The “nationalities issue” has in recent months become the focus of renewed media attention. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that the discussion focuses on the Northern Caucasus, Russia’s most turbulent and unpredictable region.
Other tell-tale signs are the conflict between the Chechen and Ingush leaders over the borders between the two republics; the murder of one of the spiritual leaders of Russian Muslims, Sheik Said-Afandi; and the statement by Krasnodar Region Governor Alexander Tkachev on the need to create Cossack patrols to protect the region from people from the Caucasus.
The latter initiative seems to be an attempt to set different groups of citizens against one another, since the governor was not referring to illegal immigration into Russia. Instead, Tkachev spoke of putting up barriers for Russians living in the North Caucasus — an inseparable part of modern Russia. […]
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