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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report No. 30: excerpts


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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report No. 30: excerpts  


RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL Russian Federation Report
Vol. 3, No. 30, 31 October 2001

A Survey of Developments in the Regions Outside Moscow Prepared by the
Staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

...................

PAN-REGIONAL ISSUES

...................

AFTER MEETING WITH PUTIN, TATARSTAN PRESIDENT BREAKS SILENCE ON AFGHAN
CONFLICT. Two days after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in
Moscow on 24 October, Mintimer Shaimiev told diplomatic
representatives from the European Union visiting Kazan that he hopes
Russia will not be drawn into the war with Afghanistan,
Interfax-Eurasia reported. Previously, Shaimiev and the head of
another predominantly Muslim republic, Bashkortostan President Murtaza
Rakhimov, refrained from commenting on the U.S.-led air strikes
against Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Russian Federation Report," 17
October 2001). Shaimiev added that both Muslims and Christians condemn
the organizers of the terrorist acts of 11 September. Meanwhile, Rafis
Kashapov, chairman of the moderate nationalist Tatar Public Center
branch in Naberezhnye Chelny, confirmed earlier reports on TV that
around 70 people of various nationalities have approached his group
over the last month, wanting to fight for the Taliban against the
U.S., Interfax-Eurasia reported on 30 October. JAC

...................

KRASNODAR

AUTHORITIES DEPORT ROMANY FAMILIES. More than 100 people - the members
of some 16 Romany families - were expelled from a village in
Oktyabrskii Prikubanskii Raion on 12 October, RFE/RL's Krasnodar
correspondent reported on 20 October. The Roma are being sent to
another village in Voronezh Oblast, where they are officially
registered. The deputy head of the Krasnodar administration said that
the Roma were being deported because they had seized land on the
territory of Krasnodar and built homes without permission. According
to the correspondent, the families had constructed some 20 different
buildings not far from the Krasnodar-Rostov highway. A family head,
Vyacheslav Mikhai, explained that they had left Voronezh because their
children were becoming sick due to the radiation from a nearby nuclear
plant. According to the correspondent, the families were loaded into
two buses and their belongings quickly packed into 12 trucks with the
assistance of more than 200 policemen. JAC

...................

TATARSTAN

TATAR NATIONALIST GROUPS FACING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR GATHERING.
The office of Tatarstan's prosecutor is preparing materials to present
in court against some of the organizers of events held in Tatarstan on
14 October to mourn those who defended the city against Ivan the
Terrible in 1552 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 October 2001). According
to the prosecutor's press service, organizers such as the All-Tatar
Public Center, People's Front, and Idel-Ural gave speeches and used
slogans, which "threatened the constitutional security and territorial
wholeness of the Russian Federation." According to the website
regions.ru, the organizers of the action will be accused of violating
Tatarstan's regulation on order of conducting public meetings and
demonstrations. If found guilty, the organizers face a fine of five
minimum wages or two months of corrective labor. According to RFE/RL's
Kazan bureau, some demonstrators called for the creation of an
Idel-Ural confederation, the rejection of Russian passports, and the
transfer of law enforcement and military bodies to "local
authorities." On 25 October, Tatar groups such as the Tatar Public
Center and Creation organized a picket outside of the republic's
legislature in Kazan. According to RFE/RL's Kazan bureau, President
Shaimiev stopped to talk with the 30-odd demonstrators and reminded
them that it is necessary to maintain civilized relations with Moscow
and that the republic's leaders are defending their position on
several controversial paragraphs of the constitution. The
demonstrators were carrying signs that read: "Deputies, defend
Tatarstan's Sovereignty or Lose Your Authority," "No to
Unitarism-Fascism," "Disobey Putin's Antipeople Policy," and "Defend
Our Laws." JAC

TATAR OFFICIAL SEEKING COMPROMISE IN DISPUTE OVER SCRIPT?
At a commission meeting of Tatarstan's legislature on 18 October,
leading republican politicians expressed their concern about State
Duma deputies' and federal government officials' recent interest in
the transition from Cyrillic to Latin script of the Tatar alphabet,
RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Russian Federation
Report," 24 September 2001). Meeting participants suggested that
Moscow's interest has made the issue a political rather than a
linguistic one that should be solved by Tatars. At the same time,
Deputy Prime Minister Zilya Valeeva said during the meeting that "the
main purpose of the law [on the transition to Latin script] was to
protect tradition and assist in the [cohesion] of the Tatar nation."
She added that it is necessary to amend the law and sign an agreement
with the federal Education Ministry allowing Tatar schools in Russian
regions to switch to Latin Tatar. Valeeva emphasized that "it is
essential to obtain the approval of Tatars living outside Tatarstan
for the switchover - otherwise it would split the nation, which will
lose a common system for graphically depicting the language." JAC

...................

***********************************************
Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

"RFE/RL Russian Federation Report" is prepared by Julie A. Corwin
(JAC) on the basis of a variety of sources, including reporting by
"RFE/RL Newsline" and RFE/RL's broadcast services. Regular
contributors are Liz Fuller (LF), and Paul Goble (PG). It is
distributed every Wednesday.

Direct comments to Julie A. Corwin at [email protected]. For
information on subscriptions or reprints, see:
http://www.rferl.org/reprints/content.asp 
Back issues are online at http://www.rferl.org/russianreport/

Technical queries should be emailed to: [email protected]

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