The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 77 18.03.03 Actual News from Chechnya News update Chechen terrorists detained on the Georgian-Russian border to be extradited to Russia In Moscow, they regard "with satisfaction" the decision of the district court of Tbilisi on extradition to Russia of the Chechen terrorists detained on the Georgian-Russian border. Asked by Russian mass media about this decision, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Alexander Yakovenko recalled that on March 13 the district court of Tbilisi had agreed to the extradition of two Chechen militants detained during their crossing of the Russian-Georgian border in August 2002. He stressed that this decision "is naturally satisfactory". At the same time, Yakovenko added that the court had not taken a decision on the extradition of the third militant explaining this by "alleged 'uncertainty' of his status as a refugee". In this connection, Moscow "hopes that the earlier attained accords on extradition of militants, charged with perpetrating terrorist acts on the territory of the Russian Federation, will be soon fulfilled in full", the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia emphasized to RIA NOVOSTI correspondent. more... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=Moseng) All children in Chechnya, who can and want to study, go to school Today education in the Chechen Republic "is but the only sector that works," said Russian Education Minister Vladimir Filippov at a press conference in Moscow on Monday. "Almost all children in the republic, who can and want to study, go to school," he said. By the end of the year all Chechen schools will receive the necessary books on Russian classical literature and will be fully equipped with sports inventory and computers, the minister announced. The main language in Chechen educational institutions will be Russian, Filippov pointed out. At the same time, the republic's schools will also teach Chechen. "Chechen children should know their native language and literature," he emphasised. (more... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=Moseng) Chechen history Chechnya | Questions and answers To Reader This pamphlet is about Chechnya , a Russian territory which has witnessed the most tragic events over the past decade. The book is the latest update on the Chechen Republic . And this is very important, since a lack of fresh and accurate information about events in Chechnya generates many distorted conceptions and rumours - both within and outside Russia . For example, that Chechen society is allegedly inherently alien to Russia , that pro-Russian elements in the republic are marginalised; and lastly, that Russian power structures are fighting the Chechen people, rather than armed bandit groups. The reality, however, is that only with the return of the legitimate authorities are villages and towns being restored, children going to school for the first time in many years, and pensioners receiving long-forgotten pensions, i.e. a social rebirth is underway. Lying ahead are a referendum on a new Chechen constitution, and parliamentary and presidential elections. These votes will be held, despite continued attempts by bandit groups and their leaders to scupper the process of normalisation in the republic, the latest terrorist act being the bombing of the republican government building. The war being waged by Chechen separatists against federal forces and more often than not against their own co-citizens is by no means a "national liberation struggle of the Chechen people", but an episode in the overall offensive by international terrorism on the fundamental principles of modern civilisation. The facts show that being a part of the Russian Federation in no way threatens the Chechen Republic 's cultural identity, the free use of its own language, and preaching Islam. On the contrary, it was during de facto "independence" from Russia that the Chechen people suffered a humanitarian tragedy on an unprecedented scale. Hostage-taking, the slave trade and plundering came to form the economic basis of the new regime, while chaos and war became the form of its political existence. We want to emphasise once more: Chechnya is part of Russia , geographically, politically and civilisation-wise. So a hypothetical triumph of radical Islamism on its territory would be anti-historical. Such a development would signify the establishment in the midst of Europe of a Taliban-like regime, with all ensuing consequences for the international community. The corporate author - journalists of the Russian Information Agency Novosti - have attempted to be as brief as possible on providing answers to the most-often asked questions (above all posed by a foreign audience) about the Chechen issue. Hence the book's title: " Chechnya : Questions and Answers". It draws heavily on information provided by various Russian ministries and departments that in one or another way are involved in normalising life in the republic. Russian Information Agency Novosti (in detail ... