Participants of Makhachkala roundtable criticize border demarcation with Chechnya

Dagestani officials did not examine historical materials, and, before starting to clarify the border with Chechnya, they created an informational vacuum around the process and provoked tension in a number of regions of the republic, believe participants of a roundtable in Makhachkala.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the authorities of Chechnya and Dagestan agreed to complete by late 2019 the establishment of the border between the republics. The authorities of both republics do not ask each other to cede any territories, stated Magomed Daudov, the chairman of the Chechen parliament.

On February 13, a roundtable on the process of border demarcation between Dagestan and Chechnya was held in Makhachkala. The event was organized by the association "Peace to the Caucasus" and the Dagestani public commission on establishment of the border with Chechnya.

Shakhrudin Khalidov, a political analyst of the weekly newspaper "Novoye Delo" (New Cause), told roundtable participants about the regulations for the work on the process of border clarification. There are no documents regulating the process of border demarcation between Dagestan and Chechnya, the political analyst emphasizes.

The format of the works on the border between Chechnya and Dagestan is incomprehensible to the public. "We still do not know whether it is a question of a change in the borders between the republics," Shakhrudin Khalidov states.

Dagestani officials did not analyze any historical data before the start of the border demarcation process, while Chechen officials were well prepared for it, noted historian Shakhban Khapizov in his speech at the roundtable. He described the preparation of the Dagestani side to clarification of the borders as a failure.

"Our officials did not do anything: they did not meet any expert and they did not examine any sources or maps," Shakhban Khapizov stated. He has noted that the regional authorities have created an information vacuum around the border demarcation process, which serves as a breeding ground for speculations and provocations.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 14, 2019 at 04:32 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.