Actual News from Chechnya

News update

An approximate 17,000 Chechen refugees intend to settle for good in the neighbouring Ingushetia-another of Russia's North Caucasian autonomies, expects Stanislav Ilyasov, federal Minister for Chechen Affairs. An overwhelming majority of refugees have returned to Chechnya. 47,000 are staying in Ingush shantytowns. 30 or 40 per cent of these are determined to settle in the host republic, while close on 30,000 will go back to Chechnya, he said to the media. Refugee return is a purely voluntary matter. Authorities do not mean to drive all back home, and coercion is the last thing they intend. "Who wants to stay in Ingushetia will stay, and we are willing to help them make new homes. Who wants to come back will come back," remarked the minister. The United Nations is considering prospects to shift its office from Ingushetia to Grozny, Chechen capital, added Stanislav Ilyasov. Republican authorities are willing to provide office premises for the UN in Grozny, reassured President Ahmad Kadyrov of Chechnya, in his turn.
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A council will be established, within a month, to coordinate international aid to Chechnya, Stanislav Ilyasov, federal Minister for Chechen Affairs, announced to the media after conference with Mark Mallock-Brown, UN development programme supervisor. To represent the International Red Cross, the United Nations, Russia's Cabinet and other federal agencies, and the Chechen government, the Council will have several ad hoc teams on the food programme, humanitarian aid, promotion of small and medium-scale business, and other practical issues, said Mr. Ilyasov. To coordinate Chechen relief efforts by international organisations and by federal and republican authorities will be the principal duty of the new council. The helpers must join hands so as to target aid to those who need it, stressed the minister. Meanwhile, international humanitarian organisations are working in Chechnya on their own, and the federal top does not even know the amount of donations the republic is receiving. To bring donations to the needy, the efforts must be coordinated with republican leaders, he emphatically added. Coordination is also necessary to guarantee international officers' safety, said Mr. Ilyasov. Chechen law-enforcement agencies are willing to guarantee such safety if international organisations join hands with the Chechen top. "We are making only one proviso-international officers must inform us about their itineraries. Then, we shall offer them safety," pointed out Ahmad Kadyrov, republican president. RIA Novosti reports. (more...)

Chechen history

Chechnya | Questions and answers

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 aked 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
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Chechen economics

Russian Academy of Engineering helps to rebuild Chechnyas economy

Russian Academy of Engineering was founded in 1992 and four years later it set up its branch in Chechnya. But the building of the academy was destroyed during fighting. It was rebuilt in 2002. Under an agreement with the Chechen government the Academy helps to rebuild the republics economy and promote its science and higher education. The vice-president of the International and Russian Academy of Engineering Vladimir Khamirikiya says that in 2002 the Chechen branch developed a conception for setting up free-economic zones in the republic and created an automatic system for controlling the processes of social and professional adaptation of population when the republics infrastructure is being restored. Last year it created a system to inform people about investment projects for medium-sized and small enterprises and how to assess them. An international ecological project designed to clean polluted soil and water reservoirs is now being realized. The Chechen branch has worked out recommendations for formulating a concept for the economic management of the republic as an entity of the Russian Federation . The Academy finances all projects, which are being realized. It is ready to suggest several other investment projects and advanced technology that will help reconstruction and create new jobs. The Chechen government and President Akmad Kadyrov does his best to help the republican branch of the Academy. The international Academy of Engineering has lately awarded him the gold medal, which was established together with UNESCO, United Nations Education and Cultural Organization, to mark the Academys 10th anniversary.
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Issue 167
17.02.04

Chechnya: news | arguments | facts

17 February 2004  Cultural life of the district of Achkhoi-Martan
The department of culture of the Achkhoi-Martan district is quite aware of the fact that culture must be restored to complete the republics reconstruction. People in the district involve in cultural activity with enthusiasm. Last year several cultural festivals almost at the republican level were held in the district. Among those was celebration to mark the 93rd anniversary of Magomed Mamakaev, a poet and writer from Achkhoi-Martan. Chechen government officials attended the ceremony. In December the district marked the 85th anniversary of Professor Yunus Deshiriev, scholar and philologist. Among those who attend the ceremony sponsored by the Chechen Academy of Sciences were his former students and prominent scholars of the republic. The district also marked the 40th anniversary of poet Umar Yarychevs creative activity. The district works with youth too. The children have an opportunity to attend an arts school, which was opened last year. Children can study from the first class. At present about 100 children attend classes in carving in wood and painting. School has already staged three exhibitions. The best paintings were selected for the republican exhibition. The department of culture has joined a programme designed to help refugees from the district to return home. To this end special committee involving veteran workers of culture has been set up. The representatives of the administrations of rural cultural houses have been attracted to this work. The head of the department of culture Ramzan Sivankaev has big plans for the future. He believes that the republic can be reconstructed only by restoring culture.
(more News from Chechnya...)

17 February 2004  New Head of Chechen Government to be appointed one of these days
The Chechen Government will get a new Head one of these days, said republic's President Akhmad Kadyrov. "The nomination is being agreed now," added he. "This is going to be a qualified person, familiar with the republic and the people." RIA Novosti reports.
(more News from Chechnya...)

