Kadyrov's appeal to Ichkeria* supporters sparks analysts' scepticism

The Ramzan Kadyrov's promise to forgive his opponents from the Chechen Diaspora was made for self-promotion; it won't get any real response, experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 27, Ramzan Kadyrov said that he was ready to forgive the supporters of Chechen independence who fled to Europe should they confessed to the fallacy of their views.

Ramzan Kadyrov’s appeal is unlikely to resonate with Ichkeria’s* supporters, said Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a Chechen blogger who left Russia.

"I don’t think that any of the prominent Chechen natives in Europe will respond to this call. I think this is another surge of mercy demonstrated by Kadyrov because of his illness," Tumso told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Dmitry Oreshkin, a political geographer and a leading researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), has treated the Kadyrov's statement as self-promotion.

He believes that apart from distrusting Kadyrov's promises, emigrants won't return to Chechnya because of their disagreement with the policies of the current Chechen authorities. "Kadyrov is not building the state that Ichkeria's* leaders would like to see. They were more oriented towards the European system of values, while Kadyrov is building an ordinary state with eastern despotism," Mr Oreshkin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the "Civil Assistance" Committee, is sure that the Kadyrov's appeal to Ichkeria's supporters is just self-promotion. According to her version, her committee is addressed by the Chechens, who for one reason or another were deported from Europe. "And none of them has expresses a desire to return to their small homeland. People don't want to return to Chechnya because they are afraid for their lives," Ms Gannushkina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

* Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is recognized to be a terrorist organization in Russia and participation therein is a criminal offence

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 30, 2020 at 06:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.