Chechnya - Image and Reality 2

My post about the Novaya Gazeta reports of gay men fleeing Chechnya was reprinted in The Interpreter, where it has apparently attracted some comment, not all of it favourable. It seems that my suggestion that the reports may be part of an organised Kremlin disinformation campaign has upset those who are (rightly) concerned about the position of gay people in the so-called Chechen republic. Protest, in the view of these posters, should be directed at the Chechen nation, which has shown itself to be homophobic. Most of these commenters also see Ramzan Kadyrov as the Chechens' 'leader', thus accepting Moscow's narrative.

It is surely not necessary to remind readers that the Chechen people have only very recently emerged from two prolonged genocidal assaults inflicted on them by their Russian neighbour. These assaults having failed in their purpose, the Kremlin is now evidently keen to engage in a different kind of war, a war of smears and innuendo. By projecting an image of the Chechens as homophobic, the Kremlin is attempting to draw the attention of Western liberals away from its own catastrophic deficiencies towards a different target, one that can also be shared conveniently under the banner of the 'war on terror'.

In my post I mentioned timing. The timing of the reports was cynical because this issue emerged into the daylight at a time when Russia and America were increasingly in close - if controversial - contact with each other. Americans had begun to turn their attention to Russia and to take an interest in what happens there. So the Kremlin evidently felt a need to underline its position on Chechnya, Islamism and the 'war on terror' by unleashing a campaign to smear Chechnya in the minds of American liberals. It's an old tactic, and it probably works.

Chechnya has a noble and resilient culture that was admired by several nineteenth-century Russian authors, including Lermontov and Tolstoy. To dismiss this as being far away and in another galaxy is wrong, in my opinion - Chechnya has its own history and time frame, and the fact that its legitimate government has been exiled, and its population taken hostage by an irrelevant Kremlin-backed thug, a bandit, is something that is actual, not superannuated. Tolstoy would understand the present situation well, and would not be surprised by it.

The irrelevance of Kadyrov lies in his illegitimacy - he is only a puppet, and his authority is based on threats and intimidation. The Chechen people are better than Kadyrov, and in the right conditions are able to produce authentic leaders of the calibre of Dudayev, Maskhadov and Zakayev. That these leaders are routinely slaughtered by the Russians is not the fault of the Chechens.

It's high time that Western journalists stopped swallowing the Kremlin's propaganda. Homophobia, though prevalent, is probably not much more widespread in Chechnya than in other regions of Central Asia, and indeed in Russia itself. It might be useful if a few journalists were to interview Akhmed Zakayev, the legitimate leader of Ichkeria (the Chechen name for Chechnya), who now lives in London, and seek his views on the real reasons for the current anti-Chechen campaign.

Chechnya - Image and Reality

Zakayev: Umarov will appear in Syria

In an interview published on the Radio Svoboda website, exiled Chechen opposition leader Akhmed Zakayev accuses Russia of getting ready to stage a propaganda coup in Syria involving the North Caucasus Islamist guerrilla leader Doku Umarov. Zakayev says that contrary to recent reports (published on Kavkaz Center) Umarov is alive and well and is preparing for a new project that will involve his disappearance in Dagestan and his reappearance in Syria on the side of the rebel forces there.

Let me draw your attention to this: when  the opposition rallies against Putin in Moscow developed, Doku Umarov issued a statement saying that his supporters would not commit terrorist acts on the territory of Russia, as the Russian people had finally woken up and rebelled against the tyrant. The statement seems to be against Putin, but in fact it is absolutely consistent with the interests of Putin and his entourage.

After all, if Doku Umarov comes down on the side of the opposition, in the eyes of the average Russian the opposition is guilty of an alliance with bad people like Umarov. This figure has been spun for so long and so many civilian lives have been sacrificed in order to create the impression that it's not only Navalny and the opposition who are standing up to Putin and denouncing corruption and unfair elections, but also the terrorist Doku Umarov. The emergence of Umarov in Syria will arouse attention around the world, and many Western politicians will feel very uncomfortable.

Interview with Akhmed Zakayev

Excerpt:

the worst part of it is not who Putin is, or what he does, the worst part of it is that this person, with all his cruelty and his anti-national policy, meets a need of Russian society. That is the really depressing thing. It is only now that some glimmer of understanding has started to appear – a glimmer of understanding about what this man is doing to Russians, to Russia, to the Russian state. Maybe something will start changing now. But, unfortunately, to this day he has met a need of Russian society – the ratings, even if they were exaggerated, show this. The self-censorship that journalists have subjected themselves to...Of course, it is fear - it cannot be explained otherwise. But the Russian public cannot cope on their own with this phenomenon, with Putinism. And the West as usual is not ready to help or even to give moral support to those who are trying to oppose this phenomenon. There is nothing new in this either – it was the same in Soviet times too. The West strengthened Stalin, and the regimes that followed were also supported by the West. And today with this oil and gas… Europe is always in need of something. It will always need something from Russia. But the thing is that as long as they are going to play along to the tune of these regimes and give them nourishment, the problems Europe has, instead of being resolved, will only become more acute. This is something the West does not understand. As long as the problem of the Russian regime is not solved, the problems in other parts of the world will not be solved either – be they in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, with Al-Qaida or in the North Caucasus.

Zakayev interview

Prague Watchdog has published a recent interview with Akhmed Zakayev.

Destroying Chechnya's middle ground

RFE/RL's Caucasus Report examines the abrupt change of tack on the part of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who had earlier said he would welcome the return to the republic of ChRI head Akhmed Zakayev, now exiled in London. But last week Kadyrov branded Zakayev a "liar", and accused him of misrepresenting the situation in Chechnya. Now Chechen parliamentary speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov has joined the anti-Zakayev campaign, calling him a "traitor". RFE/RL notes that

If Zakayev's hypothesis that the "hawks" in Moscow were behind Kadyrov's criticism of him last week is indeed correct, then Abdurakhmanov's November 2 interview leaves no doubt that, for whatever reason, they are out to destroy Zakayev's reputation and influence both within the diaspora community and in Chechnya.

At Prague Watchdog, German Sadulayev has some further reflections [in my tr.] on the subject.

Point of no return - 2

Prague Watchdog's Dzhambulat Are has some further comment [my tr.].

Point of no return

The Russian government, in collaboration with the Kadyrov-led Chechen authorities, continues to exert every means at its disposal to persuade Akhmed Zakayev, the London-based prime minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) government-in-exile, to return to Chechnya. In a new development, an aide of President Medvedev has suggested that Zakayev could be offered an amnesty if he agrees to go before a Russian court and proves his innocence. It seems unlikely that he will comply, however. Having refused an invitation from Ramzan Kadyrov to visit Grozny, Zakayev is understandably cautious, pointing to the fact that the many political murders have taken place in Russia during recent years mean that no guarantee of personal safety can be trusted.