RFERL. The speaker of the parliament of Russia’s North Caucasus region of Chechnya says the disputed Chechen-Ingush administrative boundary agreement has come into force amid continuing protests in Ingushetia against the deal.
Magomed Daudov wrote on the VKontakte social network that the agreement had come into force as of October 16, calling it “historic.”
Meanwhile, in Ingushetia’s capital, Magas, the mass protest that started on October 4 against the agreement continues.
The demonstrators said they had elected eight delegates who are scheduled to hold talks regarding the issue with the presidential envoy in the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Matovnikov, in the city of Pyatigorsk, later on October 16.
The protesters say the agreement on the administrative boundary signed on September 26 behind closed doors by the leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia, Ramzan Kadyrov and Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, unfairly hands parts of Ingushetia to Chechnya.
They have called for Yevkurov’s resignation and a referendum on the agreement, which officials announced was approved by the parliaments of both regions several days later.
Ingush lawmakers said later, in the wake of the protests, that they had not approved the deal.
Photo – RFERL