent months has exacerbated centrifugal forces within the CIS because “the absence of a strong center forces its members to seek a way out on an individual basis” (www.ng.ru/economics/2009-06-25/4_sng.html).
Igor Nikolayev, the head of the FBK strategic analysis department which prepared the study, said that if Russia were in a position to counter the centrifugal forces, then the crisis could lead to a strengthening of the CIS, but because of Russia’s own economic problems, there seems to be little chance of that.
And even if Russia were in a position to provide more leadership, it would face an uphill battle, Nikolayev said the FBK study shows. “The number of problems among the countries in the Commonwealth has increased,” including tensions between Russia, on the one hand, and Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Belarus and Azerbaijan, on the other, not to mention with Georgia.
At the same time, the report acknowledges, some of the CIS countries “have attempted and are attempting to combine their efforts,’ including the February 2009 decision to create an Anti-Crisis Fund for the members of the narrower European-Asiatic Economic Cooperation Organization.
Commenting on the conclusions of the RBK report, Ruslan Grinberg, the director of the Moscow Institute of Economics, drew attention to the rhetoric of cooperation which he said continues to affect the governments of all countries in this crisis as well as to a divide that the FBK report highlighted (www.nr2.ru/moskow/237955.html).
That divide, he noted, is between the “authoritarian” members of the CIS where “there is no crisis” and more democratic ones like Ukraine where the crisis has hit particularly hard. He suggested that Ukraine now represents the largest problem for the region because “Russia doesn’t want to forgive [Kyiv’s] debts and Europe does not want to pay them.”
Others reacting to the report included Sergey Mikheyev, general director of the Moscow Center of Political Technologies. He argued at a press conference yesterday that Moscow would do whatever it takes to keep the “stillborn” CIS from falling apart lest its collapse lead to the disintegration of the Russian Federation itself (net14.org/?p=352#more-352).
“I am certain,” Mikheyev continued, “that the question of the falling apart of the CIS is [in fact] a logical extension of the process of the falling apart of the USSR. [Consequently,] if the ‘commonwealth’ is liquidated, then the question will arise about the falling apart of the Russian Federation.”
Russia’s elite, he added, “is the main factor behind the existence of the CIS. If the Kremlin decides that the CIS is a post-Soviet structure that is doomed to pass away, then that organization will disappear. But if the [Moscow] elite takes some actions in order to prolong the existence of post-Soviet integration, then the CIS will have a chance to survive.”
Given what is at stake – not just the post-Soviet space as a whole but the Russian Federation as a country – Moscow elites are likely to do just that. But Aleksey Vlasov, a Moscow specialist on the region, said that may not be enough if the other countries decide to “liquidate” the CIS by adopting protectionist measures or requiring visas.
Indeed, although Vlasov did not mention it, there is some evidence on his side. Almost two weeks ago, the Georgian parliament unanimously adopted two resolutions which complete the procedure of Tbilisi’s exit from the CIS, a step that other countries, including Ukraine in the first instance, could soon follow, with all the consequences for Russia that would have.

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RFE/RL: National Republics Resist Moscow’s Demand To Amend Constitutions

June 23, 2009

National Republics Resist Moscow’s Demand To Amend Constitutions

by Paul Goble

Three of the four national republics the Russian Constitutional Court earlier this month ordered to drop references in their constitutions to republic sovereignty and citizenship are dragging their feet. That reluctance reflects both the importance of these terms to many non-Russians, and the calculation that resistance to the center could yield dividends.

While the Sakha (former Yakutia) parliament approved on June 17 a law making the changes Moscow wants, the governments of Tuva, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan have not taken this step and, in at least the cases of Kazan and Ufa, do not appear to be planning to do so in the immediate future. 

Last week in Tuva, deputies in the Grand Khural, as the republic’s parliament is known, voted down legislation that would have created a constitutional commission to consider the changes. But Tuvan officials implied that the deputies were acting “out of inertia” and would soon comply with the Constitutional Court order. 