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?section=answerseng&lng=eng) Chechen ethnos Chechens as an ethnic group Ethnogenesis of contemporary Chechens The aborigines who for centuries had inhabited the northern slopes of the Central Area of the Main Caucasus Range and the steppe lands stretching out all the way to the lower reaches of the Volga River in the north and the Caspian Sea in the West have naturally left a trace in the lineage of the modern-day Chechens and Ingushis. Traces have been found near lake Kezenoi Am in Chechnyas Vedeno district of people who lived there about 40,000 years ago. Which means that contemporary Chechens, Ingushis and Tsova-Tushins stem from the founders of the ancient civilization of Asia Minor and the Trans-Caucasus. And that the place where they now live once served as an abode for the most ancient people offering a motley mix of material and spiritual cultures. The Cyclopean structures made of huge boulders, ancient burial mounds overlooking the Chechen plains and the wonderful medieval turrets whose elegant outlines still boggle the mind, all bear witness to the tragic and heroic history of the neo-Nakhs living in the North Caucasus region. How did the Vainakhs distant forerunners manage to cross the Main Caucasus Range and settle in its northern flatlands? There are many sources shedding light on this, the most reliable being the Kartlis Tskhovreba (The History of Georgia) a collection of Georgian chronicles believed to be written by Leonty Mroveli. The chronicles mention the role the Dzurdzuks played in Trans-Caucasian history of the first millennium B.C. Most of these chronicles apparently date back to the ebbing years of the first millennium B.C. that is after the campaigns of Alexander the Great. The legend-like narrative which, even though combines different epochs, still makes it almost perfectly clear that the distant forefathers of the modern-day Vainakhs used to play a very prominent political role throughout the Trans-Caucasus and North Caucasus regions. According to the Georgian chronicles, Dzurdzuk was Caucasos most famous and powerful son. It was the Dzurdzuks that Georgias first king Farnavaz asked for help at the dawn of the new millennium in his effort to consolidate his reign against his ever-feuding vassals. His marriage to a Dzurdzuk woman cemented the Iberians and Kartvelians newly-acquired alliance with the Dzurdzuks. (more... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=etneng&row=3) Chechnya: news | arguments | facts 18 Mart 2003 Rostov-on-Don prepares officers for the Chechen police Over 70 Chechen police officers are now being trained in Rostov. After the training course they will return to the republic to work in Chechen interior department. These young people have never been outside Chechnya, and never joined army. Many of them cannot even speak Russian, so they have to work hard, since 5-month course is rather complicated. It involves such subjects as criminalistics, patrol service, shooting trainings. Moreover, especially for Chechen policemen, the courses had to introduce march training. Though the head of the training center Pavel Diakov is sure that all the young men will become high-class specialists and will work to secure their republic. The leaders of Chechen and Ingushetian societies in Rostov Kamil Dokuchaev and Yunus Jamurzaev are playing significant part in the trainings. They frequently visit the training center to meet the students. To celebrate the Police day they presented the center a stereo system. Thus the work is going on. The center will constantly be training young men. The first group will graduate in May 2003, with the next group to arrive. (more News from Chechnya http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 18 Mart 2003 The head of the Chechen administration insists on the necessity of amnestying the militants who have gone astray The head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, insists on the necessity of amnestying the militants who have gone astray. In an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Akhmad Kadyrov said that amnestying the militants, who found themselves with arms in hands under a delusion, would be a really great step in achieving peace and accord on Chechen soil. The Chechen people will adopt their Constitution for the first time, and if some actions of this kind could be timed to coincide with this historic event, this would strengthen their trust in the federal authorities and would contribute to the achievement of stability in Chechnya. He is convinced that those who are not on the federal wanted list and those who have been sentenced to less than five years of imprisonment should be amnestied. (more News from Chechnya... