The International Multimedia Press Center of RIA Novosti and Vestnik Kavkaza are co-hosting a round-table conference entitled “Deportation: how to preserve memory of history” to mark the anniversary of deportation of Chechens, Ingushetians, Crimean Tatars, Karachayans and other peoples.
Alexey Vlasov, Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza and head of the Center for Information and Analysis of the Moscow State University of Lomonosov, said that deportation of peoples in Russia is one of the most tragic events in the 70-year history of the Soviet Union. Mass deportations continued in the Caucasus, Baltik states for decades.
The round-table conference is attended by scientists and media officials. It was organized to form a clear and full image of great and tragic events.
Vlasov pointed out experience of Kazakhstan, where the Peoples’ Assembly united all ethnic groups in society. One of its priorities is preservation of memory about repressed peoples. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev attends forums to promote tolerant and respectable attitude towards people deported to Kazakhstan.
The political analyst wants an impartial image of repercussions of policy towards people, basing on the principle of collective responsibility. Legal evaluation of deportation was given in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, formation of public opinion on the problem is still questionable. Vlasov expressed hope that the latest meeting would help form an impartial image on deportation of peoples in the USSR.
