From March 30 RFE/RL"
DAILY COMPARES BASHKORTOSTAN WITH KYRGYZSTAN...
About 20,000 people participated in a demonstration in Ufa, the capital
of Bashkortostan, on 26 March to demand the resignation of
Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov, "Nezavisimaya gazeta"
reported on 28 March. The demonstration was part of a continuing series
of protests aimed at forcing Rakhimov out (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28
February 2004). Protestors carried signs lamenting violations of human
rights and demanding compensation for the victims of a controversial
December police operation in Blagoveshchensk, ITAR-TASS reported (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2004). According to the daily, a bloc of
eight political parties -- including the Communist Party, Yabloko,
Motherland, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Rus, and the
Union of Tatars of Bashkortostan -- organized the protest. The next
major protest calling for Rakhimov's resignation is planned for 16
April. The daily drew parallels between Bashkortostan and Kyrgyzstan,
concluding that Kyrgyzstan was the "weakest link in Central Asia" and
"Bashkortostan, judging by everything, is the weakest link in Russia."
JAC
....WHILE ANOTHER PREDICTS BORDER WARS
"Novye izvestiya" reported on 29 March that "experts" are predicting
that outstanding disputes over administrative borders between Russian
regions threaten the security of the Russian Federation. Dmitrii
Oreshkin of the Merkator Group told the newspaper: "I think that in
coming years, territorial disputes will only become aggravated.
Moreover, this is a purely cartographic problem of where to put a
pipeline or where an oblast ends. [But] the absence of quality maps
today is very much interfering with life." According to the daily,
border disputes are currently flaring up in Siberia, for example,
between Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakasia. With the pending unification of
Krasnoyarsk Krai with the Taimyr and Evenk autonomous okrugs, officials
in Krasnoyarsk are eager to resolve the controversial question of its
border with Khakasia. There are two villages that krai officials say
are administratively part of their territory, but they are surrounded
by land belonging to Khakasia. According to maps of Russia, the
villages do not exist. The adult residents have resident permits that
say they live in Krasnoyarsk Krai, and they vote in krai elections.
According to the daily, this example is not unique. JAC
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