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Kalmyks and Chechens clashing in Astrakhan (Russia)

Thread ID: 20321 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2005-09-21

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Petr [OP]

2005-09-21 14:51 | User Profile

[I]Kalmyks are a Mongol tribe inhabiting the steppes right around the border of Europe and Asia, south of the Ural mountains. Their religion is Buddhist.

I really don't know whether to cheer either side here or just eat popcorn and look on the show B.[/B][/I]

[url]http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/092005Russ2.shtml[/url]

[FONT=Arial][B][SIZE=5]Astrakhan Governor Interviewed on Kalmyk-Chechen Clashes [/SIZE]

(September 20, 2005) [/B]

The governor of a region where ethnic Kalmyks and Chechens clashed last month denied that the clashes were motivated by inter-ethnic hatred and called for new laws to allow local officials to react more quickly to rioting. In a September 13, 2005 interview with “Izvestiya,” Astrakhan governor Aleksandr Zhilkin traced the course of the rioting, which led to several injuries and homes belonging to Chechens being burned down in the village of Yandyki.

[B]The number of Chechens in the Astrakhan region has doubled since 2002 to around 20,000 the governor stated, and many of the newer arrivals, scarred by years of war, are “used to having their own way” and are not afraid to use violence. [/B]

[B]In March 2005, three Chechen youths were convicted by a local court for vandalizing the grave of a local Kalmyk man who died serving the Russian army in Chechnya[/B]. [B]They were sentenced to two years in prison, but in August, a higher court suspended their sentences, leading to allegations from Kalmyk residents that the judges had been bribed. A week after the sentence, a clash between Kalmyk and Chechen youths led to the murder of a Kalmyk, sparking the riot. [/B]

Around 300 villagers participated in the riot, singling out Chechens for beatings and burning down their homes. Quick action by the local authorities probably prevented fatalities, and one arrest and several identifications of suspects have been made. However, the governor argued, under current law his quick actions to send in anti-riot troops without consulting Moscow were actually not quite legal. He called for a new law to be passed that would allow local authorities more latitude to deal with outbreaks of social unrest.

Governor Zhilkin totally denied that inter-ethnic hatred had anything to do with the rioting, saying that the rioters were reacting to the criminal actions of a few youths, who unfortunately happened to be of the same ethnic group (Chechens), and the perceived corrupt nature of the local courts. The governor used some strange logic to back up his claim that the rioters were not motivated by ethnic hatred, but were only looking for vengeance against a few hooligans who happened to be Chechens: “The crowd didn't touch women and children and pulled out an old Chechen woman from one of the houses, and only then did they torch it.” [/FONT]