11 januari 2005
- Turkish PM arrives in Moscow: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan began his three-day visit to
Russia yesterday with a meeting with President Putin at a residence of the Russian President outside Moscow.
Opening the talks yesterday, Putin stressed that the discussion would focus on bilateral relations and
international issues of mutual concern. According to media reports, one key issue is likely to be the support
among many Turks for Chechen rebels, as well as Turkey’s bid to join the EU. Erdogan is also due to meet with
business representatives and to attend the opening of a Turkish trade centre in Moscow. (Interfax, RIA-Novosti,
Ekho Moskvy, MT)
- Detention of Maskhadov’s relatives denied: On Sunday, Chechen law
enforcement agencies denied media reports that Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhdov’s relatives were
detained by federal troops or Chechen law enforcement agencies. Interfax reports that this comment was offered
in response to a letter Chechen separatists had sent to the European Parliament claiming that Maskhadov’s
relatives had been abducted during a so called mopping-up operation last week. (Interfax, Izvestia, MT)
13 januari 2005
- Tensions between Chechnya, Dagestan rise over detention of
Ramzan Kadyrov’s sister: The detention of Chechen Deputy Premier Kadyrov’s sister by Dagestani policemen and her
release following the arrival of a Chechen security service unit [headed by Ramzan Kadyrov] continues to draw
attention. In Nezavisimaya gazeta’s view, the incident may have serious political consequences (Nezavisimaya
gazeta, Trud).
14 januari 2005
- Chechen Deputy PM denies involvement in
disappearance of Maskhadov’s relatives: Human rights NGO “Memorial” yesterday made public a statement that
presents details of the disappearances in Chechnya of eight relatives of Chechen separatist leader Aslan
Maskhadov, reports Izvestia. According to the statement, they have been allegedly kidnapped by the Chechen
President’s security service, headed by Deputy Premier Ramzan Kadyrov. Kadyrov, however, denied this information
and ordered an investigation into the case (Izvestia).
17 januari 2005
-
Two militant groups exterminated in Dagestan: “Two groups of terrorists that had planned terrorist acts,
including the taking of hostages, were exterminated in Makhachkala and Kaspiisk [Dagestan] on Saturday”, reports
Izvestia (front page) in an article entitled “Second Beslan prevented in Dagestan”. The paper goes on to say
that the first group of terrorists planned to seize a boarding school in Makhachkala on Saturday, while the
second group was to attack a school in Kaspiisk today. Noting that the total number of militants that had been
sent to Dagestan from Chechnya reached 50 people, Izvestia highlights that six of them have been killed, two
detained and the whereabouts and plans of the rest are unknown. Vremya novostei (front page) adds that it has so
far been impossible to identify the bodies of the killed militants as a tank that ‘assisted’ the special forces
had levelled to the ground the house where the militants were staying (All media).
- Former
Chechen Deputy President detained: According to Kommersant, former Chechen Deputy President Vakhu Arsanov [in
former Chechen President Maskhadov’s administration] was detained in Grozny yesterday. The paper does not
exclude, however, that Arsanov surrendered voluntarily, “as he had reportedly not taken part in the second
Chechen war” (Kommersant).
18 januari 2005
- Chechen woman convicted for
planning a terrorist attack: The Moscow City Court yesterday sentenced a Chechen woman, Zara Murtazaliyeva, to
nine years in prison on charges of conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack in Moscow, recruiting two Russian
women to act as suicide bombers, and acquiring explosives (All media).
- Special services
warn of new terrorist attacks: “Russian special services have information indicating that Chechen separatist
leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev have ordered new large-scale terrorist attacks to be carried out in
the republics of North Caucasus”, reports Izvestia (front page). The paper further recalls that two groups of
terrorists had planned to seize schools in Dagestan last weekend, and that, although those acts were prevented,
“a terrorist threat remains”. In the paper’s view, this information deserves attention, as Russian special
services issue such warnings very rarely. Gazeta reports that the body of terrorist leader Rasul Makasharipov,
whose grouping is believed to be responsible for murdering dozens of Dagestani policemen, was identified among
the militants killed in Dagestan last weekend (Izvestia, Interfax, Gazeta).
19 januari
2005
- FSB reports on outflow of foreign mercenaries from the Caucasus: Reporting on
yesterday’s press conference of FSB spokesman Sergey Ignatchenko, Rossiyskya gazeta (front page) highlights
Ignatchenko’s statement that the number of terrorist leaders operating in Chechnya has shrunk to about 10, and
the number of foreign mercenaries fighting in the republic has also fallen, from 2,500 to 3000 in the year 2000
to 200 last summer and 60 this winter (Rossiyskaya gazeta, Interfax).
- Chechen draft of
power-sharing agreement completed: Chairman of the Chechen State Council Taus Dzhabrailov announced yesterday
that the drafting of a power-sharing agreement between the federal and Chechen authorities had been completed in
Chechnya. He said that the commission members agreed from the start not to include provisions dealing with
political issues in the draft agreement. “We need economic concessions, not political autonomy”, he said,
according to Interfax. Kommersant highlights that the Chechen draft envisages, in particular, the allocation to
the republic of multi-billion sums for compensation payments to the victims of Stalinist repressions (Interfax,
Kommersant, Izvestia).
24 januari 2005
- Putin addresses prosecutors’
meeting: President Putin, PM Fradkov, as well as the Interior Minister and the FSB chief, on Friday attended an
expanded meeting of senior officials of the Prosecutor General’s office. Kommersant (front page) says that a
report by Prosecutor General Ustinov at the meeting contained no mentioning of either the Beslan tragedy
investigation, or of the crimes in Chechnya, but for ‘a tragic disappearance’ of a helicopter engine. Vremya
novostei notes that the ‘important guests’ were reserved in the assessment of prosecutors’ work – there was
neither ‘damning criticism’ nor praise. Gazeta highlights that the President singled out the fight against
terrorism in Russia and abroad as the task for the Prosecutor General’s office for this year. The media
emphasise Putin’s words that “a series of terrorist attacks, organised and carried out by international criminal
groups last year, point to the necessity of serious restructuring in the security sphere” (All media)
26 januari 2005
- Chechen leadership slam separatist ideologue’s statement:
Chechen Deputy PM Ziyad Sabsabi has commented on a recent statement by Chechen separatist ideologue Movladi
Udugov who accused Russia of inability to maintain stability in the North Caucasus and criticised the West for
an intention “to break up the Chechen resistance”. According to Sabsabi, Udugov, who, in his words, has been
‘forgotten altogether’, is trying to make his presence felt. Udugov’s statement is related to PACE’s initiative
to hold a round table on Chechen settlement (Moscow, early March) (Kommersant, Interfax, Novye Izvestia).
28 februari 2005
- Chechen president to form own guard: Referring to a senior
officer in the Russian Interior Ministry’s Chief Department for the Southern Federal District, the media report
that a presidential guard department is being formed to protect Chechen President Alu Alkhanov and his family.
Observers argue that the new department will significantly weaken the influence of the Chechen security service
headed by 1st Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. (Interfax, Kommersant, Vremya novostei)
- Russian refugees from Chechnya demand equal rights with Chechens: In a front-page article, today’s
Izvestia report that a group of former Russian residents of Grozny, capital of Chechnya, sent a letter to
President Putin demanding recognition of massive genocide of ethnic Russians in Chechnya in 1991-1994 and equal
rights with Chechens as far as compensation payments for the destroyed housing is concerned. The authors of the
letter accused the European Court for Human Rights of biased position, claiming that the Court “does not notice
the fact of genocide of the non-Chechen population. (Izvestia)