Actual News from Chechnya

News update

The number of militants in Chechnya is decreasing, and they have no future, Russian acting Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the Al Arabia television channel. "The Chechen people understands it right who to follow," Mr. Ivanov said. In his words, it's generally known that international terrorist organizations wanted to use Chechnya as a platform to spread their influence in the North Caucasus. Facts have been established confirming that the militants prepared by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan were heading for Chechnya, Mr. Ivanov said. "The presidential elections were held; the Chechen people is restoring the republic, and it's the most graphic evidence that the hardest period in its history is gone. I appreciate it that in Moslem states they understand these problems," said the acting foreign minister. He emphasized that Moscow had and has a tough position in regard to terrorists. "All militants have to know that they will answer for their crimes sooner or later. Most terrorists who committed crimes in Moscow and other cities have been or will be seized. We will not stop until they are brought to account for crimes against innocent people," concluded Mr. Ivanov.
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Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Russian presidents aide for Chechen affairs, said that Arian Erkel, an abducted Dutch worker of the Doctors without Borders organization, was alive. He said that Erkel who had been in Chechen captivity since 2002 was in good health but didnt name the exact date for his release. Yastrzhembsky told foreign reporters in Brussels that Russian security services had been assigned with the task of liberating Erkel. He noted that hostage-release operations involve great risks for security agents, many of who died when liberating foreign hostages in the Caucasus in previous years. Most of those hostages were kidnapped because they violated the established security rules. We have to act cautiously without putting the lives of our men at risk, the presidential aide went on to say. Yastrzhembsky ruled out any kind of negotiations with Maskhadov whom the previous Chechen parliament announced illegitimate last year. There is no need for changing Russias policy in Chechnya, especially after the referendum on Chechnyas new Constitution and the presidential elections. He said that parliamentary elections would be held in Chechnya this year. Only a blind man wouldnt notice positive changes in Chechnya whose permanent population has grown from 500,000 to one million people in the last three years, while the number of small and medium companies has increased from three to 30,000 over the same period of time. We are not going to react to the calls of those European deputies who have never been to Chechnya, have no idea of what is going on there and are still demanding a dialogue with Maskhadov, Yastrzhembsky stressed. (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

Groznys oil Institutes method introduced in production

Toward the end of January, 2004, an all-Russia scientific applied conference, called Academic and Institutional science for Chechen economy, was held in the Russian academy of sciences headquarters in Moscow. Experts from the Grozny oil Institute took part in the conference. Doctor of technical science and head of faculty, professor Deni Batayev, who spoke at the conference said that scientists of the Institute have developed a number of systems being successfully used in production and among them are investment projects and the mechanism of realizing investment programmes. The concept of how to restore both the Chechen economy and social life is under development. There are a number of theoretical developments in the production of building materials and their technology. Some of them are being jointly realized with the Moscow building engineering University . Among them are the production of small-grained composition and concrete for repairs and restoration work. The workouts have received the Russian academy of architectural and construction sciences high award. The developments made provision for ecology demands. Deni Batayev also spoke about the active participation in the researches by students and young teachers of the Grozny oil Institute. More than 6 thousand students currently study in the institute and it has a high reputation. The number of prospective students wanting to study in the institute increases year by year and many of the senior course students dream of working in the Grozny oil research institute after graduation so that together with older staff members can take part in solving specific tasks of restoring the republics oil sector as well as in developing new technology, that can be applied in different areas of the Chechen economy now being resurrected.
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Issue 170
27.02.04

Chechnya: news | arguments | facts

27 February 2004  Qatar authorities to try two Russian citizens
Two Russian citizens being accused by Qatar authorities of helping assassinate former Chechen president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev will stand open trial, reports the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, which comes out in Arabic. According to its sources, both suspects were taken to a court in Doha, the capital of Qatar, February 26 under heavy guard, with the judge indicting them. Qatar's Ar-Raya newspaper writes that the third suspect, who has a diplomatic passport, was released after Mikhail Bogdanov, a high-ranking Russian Foreign Ministry envoy, met Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani February 21. Qatar's secret services arrested three Russian citizens, who were working temporarily for the Russian Embassy, in the early hours of February 19. One of them was subsequently released; that man is now staying at the Russian Embassy. Moscow has repeatedly said that the three Russian citizens, who were detained in Qatar, were not involved in Yandarbiyev's assassination; moreover, the Russian side demanded their release. Acting Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov issued a special statement on this score. Neither Russia, nor the detained Russian citizens, had anything to do with Yandarbiyev's assassination, Ivanov noted. In his words, the Russian side has repeatedly informed Qatar authorities about this via all channels, diplomatic channels, first and foremost. Reporters wanted to know the departmental affiliation of the detained Russian citizens. Replying to this question, Ivanov said that all Russian secret services were now fighting international terrorism on a par with all other foreign secret services.
(more News from Chechnya...)

27 February 2004  Future Champions from Shali
The sports school for children and youth in the Shali district is famous for training champions. The school team won the sport schools' football championship of the Soviet Union in 1980. Two old boys of the school won Russia' championship in boxing, another one in taekwondo. Six former students have won silver medals and another two bronze medals in several championships in the country. A prominent trainer Magomed Mustapaev heads the school. He holds the title of an Excellent Teacher of the Soviet Union, and Merited Worker in physical training and sports. He was awarded the title of Chechnya's Merited Teacher in 2002. He has trained thousands of talented sportsmen in his 38-year career. Among them are the holders of titles such as Master of Sport and Master of International Grade and winners of national and international championships and qualified trainers. Magomed Mustapaev considers the training of new champions as his main task. Though the school has accommodation for 780 students more than one thousand children and youth attend several sectors. The director admits all who wish to go on sport. The school has classes in wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, football and volleyball. Since the school has no its own building classes are being held in sport-halls of other schools in the district. The staff has prepared a good ring in Belgotoe, a hall for wrestling in Avturakh. A shop in Mesker-Yurt has been converted into a boxing ring. Magomed Mustapaev believes that the students will perform successful this year than that of last year.
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25 February 2004  Heat restored to Chechen refugee camps after UN criticism
Heating has been restored at Chechen refugee camps in Ingushetia, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported days after it accused Moscow of trying to force refugees to return home by cutting off the heat mid-winter. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees welcomed "positive developments" at the camps which house people who have fled war-torn Chechnya, its spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters. "Utility services, including confirmed cuts to water and electricity supplies in addition to previously reported gas cuts, have been officially restored to some of the these settlements," he said. "And no new cuts have been reported over the past three days," he added. The Geneva-based UNHCR said it was "unacceptable" to cut heating supplies in the middle of the harsh winter, adding that such a step put pressure on the refugees and "brings into question the voluntary nature of the return." The claim prompted an angry denial by Moscow a day later. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov said such statements were false and "can only provoke astonishment" in Moscow.

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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