From: MSN Nicknamepsychoteddybear24 (Original Message) Sent: 9/18/2006 1:15 PM
SHOULD THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC BE RENAMED? Speaking to journalists on
September 4 on the sidelines of a Russian-Arabian Business Council
session in St. Petersburg, pro-Moscow Chechen administration head Alu
Alkhanov suggested that it would be expedient to change the name of
the Chechen Republic to Nokhchiyn Republic. (Nokhchi is the ethnonym
by which the Chechens refer to themselves.) Alkhanov argued that the
toponym "Chechnya" (as opposed to "Chechen Republic") "has negative
connotations" and no legal foundation, according to regnum.ru on
September 4. He added that he has tasked specialists with studying
the implications of changing the republic's official designation,
after which "we shall think about which name to use," regnum.ru
reported.
Alkhanov's reasoning is logical insofar as the Chechens
themselves do not refer to their republic as "Chechnya." Chechen
Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, however, rejected Alkhanov's
suggestion outright on September 5 as untimely and economically
inexpedient, kommersant.ru reported on September 6. Kadyrov claimed
that changing the republic's name would ...
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