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 14 Mart 2003 Chechen artists are applauded in Moscow A festival of Chechen culture opened with a gala concert on March 11 at Moscow's concert hall "Rossiya." The head of the Chechen government Ahmad-Haji Kadyrov had arrived from Grozny specially for this and was joined at the opening concert by the federal minister for Chechnya Stanislav Ilyasov. A deputy mayor of Moscow, Mikhail Men, opened the Chechen festival. Kadyrov took the floor to thank the government of Moscow for the opportunity to hold a festival that "employs means of art and culture in a bid to show the true face of a gallant and talented people." The almost four-hour concert featured presentations by the Popular Artist of the Chechen and Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic Suleiman Tokayev, the Popular Artist of the Chechen Republic Ali Dimayev, young artists Ruslan Omayev, Yevgeny Surtayev and Liza Akhmatova and Chechen performing groups. It featured a moving tribute to the memory of celebrated Chechen artist Makhmud Esambayev. A Popular Artist of Chechnya and Ingushetia Maryam Tashayeva devoted a song - "My Idol" - to Makhmud Esambayev. And photographs and film footage of Esambayev's presentations was, while she sang, shown on a concert hall screen. Then the audience applauded those who come in the footsteps of that great dancer - the "Ziya" children's dance company and the ten-year-old winner of an international award Mansur Musayev. The festival of Chechen culture will close on March 17. A Chechen painting exhibition has also opened in Moscow, and a meeting has been scheduled of Chechen and Moscow-based fiction writers and journalists. (more News from Chechnya... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) ----------------------------------------------------- Chechen ethnos The invasion of Tamerlane An even more fearsome invader, Tamerlane, followed on the Tartar-Mongols' heels. He had defeated the Golden Horde before making an incursion into the mountainous part of Chechnya and destroying the reviving villages and towns. He did away with the Simsim Khanate of Islamic Chechnya whose ruler, Gayur Khan, was an ally of the Golden Horde. Tamerlane's forces numbered up to half a million fighting men. But in Chechnya Tamerlane met with stiff resistance. And it was only after several attacks by his hundredfold stronger forces that Tamerlane managed to seize control of the mountainous villages. That is why in Chechnya the Lame Timur - Tamerlane - was cruel as never before. He turned the hostilities into a regular bloodbath. Villages were burnt down and razed to the ground both on the plains and in the mountainous part of Chechnya.The ancestors of today's Chechens would not bow down to the invaders. But to fight off Genghiz Khan's and Tamerlane's hosts, they had to bring to perfection their system of defensive installations. The highest density of population, the lack of arable land forced them to take advantage of every mountain slope and every small plateau. They had gained experience in terracing the reclaimable land. They brought soil and humus to their terraced fields and kitchen gardens.Dwelling and defensive towers made of mountain rock, as well as the multitiered crypts of more than 500 "cities of the dead," can still be seen in the mountainous part of Chechnya. Magnificent monuments of architecture are located in the Argunski, Assinski and Dzherakhovski Canyons, and in the environs of the high-altitude lakes of Kazenoi-Am and Galanchozh. (more ... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=etneng&row=11) Religion in Chechnya Paganism and Christianity in Chechnya Paganism came to life again in the mountains of Chechen-Ingush Republic. Temples were rebuilt and Christian symbols acquired a difference meaning.Another reason for the departure from Christianity was perseverance of pagan beliefs and ancient deities in the peoples minds. Testifying to that are sanctuaries in honour of patron gods, erected, which is very important, during the intensive spread of Christianity in the 12th-13th centuries. Pagan deities remained all-powerful. The pantheon of medieval deities fell into tribal deities, honoured by all (Dela, Tusholi, Myatzil, Sieli, Yerdy, Molyz-Yerdy etc.), district deities (a group of villages Tkhaba-Yerdy, Dzorakh-Deala, Gurmet-Tsuu, Itaz-Yerdy, Dolge etc.), village deities (Erdzeli, Tumgoi-Yerdy, Morch-Sieli, Beini-Sieli, Mago-Yerdy etc.) and family deities(Dik-Sieli, Ausha-Sieli, Amgali-Yerdy, Tamyzh-Yerdy etc.) The supreme deity of the Veinakh pantheon was Dela. This is indicated by the secondary role of the other tribal deities, which is reflected in prayers, and preservation of the supremacy of the deity following the adoption of Islam (the name of Dela in prayers in Chechen is identified with Allah). People of the Dzheirakhsky gorge, whose main occupation was cattle-breeding, worshipped the deity called Gal-Yerda. Significantly, the latest known prayers to Gal-Yerda that have survived to this day, have a clear social aspect. They words as following: He who hates hard labour for our daily bread, let him never prevail over us. God Almighty! Save us from bowing to the one made of