Dzhokhar-Khala/Agency Caucasus – Chechens were angered by the Kremlin-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s order on Sunday for the ‘Square of Victory’ in central Dzhokhar-Khala, capital of Chechnya, to be renamed ‘Vladimir Putin,’ the name of Prime Minister of Russia, who had masterminded the second phase of the war between Russia and Chechnya.
Kadyrov’s words of praise for Putin as ‘the man who has saved the Chechen nation from holocaust’ provoked several angry responses from the Chechen people as they viewed his words as an insult to themselves.
One such response came from Salah Saydulayev, 60: "I cannot understand how Putin’s name can ever be given to the street. Just like Boris Yeltsin, he will always remain fresh in the common memory of the Chechen people as the chief perpetuator of the Chechen tragedy. It was especially when he was head of the government and afterwards President of Russia that he ordered the entire Chechen areas of residence to be bombed. He is responsible for all that has happened here… I view Kadyrov’s decision as totally nonsensical."
A similar response came from Salihat, 48, who lives in Dzhokhar-Khala: "Once again, Kadyrov has shown his attitude towards the public opinion of 15 years of subjection to a civilian tragedy in his country that was inflicted by the Kremlin policies… It is no surprise that Putin can be an idol, or a god for Kadyrov and his family, because it is only because of Putin that they got where they are today."
Abu, 20, who lives in Dzhokhar-Khala, also voiced his response: "I cannot think of it as being ever likely that the administration of Kosovo would dare to give the name of former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Miloshevich to a street or the name of Mikheil Saakashvili would be given to a name in Tskhinval. I feel sorry for Ramzan. These kinds of things that he does without thinking damage the public opinion of him, he may not be aware of this, though."
Another response came from a university student called Isa: "Kadyrov praises Putin and gives his name to a square in Dzhokhar-Khala, because Putin praises him too. It is now plain to me that Kaydrov seeks different ways to show his alliance to the Kremlin. Putin was shown on TV last night with a tag that read ‘the national leader of the country.’ What kind of praise is this? Who has said that Putin is the national leader of the country? It is Kadyrov, isn’t it? It is, without a question, funny, but painful at the same, to hear and see all this."
A Chechen man working for an organization that defends human rights in Chechnya called out to Putin to account for all that has happened: "Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, kidnapped or lost in Chechnya. Who is to blame for this? Yeltsin and Putin, of course. The former was lucky enough to die early; however, Putin has to account for all the vices that he has caused…"
Adam, who teaches history in Dzhokhar-Khala, asked in anger how such decisions as Kadyrov’s can ever be taken without first consulting the public opinion.
Meanwhile, Putin’s spokesman released a public statement while Putin was in Zaslavl, Belarus, on Monday that he no longer wanted to see and/or hear his name be given to streets and his statue be erected anywhere. "Although he does not have the right to pressure anybody to do otherwise, he does not want his name to be given to streets, his statue to be erected anywhere, and his photo to be inserted into schoolbooks. In short, he neither likes nor supports it."
KU/ÖZ/FT
