Yevkurov Mum on Possible Appeal of Ingush Court’s Decision to Russian Constitutional Court

Paul Goble

            Staunton, November 1 – Yunus-Bek Yevkurov told Komsomolskaya pravda today there are procedures to be followed by the Ingush parliament before he appeals to the Russian Constitutional Court over the republic court’s ruling against the manner of approval he used to ratify the border accord with Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov (kp.ru/daily/26903.7/3947691/).

            In other comments to the Moscow paper, Yevkurov denied that his republic was in a crisis and insisted everything there is under control. He did denounce those behind the street demonstrations against the border accord as people who were pursuing their personal interests at the expense of national ones. But he said they are being dealt with “within the legal framework.”

            Meanwhile, the opposition to Yevkurov and his border accord split, with leaders convinced that ending the street protests is the best response to the republic court’s ruling against Yevkurov but others saying that there is no reason to give up on street protests until their demands are met, something that has not yet happened (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/327385/).

                Barakh Chemurziyev, one of the organizers of the Ingush congress, said that “we understand that the decision of the Constitutional Court is only a small step on the path to justice.  We have shown that we will not allow any of our land to be taken from us.  We have done everything so the powers will listen to us. Therefore, we have decided to end the meetings.”

            “Now, the case will be in the hands of lawyers; and they will show the correctness of our cause in the courts” (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/11/01/78431-kak-karta-lyazhet). It is possible, Chemurziyev continued, Vladimir Putin will, “in conformity with the Russian constitution, create a special commission to resolve the conflict” between the courts, parliament and government of Ingushetia. 

            Other Ingush-related developments over the last 24 hours included:

·         Ramzan Kadyrov ordered his officials to begin developing the land Chechnya has acquired from the border accord with Yevkurov and dispatched senior aides to start that process, and he declared he was prepared to be quite firm with any “hotheads” who might seek to cause trouble in that region (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/327404/, kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/327425/  and kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/326282/).

·         Speculation is rife in Ingushetia that one of the victims of the conflict between Yevkurov and his population may be Ingush Mufti Isa Khamkhoyev who has been locked in a conflict with Yevkurov and has enjoyed the support of Kadyrov, but most experts say that the situation is unlikely to end with any loss of power by Khamkhoyev, especially since he has kept his distance from the Ingush protests (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/327400/).

·         Ruslan Parchiyev, head of the Ingush Union of Genocide Victims, said there was no need for a bordere agreement and that the entire issue could and should have been addressed by asking the residents of border areas to take part in a referendum on whether they wanted to be shifted from one republic to another (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/327365/).