United Caucasian Forum in Dagestan postponed indefinitely

The 5^th Caucasian Forum, due to take place in Makhachkala on April 21-23, 2013, has been postponed at the request of the Dagestani authorities and public organizations, as Kheda Saratova, a member of the board of the United Caucasus Forum, told the "Caucasian Knot".

Ms Saratova has explained that Makhachkala had been chosen as the venue for the 5^th Forum on the invitation of the former President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov. "But since then, the head of state has changed, and we failed to reach agreement with Ramazan Abdulatipov. He asked us to postpone the forum till the fall. But as we have already announced the 6^th Forum in Chechnya and appointed its date, was found it impossible to postpone two events for an indefinite period," Kheda Saratova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the organizers, they need no permit from the authorities to hold such actions; however, they had always sought to cooperate. "If local officials don't take part in the forum, it means that they don't take the responsibility for ensuring safety of its participants. And we can't take that risk."

As explained to the "Caucasian Knot" by the lawyer Zaurbek Sadakhanov, one of the organizers of the forum, the civil rights had been to become the topic of the Makhachkala forum.

The topic of the forum, scheduled for June 20-21 in Grozny, should be: "Advance of civil society as the basis for peace in Northern Caucasus".