Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of January 28-February 3

Resignation of Magomedsalam Magomedov from the post of the head of Dagestan and formation of a new team by the acting head of the republic Ramazan Abdulatipov; attempt on Paruir Airikyan, a presidential candidate in Armenia and a possible, in this context, delay of the presidential election, celebrations in Volgograd in honour of the 70^th anniversary of the victory in Stalingrad Battle and temporary renaming of the city; resignation of Ruslan Tambiev, Mayor of the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of January 28-February 3, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Magomedov's resignation from the post of head of Dagestan and formation of new team by new acting leader Abdulatipov

On January 28, Magomedsalam Magomedov resigned from the post of the head of Dagestan; and by the decree of President of Russia Ramazan Abdulatipov, a Deputy of the Russian State Duma from the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party was appointed the acting head of the republic. Prior to his departure to the region he stated that he would fight unemployment, corruption and security problems in Dagestan. As to Mr Magomedov, he was appointed to the post of Deputy Head of the Administration of Russia's President and will head the department for interethnic relations, which operates within the department of home policy of the President.

On January 30, Abdulatipov dismissed the government of Dagestan; and on the following day the deputies of the National Assembly unanimously approved Mukhtar Medjidov as the head of the government. Medjidov has already stated that the main attention will be given to development of hydraulic energy, light industry, agriculture, tourism, minor businesses and ITs (information technologies). Abusupyan Kharkharov and Alexander Ermoshkin became Deputy Chairs of the government of Dagestan.

It is worth noting that the acting leader of the republic has stated his intention to hire state servants through contests; and those, who have worked in the posts "for 10-20 years" should, in Mr Abdulatipov's opinion, leave their posts. The "Caucasian Knot" has compiled a reference list of the employees of the machinery of the republic's head and the government of Dagestan, who have worked for more than 20 years. It includes 14 officials, including three ministers – of culture, justice, and labour and social development, as well as the deputies of the chair of the government and head of the administration of the head and the government of Dagestan.

Attempt on presidential candidate in Armenia and possible delay of presidential election

On January 31, an attempt was committed against Paruir Airikyan, a presidential candidate and the Chair of the Association "National Self-Determination". At about 11:30 p.m., in central Yerevan, in Tpagrichneri (Printers') Street, where the house of Paruir Airikyan's parents is located, when the candidate got out of his car, an unidentified person came up close to him and made two shots from the distance of 25-30 cm. Airikyan was taken to the St Crigor Lusavorich Medical Centre with a gunshot wound and successfully operated on.

The preliminary inquiry into the fact of the crime is conducted by a joint operative-investigatory group set up by the Service for National Security and Police of Armenia. Airikyan himself has excluded any personal motives of the attempt – he is sure that it was directed against his programmes and activities.

On February 1, Paruir Airikyan said that he was feeling well and was on the mend; however, he was going to apply to the Constitutional Court of Armenia with a request to postpone the presidential election scheduled for February 18 by 15 days. This is allowed by the legislation of Armenia, which prescribes that in case of an onset of force-majeure circumstances that prevent a candidate from taking part in the election, the latter may apply to the Constitutional Court and ask to postpone the voting by 15 days, or appoint the election 40 days after this term.

It is notable that Paruir Airikyan was among those presidential candidates, who demanded from the authorities to publish the list of voters who had emigrated from the country, in order to avoid any illegitimate use of their names at the election. He held a three-day-long hunger strike as a solidarity act with another candidate Andreas Gukasyan, who is holding his hunger strike demanding to remove from the election the incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan, who is the candidate from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

Celebrations in Volgograd on the 70^th anniversary of the victory in Stalingrad Battle and decision to temporarily rename the city

On February 2, Volgograd held final celebrations marking the 70^th anniversary of the Stalingrad Battle, where President of Russia Vladimir Putin took part. The key event was an honourable parade in the Square of Perished Warriors, where over 20,000 of Volgograd residents and guests of the city-hero were present. For many citizens the celebrations were clouded by bureaucratic mistakes, road jams and preparations for Putin's visit.

On the same day, at least three persons were detained in the place of holding a solo picket that the anarchist Boris Stikhin had planned to hold near the possible route of President of Russia. One of the detainees was a teen of 14. His father has accused the police of exerting pressure.

The celebrations took place at the spinning-up polemics on the expediency to rename the city. Thus, on February 1, the City Duma of Volgograd made a decision that in the course of the events dedicated to the war history and associated with the defence of the city during World War II, the city will bear the name of "City-Hero Stalingrad". The Administration of the President of Russia received 50,000 signatures collected in support of renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad. This was reported on January 30 by Darya Dedova, the press secretary of the "Trade Union of Citizens of Russia" and the CPRF. Russia's Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin also supported the temporary renaming of Volgograd to Stalingrad. The criticism of this initiative was expressed by Alexander Brod, Director of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, and Archpriest Georgy Lazarev, the guardian of the Church of All Saints on the Mamaev Hill.

Mayor of capital of Karachay-Cherkessia resigns

On January 31, Ruslan Tambiev, Mayor of the city of Cherkessk, the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, announced his resignation at the sitting of the City Duma. He was elected to the post by the deputies on December 1, 2011. The City Duma has announced a tender for the position of the city Mayor. Tambiev asked the deputies to accept his voluntary resignation, explaining that he was elected by the previous Duma convocation, while the new composition elected on October 14, 2012, was "updated by 50 percent in fact". It is planned to elect the new Mayor on March 1. Until then, Akhmed Pkheshkov, First Deputy Mayor, will take the post. Tambiev's return is not ruled out – Duma Deputies asked him to take part in the tender.