Ingush protesters treat abolition of border agreement as priority

The protesters in Magas have supported the demand for resignation of Yunus-Bek Evkurov, but treat the cancellation of the border agreement and the preservation of the territories in Ingushetia as the issue of fundamental importance, said the protesters interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 26, Ramzan Kadyrov and Yunus-Bek Evkurov signed the agreement on securing the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia. Residents of Ingushetia took to mass actions in protest against the transfer of lands.

"I am against the transfer of Ingush lands; I don't want my country to be squandered. Evkurov thinks he can manage lands without taking into account [the opinion of] the people, but this should be decided by people. One man shouldn't decide what concerns the land and the homeland," Akhmed, a state servant, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, noting that he has spent several nights at the rally venue in Magas. "I support the resignation demand, because the leader should not lie to his people; otherwise he is not in his place," said Ahmed.

Magomed Kaloev, another participant of the action, stressed that he is in favour of turnover of the power, supporting the demand of his compatriots, but considers the issue of land to be paramount.

"The main point is to abolish the illegal decision to transfer land. The Ingush head has violated the Constitution in this case. If the people believe [that Evkurov should resign], then the leader should agree with people and not to go against it; therefore I support Evkurov's resignation", he said.

Musa Dolgiev, a lecturer, has noted that he spent three days at the rally venue and spent nights with the protesters. According to his version, he and other protesters came to the rally because of the territorial issue.

"The issue of transferring territories is being solved here. We have a small republic; and for Ingushes the land issue has always been painful," Musa told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 10, 2018 at 07:51 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.