16 February 2004  Russian Foreign Ministry controls investigation of Yandarbiyev's death
The Russian Foreign Ministry controls the investigation of Chechen envoy Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev's death, which is carried out by Qatar's authorities, the ministry's press and information department told RIA Novosti on Monday. "We are interested in the results of this investigation," said the source, adding that the Russian foreign ministry sent no official inquiry on the investigation to Qatar's authorities. On Friday Qatar's Embassy to Russia officially informed the Russian foreign ministry on the explosion of Yandarbiyev's car in Doha. An explosive device blasted in the Chechen envoy's car, Doha police reported. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was badly wounded and died in hospital. His son Daud was hospitalized. Today he is in stable condition. According to eye-witnesses, Daud got out of the burning car himself. Qatar's Interior Ministry is investigating the accident. Yandarbiyev lived in Qatar as "a refugee without the right of political activities" from 1999. Moscow often raised the question of Yandarbiyev's extradition to Russia. "The Russian foreign ministry submitted all the necessary investigation and judicial documents to Qatar," the press and information department said. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was a top-level official in Chechnya under President Dzhokhar Dudayev. In April 1993 Dudayev appointed him acting Vice President of Chechnya. Yandarbiyev was involved in ideological activities. After Dudayev's death in 1996 he was acting Chechen President for nine months. On October 9, 2001 Interpol announced him internationally wanted together with other masterminds of the armed invasion into Dagestan in fall 1999, Aslan Maskhadov, Akhmed Zakayev, Khozhakhmed Nukhayev and Kazbek Makhashev. During the investigation of the hostage taking in Dubrovka theater center in October 2002, the special services fixed telephone conversations between terrorists and Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. In June 2003 Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was put on the list of the UN Security Council's committee on anti-Taliban sanctions.

Russia - Chechnya

The pre-islamic customs, manifest in farming festivals

The traditional way to celebrate New Year's eve goes way back. The kindling of a new flame was a matter of utmost importance. A new flame was to be burning in the fireplace when New Year's meal was cooked. A long log was put in the fire. Its length determined how long the family would be celebrating. As soon as the log allowed the door to close, a New Year's party, with many good things to eat and drink, with dancing and jesting, could begin. Sooner or later, all logs got shorter, so that every family would sooner or later start celebrating . New Year's logs were prepared in advance: a standing tree, most often an oak, was put to dry. It was a great sin to use fruit trees for this purpose. The ancestors of today's Chechens believed that the forces of evil stepped up action on New Year's eve. They would, for protection, scatter things made of steel in the cattle-sheds and their living quarters. A plentiful meal offered guarantees for the family's wellbeing in the year to come. All creatures, including mice, were to have their bellies full on New Year's eve. Wheat breads were baked. The head, ritual bread was shaped as a circle, with lines radiating from its center. Breads with all kinds of filling in them were baked in addition to the magic one. The eldest member of the family got a square-shaped one while the guests were treated to round breads. Coins, grains of wheat or a spool of yarn might be hidden, for fortune-telling purposes, inside fancy breads. Other fortune-telling methods were applied on New Year's eve. A man was, for example, chosen to spend the night in the sanctuary. He would lie face down and keep his ear pressed to the dirt floor and would, in the morning, try to interpret what he had heard. The same kind of fortune-telling is known in Russia. A Russian village-dweller would go to a crossroads, mark a circle and press his ear to the ground. If he heard a loaded sleigh swish heavily by, next year's harvest would be good. If the sleigh seemed to be empty, the harvest would be poor. Chechens knew a very special method of fortune-telling. They would hold to light a ram's shoulder blade. Spots on the shoulder blade predicted whether next year's harvest would be good, what kind of weather they were to expect and even family developments. A similar method of fortune-telling is known in China. Young girls took advantage of New Year's eve in an effort to find out something about their future husbands. A Chechen girl would bake three very salty little breads. She would put two of them under her pillow and eat the third. The person who gave her, in a dream, a drink of water, was to become her husband. Young people or teenagers would put on their sheepskin coats the wrong side up, and either wear felt hoods decorated with horns or paint their faces black with chimney soot. Such dress parades, as well as the custom of singing carols and begging for penny gifts, are, incidentally, known, till this day, in many countries of Europe and America. But horse races on the third day of a new year are held in Chechnya only. The three winners should be given a horse, a saddle, a bridle, a whip or a piece of clothing. Nowadays, New Year's eve has nothing to do with farming. Neither does it with Islam. People simply get together on New Year's eve to say good-bye to the outgoing year and to welcome in a new and, hopefully, much better year.
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Chechen tarditions

The book "Vainakh Ethics" by Edi Isaev is an utmost important work at a time when the life in Chechnya is returning to normal. Edi Isaev is a historian, Professor at the Chechen State University, writer and publicist directs his book to youth. In introduction he emphasizes: "The norm of Vainakh ethics is the code of wise truths of people that reflects their ideals." The book is educational. It contains the ideas on ethics by thinkers of various people and various times from Epicurus and Confucius A.S. Makarenko and L.N.Toltoi. The second chapter is devoted to ethic norms of Chechens. The third chapter considers in detail traditional family ethic code. The final chapter is devoted to Islamic ethic norms. Materials from the book Vainakh Ethics by Edi Isaev is devoted to customs and traditions of Chechens.
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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.
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