From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 10/10/2006 1:39 PM
September, 25, 2006

Independence Day Address by President Umarov

 

It is fifteen years now since the Chechen nation declared its independence, resulting from the collapse of the Russian empire. All the existant legal procedures to restore our statehood were fully observed: the referendum's results, Declaration of Independence, election of the first president,  Khasavyurt Agreements and the full-scale Peace Treaty with Russia in May 1997, and then another legitimate election of President Maskhadov. The latter was held under international observation and was recognised, inter alia, by the Russian government.

After some time, however, the KGB and Mafia leaders of Russia, separated from their people and hiding behind the Kremlin walls, supported by war criminals - the generals beaten in the previous war, - organised a number of provocations (apartment explosions in Russian cities) and renewed a military offensive against the ChRI. So in the Autumn 1999 the 400-year-long colonial war against the Chechen nation was renewed. The aggression of unprecedented lenth and cruelty is still going on today.

Empires died, new states emerged in the world in these four centuries; and only the tragic situation in Caucasus has been unvariable.  As invariable is the Chechen nation's firmness and our strive for freedom and national independence. The Chechens have always been free people; so we cannot submit to the slaves, to a dying empire where the spirit of servitude still lives.

All the people, Moslems in particular, have a God-given right to protect their honour and freedom. It is impossible to defend religion without honour or without love for freedom. Besides, every provision of the international law acting in the world allows a nation to pretect its security and freedom. We continue our struggle today in accordance with this right.

For the last fifteen yers, we have been opposing, at great costs, the aggression of Russia - a militarist nuclear power. I say fifteen years, because even during the brief armistice of 1997-1999 the enemy did not stop its secret war of subversion against us, not for a single day. But the invaders' hopes to break the Chechens' will proved vain. These are not mere words. We have proven, and keep proving our firmness to the enemy every day.

By this long resistance, which cost us hard and painful losses, we have preserved our political, legal and moral right for Independence. We shall go on with out just war until the Independence becomes reality of our life.

We have managed to agree our actions with the conventional legal requirements, and to inform the world public about our true aspirations, although we still do not receive the support we deserve. The process of recognition of our lawful demands is progressing with great difficulty. The reason for this is not us, nor our actions, but the new world order and the global cataclysms it has brought around.

The Russian regime has suffered a failure in Chechnya. The Kremlin's persistent efforts to link the ChRI Armed Forces' resistance to the "international terrorism" were also in vain. The world has not accepted the aggressor's reasoning. This is another proof that our struggle for preservation of independence is a right one.

Meanwhile, the enemy has also failed to "Chechenise" the conflict, to provoke a civil war either between different clans or between different religious denominations. The internal struggle exists only as the punishment of those traitors who have betrayed their country and serve the enemy. And the process of its execution is only accelerating.

Another important mark of our time is that practically all the peoples of North Caucasus has raised for a righteous war against the colonial Russian empire. The new fronts of Liberation emerge, new people come to join us, and the field of resistance to the aggression is widening. Furthermore, the best representatives of the Caucasus peoples, those who do not want to knee before Russia, wage a war of liberation not only in Ichkeria, but in their own lands. They are fighting for Faith, Freedom and Honour. This is another blow at our enemies, and the most painful one.

The best sons and daugthers of our nation have paid a high price for our right to continue this war. Many has sacrificed their lives. Presidents, warlords, regular combatants pass away as warriors at the battlefield. With gratitude do we remember today all those who have become martyrs. They shall forever remain in our memory.

We must also acknowledge the firmness and patience of our people, who give us aid and comfort, in spite of monstrous terror from the invaders and their collaborators, in spite of all the unthinkable hardship of this long war. We, the combatants, shall try to be worthy of our people. I am also grateful to the peoples from all over Caucasus who support the just cause of their combatants.

I must also remember the work of our public figures, politicians, representatives, human rights activists, and the Chechen nation's friends from various countries. Those who aid us in different ways, who received and gave refuge to Chechen refugees unwilling to live under the enemy's oppression. By that, these countries have save our nation from complete genocide. Our gratitude, respect and acknowledgement goes to the leaders of these states. The Chechen nation shall never forget their selfless help in this difficult period of our history.

I must also mention those who act at the information front: official and private ChRI publications and the representatives of other nations who co-operate with them. Even in Russia, there are honest and courageous authors who, often risking their lives, openly support  the just struggle of the Chechen nation and oppose the lies of Kremlin's propaganda. A word of truth means a lot in our cynical times.

I congratulate the Chechen nation at this great Day; and I wish us all victory at the righteous way of the Lord!
http://chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2006/09/25/01.shtml