Paul
Goble
Staunton, April 2 – Daghestan is not
only the most Islamic and even Islamist place in the Russian Federation. It is
also where truckers are the most radical because of the republic’s location
next to Azerbaijan and the ability of those who drive long-haul routes to
disrupt an important link in Russian foreign trade.
When truckers protested against the
Platon system in 2015, more drivers from Daghestan took part than did those in
any other region. And now that the long-haul drivers are again protesting, that
North Caucasus republic is the leading federal subject in that regard, with
several thousand trucks already involved.
To prevent the protest from
spreading, Moscow has deployed units of the Russian Guard and also OMON forces.
According to journalist Anton Chablin of Svobodnaya
pressa, the situation is rapidly approaching “a critical point” and it
cannot be excluded that there could be bloodshed (svpressa.ru/society/article/169606/).
The truckers’
strike began last Monday when organizers announced that they would not move cargo
until their demands were met. The Russian authorities sent in the troops
mid-week. As a result, the truckers haven’t been able to move from their main
bases in Manas, Kizilyurt, Kizlyar and Khasavyurt to the republic capital of
Makachkala.
Daghestani officials have called on the
truckers to negotiate, something the truckers say they are willing to do as
long as the talks are fully covered by television. But they appear to be
becoming increasingly radical with some drivers apparently even talking about
themselves becoming a kind of “Long-Haul Peoples’ Republic.”
Among the drivers’ demands now are
the following: “lowering the number of weigh stations on Russian roads, cutting
taxes on licenses and fuel, and increasing the term of permission for carrying
international cargo.” Making concessions
on such things would appear to be relatively easy, but the authorities clearly
don’t want to appear to be responding to pressure.
Sergey Vladimirov, head of the
United Carriers of Russia, has appealed to all political forces and rights
organizations in Russia not to allow “mass bloodletting in Manas.” According to Chablin, such a turn of events is
“improbable” but given the situation today can’t be “excluded” altogether.
Some opposition politicians may be
increasing that risk. Gennady Gudkov, a
former Duma deputy of the Just Russia Party, sent a message to the truckers
stating among other things that “a systematic crisis in Russia will bring ever more
new people into the streets. Will the Russian Guard dare to shoot at unarmed
people?!”
And Chablin observes as well that “mass
arrests are hardly likely to frighten” the truckers or other groups like market
operators who also are protesting in Daghestan.
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