Chechnya stakes disputed land on border with Dagestan

The Chechen side unilaterally registered a disputed piece of land on the border with Dagestan. Approximately 18 hectares of the neighbouring republic appeared to be within the borders of Chechnya, Dagestani activists claimed. Residents of Dagestan criticized the authorities for their careless attitude to the border demarcation process.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the authorities of Chechnya and Dagestan agreed to define the borders between the republics. Magomed Daudov, the speaker of the Chechen parliament, argued that the authorities in both regions did not ask each other for concessions to the territories. However, on February 7, it became known about the claims of Chechnya to a land plot near the village of Mekhelta in the Gumbet District. Residents of the villages of Ansalty in the Botlikh District and Gakko in the Tsumada District also stated that there were disputed territories on the border with Chechnya.

The registration of the disputed border piece of land in the Kizlyar District of Dagestan was reported by Makhachkala activist Mikail Mikailov. The commission on demarcation of the border between Dagestan and Chechnya marked the land near the village of Novomonastyrskoe as one of the disputed areas to be discussed and divided later, but the Chechen side unilaterally registered it for itself, Mikail Mikailov reported.

In his post about the disputed area, historian Shakhban Khapizov recalled the statement voiced by Khizri Shikhsaidov, the chair of the Dagestani parliament, who promised "not to give in" to even a small part of the republic's territory.

Facebook users who learned about the appropriation of the disputed land by the Chechen side recalled the "Ingush scenario."

"The Ingush people fought and still fight for their lands, and it turns out that we hoped for incomprehensible people for whom it did not matter to sell or give in meters or hectares of native land," wrote Aigum Gitinov under the post of historian Shakhban Khapizov.

"The most realistic option is to protest simultaneously with the Ingush people," suggested user Shamil Murtazaliev.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 30, 2019 at 03:23 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.