The situation in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan appears to be very different. There, in the words of a lead article in “Nezavisimaya gazeta,” the Constitutional Court demand is viewed as the latest effort by Moscow to undermine the legitimate powers of the republics. While Bashkortostan’s President Murtaza Rakhimov said immediately after the court announced its decision that “once the leadership has given an order, we will change” what has to be changed, his own outspoken criticism of Moscow’s policies and United Russia’s arrangements has been accompanied by no moves to do so. 

Indeed, since then, one of Rakhimov’s senior aides, Sergei Lavrentyev has issued an even more withering criticism of federal policies in spite of, or perhaps because of rumors, now much reduced in the wake of chief Kremlin ideologist Vladislav Surkov’s June 19 visit to Ufa, that Moscow was about to fire Rakhimov. 

Thinking Long-Term

However that may be, “Nezavisimaya gazeta” points out that “eight years ago” Rakhimov and Tatarstan’s President Mintimer Shaimiyev were able “to find a compromise with the country’s leadership” despite then-Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to perfect his “power vertical.” 

The two Middle Volga leaders agreed to bring “local laws into line with federal ones,” but only if Moscow “left untouched” the declarations in the constitutions of those two large Turkic republics concerning their own sovereignty and national citizenship. The two did so apparently in the hope that after Putin left office, they could revisit this arrangement to their benefit.

But instead, Moscow has sought to pressure the two republics further in violation of the compromise they thought would remain a baseline in their relationships with the center. And consequently, the independent Moscow paper suggested, the two are now playing a different game, seeking other “political dividends” in return for ultimately agreeing to go along.

Earlier last week, Tatarstan asked Moscow for more than 15 billion rubles ($480 million) to cover the local budget deficit, a request that Shaimiyev accompanied with a statement that Moscow officials apparently do not know the Russian Constitution very well since there is a reference in that document to “sovereign republics within Russia.”

Were Shaimiyev and Rakhimov to give way on this, the paper continued, that would represent “the bankruptcy of the political line” that Shaimiyev has pursued “for 20 years.” Consequently, at the very least, he and Rakhimov are going to drag out the process, hopeful that Moscow will decide it is cheaper to pay them off in other ways.

Whether that calculation will work this time around is uncertain, but Surkov’s statements after meeting Rakhimov suggest that Moscow doesn’t want to provoke a fight over this, at least not during the current crisis. And consequently, the “better times” Shaimiyev and Rakhimov have been waiting for may be closer, but very different than, anyone else expected.

Meanwhile, the other federal subjects the court directed to make similar changes — the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Komi, Chechnya, and Buryatia, and the autonomous districts of Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets — are supposedly slated to go ahead, although it is entirely possible that leaders in some of them may take their lead from Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. 

On June 18, Chechen Constitutional Court Chairman Sultan Abdulkhanov said a special commission will be created to draft unspecified “minor changes” that are required to bring the Chechen Republic’s constitution into line with that of the Russian Federation.

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RFE/RL: Attack On Ingushetia President Latest In Troubling Trend

June 22, 2009

Attack On Ingushetia President Latest In Troubling Trend

by Liz Fuller

*Correction appended

The president of Russia’s troubled North Caucasus region of Ingushetia is in critical condition after his convoy was hit by an explosion this morning near Nazran.

Yunusbek Yevkurov is the fourth official to be wounded or killed in Daghestan and Ingushetia during a bloody three-week span in an incident that bears signs of an assassination attempt by the North Caucasus resistance.

The 45-year-old career military intelligence officer, whom Russian President Dmitry Medvedev named eight months ago as president of the Republic of Ingushetia, was injured when a car bomb exploded as his cortege was driving from Nazran to Magas. 

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office, told journalists in Moscow that “an explosive device equivalent to 70 kilograms of TNT went off as the [Ingush] president’s motorcade passed through Nazran.”

