Actual News from Chechnya

News update

The Russian President Vladimir Putin feels that the problem of Chechnya could be settled solely through political means in the framework of broad autonomy on the basis of the Russian Constitution. According to the RIA-Novosti news agency, the Russian leader said this in an interview with the French TV company France-3 in the run-up to his visit to France. Vladimir Putin pointed out that following the recent major act of terror in Moscow, with almost 800 people taken hostage, the Chechen public representatives themselves came out with an initiative to speed up political processes and hold a constitutional referendum in the republic in a bid to prevent the growth of anti-Chechen sentiment in Russia. I supported the initiative, the President said, and now were assisting the initiators group to carry through their effort. Lets see what the referendum returns will be like. Vladimir Putin feels that the next step towards a political settlement must be the election, on the basis of the republican constitution, of the legitimate bodies of government, the republican president, parliament, as well as the forming of other agencies that would help the Chechen people take full power in the republic. The Russian President also said that the draft Chechen constitution, prepared on the basis of the Russian Constitution, has been submitted to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and to the Council of Europe.
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According to the RIA-Novosti news agency, the Council of Europes Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles is due to arrive in Russia. The Human Rights Commissioner is due to carry out the bulk of his programme on Tuesday, February 11th. On that day he is to meet the Russian Presidents special envoy to Chechnya in charge of guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in the republic Abdul-Khakim Sultygov and the Duma International Affairs Committee Dmitry Rogozin. Also on Tuesday Alvaro Gil-Robles will board a plane to leave Moscow for Chechnya. In Grozny the Council of Europes Human Rights Commissioner is due to meet the Chechen administration head Akhmad Kadyrov, officials of the republican prosecutors office, and in Khankala the Russian military command in the region. He is also due to attend a conference involving officials of non-governmental organizations that have been active in the North Caucasus. The next leg of the Commissioners trip will be Ingushetia, where he will lay emphasis on the plight of forced migrants that live both at tent camps and in private homes. Mr. Gil-Robles also plans to meet Ingushetias President Murat Ziazikov. The Commissioners assistant Gregory Mathieu has told journalists that the Council of Europes Human Rights Commissioners Bureau is not authorized to look for a political settlement of the Chechen problem. According to Gregory Mathieu, the delegation will avoid the discussion of any political solutions and will only try to monitor the human rights situation.
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Chechen economics

Chechnya enjoys extremely favorable conditions for wine-growing and wine distillery. The right approach to wine-growing may prove to be quite profitable in the context of the Chechen economic reconstruction effort. A professor of the government-sponsored University of Chechnya and a member of the International Wine and Grape Association Abdul-Malik Batukayev talked about the revival of wine-growing and wine distillery in Chechnya in a recent interview with the newspaper "Selskaya Zhizn." For many years on end, Batukayev said, wine growing and wine distillery was a profitable industry of the Chechen agro-industrial complex. Moneywise, grapes accounted for more than 30 percent - and in some years even 40 percent - of the gross volume of farm production. Vineyards used to sprawl over up to 30,000 hectares and Chechnya used to harvest 120,000 tons of grapes. A test patch farm that had grown into the Chechen Research Center Of Farming provided the wine growers and distillers with necessary know-how. As a result, state-run wine-growing farms appeared even in the Shalinsky, Malgobeksky and Groznensky Districts which had never before focused heavily on wine-growing. In the year 1980 the "Checheningushvino" company brought together 55 wine-growing farms. Distillers were busy making new sorts of wine and upgrading their technologies. The Naursky distillery may probably be described as the country's biggest producer of quality wines. None other but the Naursky distillery produced the best kinds of fine wines: "Rkatsiteli Terskoye," "Silvaner Tersky," the "Terek" port, "Naurskoye Desertnoye", "Aleatiko," "Kemsi-Ari." The wine and cognac distillery of Grozny produced the highest quality brandies and cognacs - "KV,""KVVK," "Bashlam,""Eliy." How many vineyards have survived till nowadays remains unknown but the once flourishing industry of the Chechen agroindustrial complex is still alive and kicking. The Wine-Growing And Liquor Production Committee of the Chechen government says there are 26 wine-growing farms on an area of some 4,000 hectares in the Chechen republic. "If we want to have a normal and well-developed agrarian economy, create jobs for the rural population," Dr Batukayev says, "we must, like they say, turn to face both the sunny vine and viniculture. There is no other way for us now that the geopolitical position of Russia has changed: Russian wine-growing and wine distillery will from now on be represented by the territories and republics of the Northern Caucasus which cannot ignore its Chechen Republic." For the earliest settlement of the current problem Chechnya must, in Dr Batukayev's view, wave good-bye to the natural methods of wine-growing. Wine-growing farms of self-financing contractors flourished in the Chechen-Ingush Soviet Socialist Autonomy and this kind of farms should, in Dr Batukayev's view, be reopened in today's Chechnya. Batukayev, who wants land to remain public property, corroborates his point of view with an analysis of the situation in a number of countries. He sees family tenure as the nucleus of his model of relations in farming. There is one other factor the fate of Chechen wine-growing and wine distillery depends on. It is, as Dr Batukayev says in an interview with the "Selskaya Zhizn," the availability of highly qualified workers.
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Russia - Chechnya

