Ossetian-Ingush dialogue

To the background of celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the
victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, an unnoticed
meeting between spokesmen from the executive and legislative branches,
social, political and religious organizations of Ingushetia and North
Ossetia was held. Nonetheless, the local observers consider it a
significant event for the region, putting attention on the
destabilizing factor of Ossetian-Ingush relation for the North
Caucasus.

At the beginning of December last year the program on joint work of
North Ossetian and Ingush state authorities was approved starting a
dialogue between Taymuraz Mamsurov and Yunus-Bek Yevkurov. The
agreement lasts the whole of 2010 involving a wide spectrum of
social-economic problems of both republics. At first the document was
a set of preliminary agreements, but later it gradually gained real
content. Within the process of rapprochement, the sides avoid extra
'noise' and elements of propaganda. For the first time after the
'thaw' of Alexander Dzasokhov and Murat Ziazikov, that failed on
September 1 2004 in Beslan, the heads of the neighboring republics
decided to return to normal relations, returning the sub-urban region
to the Ingush people that left it during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict
of 1992. Yevkurov and Mamsurov planned measures to improve economic
and social infrastructure in villages where Ossetians and Ingush live
together, achieving parity in municipal authorities and etc. The
federal center aims at reducing interethnic tensions, providing over 7
billion rubles for this.

It is worth noting that the rapprochement idea has firm supporters as
well as consistent opposition. The first insist that the two peoples
are akin. 20% of Ossetian and Ingush family names have links and the
same spelling. In the Soviet times there were a lot of interethnic
marriages. For example, many Ingush large family housewives today are
of Ossetian origin, though they try not to show it. Under the auspices
of the Ingush Ministry of Nationalities a national-cultural autonomy
of Ossetians was established, uniting such women. There are many
parallels between the two peoples in everyday life and ceremonies.
Ingush and Ossetians have a common history, although North Ossetia
avoids mentioning Ingush in its historic chronicles.

Concerning the obstacles in improving restoring relations, one of the
essential problems is the preservation of 'closed' villages for the
Ingush. For example, there were a large number of Ingush before the
conflict of 1992 living in the Oktiaborskoye village, one of the
largest in villages in the Prigorodniy region. Now only ancestral
cemeteries are left to tell of the former Ingush presence. People in
Nazran complain that some North Ossetian officials are acting as
though there are absolutely no Ingush on the territory of the
republic, hindering the process of Ingush integration by creating
bureaucratic obstacles. There is also the problem of repairing housing
for displaced people living in the Prigorodniy region. The process is
indeed definitely dragging on.

Obviously Ossetians have pretensions as well, which makes different
level and format meetings more fruitful. For example, Afghan veterans
from Ingushetia and North Ossetia hold regular meetings to discuss
acute problems in a friendly atmosphere. They have recently taken
Ingush children to see Vladikavkaz. People have noticed that those who
went through wars have the greatest desire for peace. It is symbolic
that veterans of the Great Patriotic War from both republics went
together to see the parade on Red Square in Moscow. Both Vladikavkaz
and Nazran consider any joint activities between Ossetians and Ingush
an achievement. Recently, the sides agreed to build a modern plumbing
system in the village of Khurikau, not far from the Ingush Malgobek.
In other words, the program of joint work of state agencies is being
realized, inspiring optimism.

Pavel Tsoroyev, Nazran. Exclusively for VK