Chechen historians challenge arguments of Ingush Council of Teips

References of the Council of Teips of Ingushetia to documents and maps a hundred or more years old are untenable, since the settlement borders of Caucasian nations have changed dramatically over the past time, Chechen historians assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 9, the delegates of the congress of the Ingush Council of Teips treated the change of the republic's borders as the greatest injustice.

In his turn, Ruslan Martagov, a Chechen political analyst and historian disagrees with the fact that the Sunzha District was transferred to the Chechen Autonomous Region with no account of the interests of the Ingush people. He also considers the Ingushes' references to historical data as insolvent.

According to Martagov, the Ingush Council Teips lacks the due authority to solve border issues.

The position of the Council of Teips on the border issue is categorically unacceptable for the Chechen party, Zelimkhan Musaev, a historian, has stated.

"They had themselves taken two districts away from Chechnya, and still act as victims," Mr Musaev said. He is convinced that the actions of the Ingush Council of Teips can lead to a conflict.

According to the historian, Movsar Ibragimov, any Chechen or Ingush can feel at home in the territory of both republics.

Today, Councils of Teips are more important in Ingushetia than in Chechnya; and this is due to the relatively greater conservatism of the Ingush society, Suleiman Demelkhanov, a historian, has noted.