To Chechen children

The Russian Education Ministry is doing much to help restore education process in Chechnya and revive interest of the young in sport. Various departments of the ministry are supporting Chechen sports schools. One of the priorities is to arrange competitions engaging Chechen youth. About a year ago, the ministry held a seminar for Chechnyas district authorities responsible for youth policy. Every department of the ministry told about its prospects for working in the republic. Sport competitions were at the focus of the discussion. Chechen delegates asked why the Ministry does not invite Chechen athletes to all-Russia competitions organized with its participation. There are many sportsmen in Chechnya, they said, going for wrestling, martial arts and football. As a result of the meeting, it was decided to reinvigorate the work of the ministrys departments in supporting youth sport in Chechnya. The job of the day is to purchase sports outfit for Chechen schools, provide coaches with methodic textbooks and, most importantly, invite Chechen teams to competitions across Russia. This will allow Chechen children to see how Russia at large is living and will help unite kids of our country regardless of nationality, says Igor Melnichenko, head of the patriotic and civil education board under the youth policy department of the ministry.
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Issue 67
11.02.03

Chechnya: news | arguments | facts

11 February 2003  Vedeno libraries lack books
More than 20 thousand books are now available for readers in Vedeno district. 19 libraries of the 37 have been reopened. There are two central libraries, for the youth and adults, and 17 rural ones operating. Just like elsewhere in Chechnya, the libraries have difficulties with heating and equipment. All of them, however, have become true culture centers. Books are handed out both to read in reading-rooms and at home. Both young and adult readers treat books with care. There are about three thousand and five hundred readers in all 19 libraries, half of which are teenagers, including students of the pedagogical college. They have different interests and sometimes not all of them can find a book to their liking. According to acting director of the district library network Raisa Sapaeva, there is dearth of children and technical literature and books on local lore, which are most in demand. Local libraries received new books last year from the militant commandants office of Perm region as part of patrons help and from the Chechen Culture Ministry. All the books were distributed among the libraries but still it is not enough. The number of readers is constantly growing. People get attracted to libraries by exhibitions, discussions and literature seminars. All libraries have a display My region is my pride with an ever-expanding exposition.
(more News from Chechnya)

10 February 2003  The newcomer to the national first league Grozny-based Terek trains abroad
The soccer team is back at its base in Kislovodsk in the region of Stavropol after training in Antalia in Turkey. According to chief coach Vait Talgayev, the team used its time in Antalia to shape up, put new members through their paces and improve coordination on the field. Terek went to Antalia after saying good bye to a number of experienced players who helped it enter the first league. The people out are Kosolapov, Bulatov, Kutarba, Okulov, Koganov, Gudiyev and Sineokov. They were replaced by renowned footballers from Grozny -- like D.Gaisumov and I.Markhiyev, former members of the successful Erzu club. Terek hopes to take on the goalkeeper Usmanski from Novorossiysk and the defenceman Dyomin together with the striker Safronov from Astrakhan before it enters the next national football championship. There are plans to invite players from the former Soviet republics Ukraine and Kazakhstan and from the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia. Terek defeated a number of first and premier league teams from Russia and other former Soviet republics in friendly warms-ups in Antalia. It triumphed over the back-up team of Krylia Sovetov from Moscow 1:0, over Mostransgaz from Moscow 3:0, 2:0, 4:1, 1:1, over Metallurg-Kuzbass from Kemerovo 1:0 and over Metallurg from Zaporozhye in Ukraine 2:1. Terek has two more foreign training sessions on its schedule: in Turkey on Feb 7 through 21 and then in Germany on March 1 through 15.
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09 February 2003  Chechnya's Agriculture Ministry has ambitious plans for 2003
Pending the reopening in late April of Grozny's main government building that was terribly truck-bombed on December 27, the Chechen government operates from a caravan park on its main helipad. All ministers and all three Deputy Premiers who survived the explosion are working as normal. Visitors stream in, after obtaining passes and passing security checks. Deputy Premier and Agriculture Minister Dukuvakha Abdurakhmanov runs a staff of over 90. He holds talks and discussions with 15 to 20 visitors each day. Mr Abdurakhmanov shares responsibilities for the farming side of the federal programme of social and economic reconstruction in the Chechen republic. He tells us the republic has already received 20 million roubles worth of pedigree livestock, 1,300 sheep and 100 cattle. The animals went to state farms in the Districts of Shelkovskaya, Naurskaya, Nadterechny, Gudermes and Grozny where sheds and pens have survived, fodder is available, trained personnel is on hand and tight security is in place. Areas where these conditions are not met, mostly in the mountains, have received nothing. The republic now has some 178 thousand head of cattle, about 176 thousand on family farms and 1,780 on state farms. Ten thousand more should arrive this year, bought by the republic itself and also by the federal government, through the disbursement of another 20 million farming reconstruction roubles. First warm days later this month should see the start of the spring planting campaign, The acreage under spring wheat will be between 80 thousand and 90 thousand hectares, which is approximately the same as in 2002. The acreage under maize shoots up to 20 thousand hectares, and under cash crops like sunflower and sugar beet, to 12 thousand and 5 thousand hectares respectively. In 2002, the republic had only 2 thousand hectares under sugar beet. The minister says Chechnya is already self-sufficient in staple foods like bread but needs more industrial crops for re-launching money-spinning processing factories. Several canning, bottling and jarring operations should come on stream in time for the start of the next harvesting campaign next summer.
(more News from Chechnya...)

