The government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria expresses its solidarity with the people of France and expresses their sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the terrorist attack. We understand and share your pain, the pain of loss and horror.
It was an attack against France - the country of scholars and cultural figures from around the world, the country of Voltaire and Balzac, Dumas and Saint-Exupery, Hugo, Robespierre and many others whose names are written in golden letters in the history of human civilization. France has provided shelter for millions of people suffered and persecuted in other countries and ensured them a decent life in its beautiful surroundings. We are amazed of the perseverance of French citizens in the face of another barbaric terrorist attack by the anti-Islamic forces under the control of the aggressor state, which has threatened not only citizens of the Chechen Republic, Georgia, Ukraine, but also the rest of the civilized world in last 15 years.
We all have witnessed the formation of this terrorist enclave called ISIS. The government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria can claim with all its responsibility that the main sponsor of this terrorist gang is the Russian Federation. We regret that it was impossible to defeat alone the military power of Russia, which has become expert, not only in the mass homicide and genocide, but also in the creation of terrorist organizations, designed to discredit the struggle of peoples for their liberation from the imperial tyranny. Thus, enormous human losses suffered by our people in the struggle for national liberation and indifference of the international community to egregious crimes committed by the Russian military in Chechnya have allowed the Kremlin, in return, to create the terrorist group "Caucasus Emirate" in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. This was accomplished by Russia on order to translate the national liberation struggle of the citizens of Chechnya into the category of "international terrorism" to justify the genocide of the Chechen people. Unfortunately, it happened with the acquiescence of world leaders. The murder of the Chechen people became an "internal affair" of Russia and the Kremlin regime of terror a part of the coalition of countries opposing international terrorism. However, Putin's Russia has never been a full partner in this coalition as they were pursuing only their criminal interests.
Putin, who rules Russia for 15 years, has repeatedly said that the collapse of the Soviet Union - was "the greatest geopolitical tragedy". Accordingly, this paradigm has been followed also by the policy of Russia in the past 15 years, its main goal being to recreate the empire collapsed in 1991. Only the desperate resistance of our people postponed the Russian aggression against Georgia and Ukraine. Russian aggression against the Republic of Georgia was received by the international community in a spirit of acceptance, and as the world powers agreed with the annexation of 20% of Georgian territories it spurred Russia to annex the peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine and the creation of zones of conflict in the eastern regions of the country.
At the same time, Russian special services have stimulated the outflow of resistance members from the North Caucasus into Syria. On the one hand, this was because Russian puppets in the North Caucasus, particularly in the occupied Chechen Republic, began to terrorize the relatives of local militias: to burn houses, arrest men and women, to expose them to humiliation and torture and expel from the occupied country. On the other hand, those militiamen who have expressed their desire to go to Syria have been given new Russian internal and foreign passports and money for that trip by security services and police. Thus, over the past 4 years, all active resistance of several thousands people has moved from the Northern Caucasus to Syria. And this flow has not stopped. This action was considered a priority and, above all, because the remnants of Saddam Hussein's supporters, which gamble on Moscow, fell short of its expectations. The fact is that a number of ethnic and religious causes prevent the population of the region to be consolidated and to lead an organized armed struggle in crisis.
Therefore, Moscow promised Arabs to help them with sending there Chechens, who are considered as brave and skilled fighters in the Middle East. Thus, we declare that the ISIS is conceived, created and supported by Russia in opposition to the Western coalition. Reviving the old ambitions of the Soviet era, the Russian leadership, on the one hand, is trying to play the role of a great power, subjugating former Soviet satellites. On the other hand, seeing in the future the successful completion of the project to revive the Soviet Union, Russians are trying to maintain a military base in Syria, knowing that if the opposition to Assad regime comes to power they cannot dream of having a military base in Syria.
We note with regret that the international community rather passively reacts to the behavior of Russia. We understand how the international politics works, but it is hard to understand this behavior, which can be called a voluntary error. More recently, during the military clashes in the east of Ukraine, the Russian Air Defense Forces shot down Malaysia Airlines MH370 Boeing 777 aircraft, killing 295 of innocent people, including children. Instead of holding those responsible to account, the international community is mired in petty debates during which this issue is losing its relevance. Because of the aggressive war in Ukraine, sanctions are imposed on Russia. Hundreds of people close to the President of the Russian Federation have been included in the sanctions lists. However, Putin´s hands got still shaken and sanctions do not affect him personally, though leaders of other countries in similar situations are subject to various limitations. Moreover, he is openly provocative and ignores the rules of the game. He realizes that he needs to break through to win the final round of his tournament. There is no alternative.
A few days ago, there was the news that Mr. Putin did not go to the APEC conference in the Philippines, but he will attend the G20 summit. It is our deep conviction that the terrorist attack on France was a domestic preparation for Putin's G20 speech, where he will urge the leaders of the big twenty "to join our efforts in the fight against the terrorist threat." If world leaders agree to accept conditions required by Putin, in fact, it would mean that victims of terrorism would unite in Putin's Russia. The future of the civilized world depends today on the strength of positions of the world leaders and their responsibility for decisions made.
AKHMED ZAKAYEV,
Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers at the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeri (ChRI)
Translated by the Chechencenter