Kadyrov, Visiting Ingushetia, Says Border Accord was Yevkurov’s Idea

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 20 – Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov visited Ingushetia to meet with the Ingush elder Mukhazhir Nalgiyev with whom he had exchanged criticism earlier. Kadyrov insisted that he wasn’t criticizing Nalgiyev or any of the protesters and called on Ingush people to refrain from criticizing him (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/326897/,  kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/326850/, graniru.org/War/Chechnya/m.273416.html  and kommersant.ru/doc/3777320).

            The Chechen leader also reportedly said that the conclusion of the border agreement between Ingushetia and Chechnya was all Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov’s idea, a comment designed to win favor among the Ingush but so patently dishonest that Ingush bloggers condemned him for it (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/326897/).

            It appears that Kadyrov is seeking to show that he is “the master of the North Caucasus, Anton Chablin, a specialist on the region says, possibly even to the point of ousting Yevkurov and even recombining the  two Vaynakh republics, something that has been rumored as Grozny’s goal in recent weeks (svpressa.ru/politic/article/213688/).

                Meanwhile, Aleksey Malashenko of Moscow’s Dialogue of Civilizations Institute, said that in his view, the Ingush Congress planned for the end of this month will not have any impact on the border accord. That decision was “taken at a high level and has the backing of Moscow. No resolution will change it” (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/326850/).

                Nevertheless, he praised the Ingush authorities for allowing plans for the congress to go ahead. That will allow people to blow off steam, and Yevkurov can always accept the resolution it offers and say he will “take it into consideration. Clearly in his view, “the longer things are discussed, the better.” Whether that is the case remains to be seen. 

            Another report today shows just how problematic the border remains regardless of whether the accord is kept as it is or modified. The Russian authorities that they had demined more than 1700 hectares of land along it so far this year, 120 percent of the plan for 2018 (tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/5698622).