08 February 2003  Young Chechen wrestlers meet in Shelkovskaya
A two-day free-style wrestling tournament that brought together 15- and 16-year-old Chechens was held last month in the village of Shelkovskaya. The 135 participants in the tournament came from 12 administrative districts of Chechnya. Sportsmen are fond of visiting the highly hospitable Shelkovskoi District. This time, the head of the local administration Husein Nutayev and his sports chief Lechi Bairakov saw to it that the young representatives of all parts of Chechnya were provided with delicious free meals and comfortable rooms. Thousands of sports fans watched the wrestling bouts in between which local performing groups were invited to show their skills. The winners of the wrestling tournament will be privileged to join the championship of the Southern Federal District, slated to be held from the 13th to the 16th of this month in the city of Pyatigorsk. The wrestlers of the Groznensky District led in the team count: three gold, two silver and one bronze medal. Kurchaloi boys come second with two gold and three bronze medals. The third position is shared by Gudermes and Shali: two gold medals and one silver one, each. Sad as it sounds, the host team got no medals at all. The free-style wrestling tournament gave a good start to a new sports year in the Chechen republic.
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Chechen traditions

Modern customs and traditions

Nokhchallah sets the basic rules of behavior for the Chechen male - cf. Part 1. Age-old customs and traditions make it clear how a man is supposed to behave under different sets of circumstances. Norms of behavior are also revealed in Chechen proverbs and sayings. The heads of Chechen families, husbands and fathers should be taciturn: ""I don't know" makes one word, but "I know, I've seen" make a thousand words." They should think well before taking action: "the fast-flowing brook has failed to reach the sea." They should think twice before pronouncing a judgement on a neighbor or simply saying something: "a saber wound has healed but a wound inflicted by a word of mouth has not." Restraint is most appreciated: "lack of self-control exhibits foolishness, patience demonstrates good manners." The Chechen male is to show utmost restraint under all and any kinds of circumstances. Tradition demands that he avoid smiling at his wife and holding up his children in the presence of other people. But he ought to make sure that his wife never bear more than the woman's part of the family burden: "the hen who pretended to be a rooster burst up." The use of unprintable words, in particular those that make mention of the woman, revolt the Chechen because a woman of loose morals is the biggest disgrace of her family. A few women of loose morals have been lynched in the Chechen Republic. A handsome man should be tall, slim but broad-shouldered. He should have a thin waist and a lively gait. Folk wisdom says that the manner of walking reveals the qualities of character. The mustache bears a very special significance: "shave off your mustache if you don't behave as becomes a man." One other thing. When 19th century rebel leader Shamil went to surrender to the Russians, he was hailed several times by one of his comrades-in-arms. But he would not turn around to answer. When someone asked him why he would not turn around, Shamil explained he would have been killed if he had. "We Chechens never shoot a man in the back,"- he said.
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Chechen culture

