Clear intentions of Chechen deputies to rename Grozny into Akhmatkala are yet to be backed up by strong power. The poster fixed on destroyed house reads “Clear intentions, strong power” and shows Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the left.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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City of Blood Relation
Chechnya’s parliament passed the ruling yesterday, December 14, 2005, to rename Grozny, Chechnya, to Akhmatkala (the city of Akhmat) in honor of the late president Akhmat Kadyrov. The federal authorities didn’t embrace that decision of the parliament and recommended deputies to focus on problems of everyday living, signaling the Kremlin is in no mood to pamper ambitions of Ramzan Kadyrov.
Deputies of Chechnya’s parliament met for their second sitting yesterday to elect vice speakers and distribute offices of committee chairmen for both houses of the parliament. But they didn’t confine to organizational issues. Having canvassed proposal of People’s Assembly Speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov on renaming Chechen capital Grozny to Akhmatkala, they backed up it unanimously.
“We associate the name of Grozny with wars and blood. General Yermolov had laid foundation of the fortress of that name to scare the Chechens,” Abdurakhmanov said, adding the change of the name will symbolize the end of a tragic period and the start of a new epoch of peace. “As no one else, Akhmat Kadyrov deserved that his memory would be eternized like that.” In the end, People’s Assembly made out an address to Russia’s authorities requesting to back up this initiative.
The late Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov was killed May 9, 2004, in time of the terror act staged at Dynamo stadium, Grozny. Lots of streets, squares and schools have been named after him not only in Chechnya but also in Moscow. The attitude of Kadyrov Jr., Ramzan Kadyrov, has been always positive.
In view of the favorable sentiment of Ramzan Kadyrov and based on his direct involvement in parliamentary elections in Chechnya, the analysts point to him as the real spearhead of the first political decision of Chechen deputies.
“We all know that Chechen parliament is actually controlled by a single man – Ramzan Kadyrov, so it is his initiative,” Vladimir Ryzhkov, an independent deputy of the State Duma of Russia, is sure. They may “rename Grozny to Ramzankala at once,” as “the temporal renaming makes no sense,” said leader of Rodina party Dmitry Rogozin.
It appears Moscow faces dilemma now. On the one hand, rejecting renaming may explode the reputation of the new parliament of Chechnya, which first sitting was attended by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on December 12. On the other hand, the approval is bound to trigger negative response both in Russia and in the West, as it would be regarded as a clear sign of reviving the times of the former Soviet Union in part of renaming the cities in honor of political leaders. To cap it all, Moscow support of this initiative would finally convince Ramzan Kadyrov, who is the first vice prime minister in Chechnya now, that he has a green light for any undertaking, prompting him to claim more from the federal center in the next move.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 15, 2005
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