Gorbachev acknowledges USSR mistreated Muslim minorities

A former Soviet leader has acknowledged that his now-defunct union mistreated Muslim minorities in the country, Today's Zaman reports. 

First and last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, told an audience in İstanbul during a conference on Wednesday that the ruling Communist Party in the former Soviet Union had made many mistakes it should not have.

He said the Soviet authorities destroyed Muslims’ cultural and religious wealth, pointing to difficulties the Muslim minorities suffered during that period.