Chechen Language

Chechen, together with Ingush and Bats, belongs to the Veinakh group of the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages. The Chechen and Ingush languages have developed a written tradition. Not so the Bats language. The earliest description of the Veinakh languages is found in the Big Comparative Dictionary of Russian Empress Catherine the Great (second half of the 18th century.) The Dictionary presents about 400 Chechen words and their Ingush and Bats equivalents. Baron P.K. Uslar described the Caucasian languages on instructions from the general staff of the Russian Army. His voluminous "The Chechen Language" came off print in 1888. It contains a grammar of the Chechen language.
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Religion in Chechnya

Penetration of Islam into Chechen and Ingush tribal communities in the 13th 15th centuries was accompanied by peoples consolidation on the confessional principle. As official religion, Islam was first adopted in Simsim kingdom in the south-east of Chechnya in the days of the Golden Horde. The Islamic state, which was situated on the territory of present-day Nozhaiyurt and Gudermes districts, was an ally of the co-religionist Horde, whereas residents of south-western communities (Myalkhs, Melkhistintsys, Lam-Akkis) stayed Christian mainly and adhered to Adat a code of unwritten laws. Islam was adopted by people outside the control of the Golden Horde that called themselves Nashakh freemen community, as they moved on to flat areas. Though the Golden Horde had fallen, Islam had struck deep roots at the foothills of the Caucasus due to its moral laws, social justice and civil freedom that proved more attractive than adat law. Though, in many provisions Adat and Sharia turned out to be allies. Hence , allegations by some Chechen authors and atheist scientists that Islam was taken up by Chechens comparatively recently, are groundless enough. That most Chechens were Muslims back in the 15th 16th centuries, is indicated by the burial rite. The period, to be more exact, 1405-1406, marked the construction of the first known monuments of Muslim architecture the Borg-Kash Mausoleum near the village of Plievo in Nazran district. The mausoleum was erected in honour of a certain Bek-Sultan, son of Khudainado. Intensive penetration of Islam was facilitated by the economic, cultural and political ties between Chechens and Ingushes and people of Kabarda, Kumykia, the Crimean Khanate, Ottoman Turkey and Shakh Persia. In the 16th and 17th centuries Veinakhs established closer economic, cultural and political ties with other peoples of the North Caucasus professing Islam. The mere historical development pointed to the inevitability of Islam taking root in the region and that was an event of historic importance to the mountaineers. With the development of flat areas, farming, cattle-breeding and trade were boostingand people became conscious of the good points of Islam. Legends have it that the first preachers of Islam in Chechen community were Termol, Bat and Bers. They say the sermons brought about all sorts of reaction. And this is understandable, since the history of other peoples and countries knows only too well what difficulties might arise with the adoption of a new faith. As for the highlands, Islam was slow to spread. At the beginning the new religion was taking in age-old traditions trying to adjust to them. Quite often, around family vaults there appeared stelas that were erected over Muslim graves of relatives, who had departed from the old funeral rites but maintained links with pagan kinsmen. An amazing monument of the 16th 17th century is a Muslim tower in Makazhoi community on the border with Daghestan, designed for saying Muslim prayers. Especially famous is a mosque near Etkala village, not far from Itum-Kale in the Argun gorge. The grand mosque was built in line with traditional Islamic architecture. But the minaret is shaped like a miniature, typically Veinakh war tower with a stepped pyramidal roof and narrow loop-holes. Ancient pagan traditions made themselves felt in the ornamental design of gravestone stelas, some of which depict items that in pagan days were buried together with the deceased national costumes, decorations, belts, footwear, daggers, sabers and pistols. Some bear images of people, animals and birds. There is a suggestion of olden times about stelas depicting human beings. Patterns of this sort go back deep into the centuries.All that, however, did not prevent Islam from becoming the Veinakhs dominant and only religion in the course of the 16th through early 19th century. The first big leader of the national liberation struggle was shepherd Ushurma from the village of Aldy, where the Grozny fortress was built later on. Later Ushurma became known under the name of Mansur (the Victor). Mansurs religious and political program got the approval of the clergy of not only Chechnya, but of Daghestan and Azerbaijan. The years 1785-1791 in the North Caucasus were marked by turbulent developments connected with the name of Sheikh Mansur. The wave of popular uprisings subsided in 1791, following the arrest of the mutinous Sheikh. Later on, in the times of Shamil, the main advocates of Islam in Chechnya were Shamil himself and his chiefs. In the middle of the 19th century Chechnya saw the appearance of Sufi Islam, otherwise known as muridism (from murid disciple, follower.The Sufi teaching was propagated by the famous advocate of the principle of non-resistance to evil with violence Sheikh Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev. But Imam Shamil and his men came to hate Kunta-Khadzhi for his speeches against the war and calls for peace and non-violence.
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