Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of November 22-28, 2021

Special operation in Karachay-Cherkessia; negotiations between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi; start of proceedings on the lawsuit for the liquidation of the “International Memorial”*; protests in Southern Russia against the introduction of QR codes; Kadyrov’s new threats against Ingushetia and the exercises of the Chechen law enforcement bodies near the border, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of November 22-28, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Special operation in Karachay-Cherkessia

On the morning of November 26, a counterterrorist operation (CTO) legal regime was introduced in the Karachay District of Karachay-Cherkessia in connection with the search for two suspected militants. Law enforcers reported that two armed men were killed during the special operation. According to the FSB, the suspects were planning a terror act. On the same day, the CTO legal regime was lifted. Investigators reported being engaged in the identification of the killed suspects. The special operation became the first in Karachay-Cherkessia within almost six years: it was preceded by the CTO in several districts of Karachay-Cherkessia in December 2015.

Negotiations between leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi

On November 26, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Sochi on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The meeting lasted for about three hours. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to create by the end of the year the mechanisms for demarcation and delimitation of the border and emphasized the need to launch urgent projects in order to unlock the economic potential of Karabakh. While commenting on the Sochi meeting, political observer Naira Airumyan and political analyst Ara Papyan have told the “Caucasian Knot” that Russia and the parties to the Karabakh conflict are pushing the OSCE Minsk Group out of the conflict settlement, and the Kremlin is trying to concentrate the peace process in its hands. After the negotiations, Armenian analysts have said that the talks would not entail important consequences, but they prepared a platform for further dialogue. The vector laid down in Sochi corresponds to the plans of the Azerbaijani authorities, and the main result of the negotiations will be the acceleration of unblocking communications in Karabakh, their Azerbaijani colleagues believe.

Start of proceedings on lawsuit for liquidation of “International Memorial”*

On November 25, the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia began the proceedings on the lawsuit for the liquidation of the “International Memorial”* due to the absence of marking as a foreign agent. The Court considered the case in a formal way, without comparing the scale of the violations imputed to the organization with the significance of its activities, noted human rights defender Oleg Orlov after the meeting. About 200-300 opponents of the liquidation of the “International Memorial”* gathered in front of the courthouse. It should be noted that on November 8, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit with the Moscow City Court to liquidate the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*, considering that the organization justified extremism and terrorism. Most of the complaints about the absence of marking as a foreign agent, which formed the basis of the lawsuits to liquidate the “International Memorial”* and the HRC “Memorial”*, were filed by the FSB of Ingushetia. Human rights defenders treated the above lawsuits as revenge for supporting the protesters in Magas against the agreement on the new demarcation of the border with Chechnya.

Protests in Southern Russia against introduction of QR codes

The system of QR codes, which the authorities of the Russian regions introduce as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus infection, provokes criticism from many local residents. In some regions, including in the south of the country, activists collect signatures against the QR-code system, and some of them are being fined by the courts, which suggest that the activists violate the established procedure for organizing a public event.

Kadyrov’s new threats against Ingushetia and exercises of Chechen law enforcement bodies near border

Last week, the story of the excavation work of the “Chechenavtodor” on the bank of the Fortanga River, along which the border with Ingushetia passes, was developed. Let us remind you that the mentioned work was started on November 11 and provoked indignation in Ingushetia, both among local residents and officials. On November 21, a Chechen delegation went to the coast of the Fortanga River in order to resolve the issue of belonging of the border lands in accordance with Sharia, but no representatives of Ingushetia did appear. Then on November 23, by order of Ramzan Kadyrov, all law enforcement units of Chechnya moved forward to the borders of the republic for three days. The three-day exercises demonstrate the region’s readiness for war against the background of an unstable situation in the world, Ramzan Kadyrov says. On November 25, he returned to the topic and said that if the manifestations of dissatisfaction with the current borders did not stop, he would get the Kremlin’s consent to seize eight villages from Ingushetia.

According to the experts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”, the manoeuvres of the Chechen Department of the National Guard of Russia cause concern, since the goals of such a large-scale operation are unclear and it has no analogues.

* The organization has been put by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on the register of NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 29, 2021 at 09:45 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.