Organizer of equestrian march criticize authorities for conflict in Kendelen

Should officials started dialogue with public activists and acted professionally, the confrontation in Kendelen could have been avoided, Aslan Kudaev, the organizer of the equestrian march in honour of the 310th anniversary of the Kanjali Battle, has stated today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 18, residents of the Balkar village of Kendelen did not let participants of the equestrian procession organized in memory of the 310th anniversary of the Kanjali Battle to pass through the village. The refusal provoked clashes. On September 19, clashes between activists and law enforcers took place in the vicinity of Kendelen, in the village of Zayukovo, and at a checkpoint of the road-and-patrol service (known as DPS) in the town of Baksan. According to the activists, as a result of the clash with the police, 45 people were hospitalized and the number of detainees reached 120 people.

The bureaucrats' incompetence led to an interethnic conflict, Mr Kudaev believes, adding: "In my opinion, the actions of incompetent officials turned the equestrian march, which was, in fact, aimed at strengthening the interethnic relations, into the opposite action."

In his opinion, the officials' unprofessionalism "led to an interethnic conflict, which broke out of nothing, and, in fact, should not have taken place." At the same time, according to Aslan Kudaev, the force methods taken failed to settle the problem, but have further aggravated it.

He has noted that the head of the Elbrus District, where the Balkar village of Kendelen is located, was categorically against the passage of Kabardian horsemen across the village. In Kudaev's opinion, the district head had to instruct Kendelen elder "to welcome Kabardians with dignity and brotherliness."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 24, 2018 at 08:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.