flesh and bones, like us, and dont let us further than Your right hand with our prayers In the Late Middle Ages, as the feudal system was introduced, the role of priests increased.Chechens and Ingushes deemed their priests as intermediaries between the deities and people. A priest was wrapped up in an halo of sacredness and sanctity and was clad in white clothing. During a prayer the priest was the first to address the deity blessing the offerings. The priest alone could enter the sanctuary freely, the others could only do that on his permission. The priest was the one to go to in lean years or in case of illness, for he could advise on what to do to keep trouble at bay. Quite often a universal way to achieve that was to make an offering. Chechen and Ingush priests were knowledgeable enough, for, unlike working people, they had a lot of time to accumulate extensive knowledge by observation and generalization. It was not for nothing that priests were revered as clairvoyants. They foretold the harvest, weather, the start of various farming activities and they practiced medicine. Chechen and Ingush priests were responsible for maintaining social stability and settling the issues concerning civil law. They also protected sanctuaries property, such as church plate, cattle, meadows and arable lands. According to ethnographic materials, priests themselves never cultivated meadows and arable lands. For this purpose they used the labour of community members, who teamed up to take turns to work the fields that fed the priests. What remained of the crops was reserved for church holidays and consumed collectively. Priests also existed at the expense of considerable offerings from the believers and had a permanent influx of gems, which they kept in special caches, discovered in many sanctuaries later on. The ultimate decline of Christian religion among Veinakhs and their return to the cult of ancient deities, which had never been forgotten even in the days of the spread of the new religion, are reflected in the change of architectural design of local sanctuaries. In the 13th and 14th centuries the sanctuaries were nearly as big as temples but in the subsequent years they became smaller and their interiour grew simpler. Hence, the Christian religion, which came to the territory of Chechen-Ingush Republic from Georgia in the 12th and 13th centuries, failed to win widespread popularity among the people. Chechen and Ingush burial rites were different too in the Middle Ages. Archaeological findings indicate that the deceased was put into a vault provided with everyday items necessary for the next world. The items in question included weapons, for a sorceress items of worship etc. If the deceased was a man, they brought his horse and put the end of the bridle into his hand, apparently, for the two of them to stay together. The funeral was followed by a spendthrift wake. The second wake, known as bed wake, was held so that the deceased could get up from bed in the other world. The wake ended with race, shooting and fancy riding contests. Wakes were held on the second and third year too. It was believed that during the wake the food went to the deceased or his soul, which, as a result of such caring treatment, would be unable to do harm to the living. Dread of the dead in vaults and ancestor worship were of such significance that a vow or oath were deemed the most effective. After harvest-time they organized a harvest dinner, a treat for dead relatives. The holiday was a family affair. As the food was sent to the other world, the host was saying prayers, judging by which Chechens and Ingushes saw afterlife as continuation of earthly life with all its hardships and joys. more... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=religioneng&row=1) Chechen cuisine "The Chechens, like the rest of the highlanders, avoid extremes in their eating and drinking habits. What they usually eat is chureks or corn bread with mutton lard spread on it, and wheat stew with lard in it; water is their basic refreshment." "...Unleavend wheat or barley bread baked on charcoal, milk and cheese constitute their daily menu; meat is eaten, very rarely, by the richest of the Chechens." That was written about the Chechen eating habits in the 19th century. And it was not until the late 19th century that many vegetables grown in Europe - tomatoes, cabbage, radish - had found their way to the kitchen gardens of mountainous Chechnya. Chechen farming units have, since times immemorial, been self-sufficient, with only spices and sweetmeats being bought at the market. And, although they have become familiar with the cuisines of many other ethnic communities, the Chechen women cherish the very special culinary traditions of their own. (in detail ... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?section=kitcheneng&lng=eng) Copyright CHECHNYA FREE.RU http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=news.media.chechnyafree http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com