He said preliminary findings indicated the explosive was “planted in a foreign-made vehicle, where a suicide bomber might have been sitting, which was parked by the side of the road.”

Yevkurov’s younger brother reportedly died in the attack and two bodyguards were injured.

‘Year Of Offensives’

Both the timing of the assassination attempt — five years to the day after Ingush and Chechen militants staged multiple attacks on the republic’s Interior Ministry, killing up to 80 people — and the modus operandi suggest that it was the work of the North Caucasus resistance.

In a video address in late April, resistance commander Doku Umarov announced that the notorious Riyadus Salikhiin suicide brigade has been revived, and he warned that “this will be a year of offensives.” 

Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Aleksandr Bortnikov, who met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after the attack, appeared to lay blame for the incident on Ingushetia and Chechnya rebels.

“The police forces of Ingushetia and Chechnya, in their joint special operations, have forced the bandits out into remote areas of Ingushetia and Chechnya, so naturally the bandits have started fighting back aggresively,” Bortnikov said. “Today’s act was most probably an attempt to influence and destabilize the situation. The bandits have made numerous threats against Yevkurov, and I believe this is an act of retaliation by the bandits.”

Over the past two weeks, militants have killed Daghestan’s interior minister, Lieutenant General Adilgirey Magomedtagirov, and two senior Ingushetian officials. 

The resistance website kavkazcenter.com reported the attack on Yevkurov two hours after it occurred, but neither kavkazcenter nor the Ingush resistance website has claimed responsibility for it. 

Daunting Task

As head of one of the most unstable and impoverished republics in Russia, Yevkurov was faced with a string of seemingly impossible tasks: to eradicate the corruption and inefficiency that pervaded government structures under his loathed and compromised predecessor Murat Zyazikov; to secure the cooperation of a small but vocal political opposition alienated by the murder on August 31 of Magomed Yevloyev, owner of the independent website ingushetia.org; to turn around the republic’s moribund economy and reduce the unemployment rate, currently one of the highest in the Russian Federation; and, above all, to reduce the incidence of resistance attacks on police, army and security personnel. 

In 2008 alone, there were at least 61 acts of terrorism in which over 70 police and military personnel were killed and 167 injured. In retaliation for those attacks, police routinely target young men known as practicing Muslims on the street, and then brand them Islamic militants. 

Yevkurov succeeded in coopting to his team several young opposition activists. He launched an energetic crackdown on corruption, even making public last week the number of his mobile phone and encouraging citizens to call him directly to report instances of corruption, unfair dismissal, or failure to pay salaries on time.

In stark contrast to his predecessor, he also met regularly with members of the public to discuss their grievances, and set up an e-mail account for that purpose. 

He met with Yevloyev’s parents, and in February convened a meeting of some 180 families mired in blood feuds, as a result of which 47 of them abjured any further blood vengeance. 

Countering Insurgency?

Medvedev signaled his confidence in and support for Yevkurov. During a brief visit to Magas in late January, Medvedev announced 29 billion rubles ($878 million) in economic aid to Ingushetia to help revive the economy.

But Yevkurov proved unable to make any headway on the primary problem: neutralizing the Ingushetian arm of the North Caucasus resistance. 

During the first four months of this year, 59 people have been killed, 18 of them police or military personnel.

Five weeks ago, Yevkurov agreed to the proposal by his Chechen counterpart, Ramzan Kadyrov, that the two republics’ interior ministries should coordinate their efforts to track down and destroy resistance fighters. 

Medvedev announced after the Yevkurov attack that he was sending South Federal District envoy Vladimir Ustinov to Ingushetia to represent the federal authorities “in a more concentrated manner.” 

But the fresh attack appeared to cast doubt once again on the efficacy of Moscow’s counterinsurgency strategy in the North Caucasus.

* An earlier version of this story put Yevkurov’s age at 48. He is 45.


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