Journalists refute Kadyrov's interpretation of 1999 events

The official Dagestan has always blamed international terrorist groupings for the 1999 invasion, the media have stuck to this formulation, and there were no accusations against Chechens, the Dagestani journalists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 18, Ruslan Kurbanov, a Dagestani journalist and political analyst, a member of the "Russian Congress of Caucasian Nations", published an interview with Ramzan Kadyrov, who expressed his dissatisfaction with the references to Chechnya in connection with the militants' invasion into Dagestan.

In Dagestan, the events of 1999 have never been treated as a "Chechens' attack" on Dagestan; and such an assessment have never been voiced out at the official level, – it has always been indicated that "gangs of international terrorists" had attacked Dagestan, said Magomed Magomedov, a deputy editor-in-chief of the "Chernovik" (Draft) weekly.

"The authorities have always strictly adhered to this principle; since Dagestan is a multinational republic. In those years, the State Council existed; and a delegate of the Chechen people was a member of the State Council," Mr Magomedov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

All the Ramzan Kadyrov's statements are aimed solely at supporting his rating and image of a federal-level politician, said Milrad Fatullaev, the editor-in-chief of the "Derbent" News Agency.

"This allows him to maintain a high citation level in the media, and his media rating. He needs this to convince his employer in the Kremlin, the Russian President, that he is an exceptional figure in the region and irreplaceable decision-maker in many key issues, including ideology and interpretation of modern history," Mr Fatullaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 19, 2019 at 06:38 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.