Page 128 - Solution, the values of the Qurʼan

126 SOLUTION THE VALUES OF THE QUR'AN

trains destined for Siberia and the Middle East. Thousands of people did
not reach their destinations alive and, on the order of the communist
regime, other ethnic populations settled in the lands they left behind.
Caucasians who returned to their homelands after some years
encountered other people living in their homes. The policy of "divide and
rule" employed by Moscow at that time aggravated the ethnic tensions of
today.
The collapse of the Soviet Union lifted the lid on nationalist aspirations
and ethnic rivalries, leading a number of ethnic groups within the
boundaries of the former Soviet sphere to declare their independence.
Some other ethnic groups pursued independence only in their economic
relations, and remained under the control of the Russian Federation.
Chechnya's 1.2 million people, who had long suffered under severe
Russian pressure, started to fight for independence in the leadership of

Dzhokhar Dudayev.
The 18 month long Russian-Chechen war ended in 1996 and the
Chechens declared independence as the Russian troops withdrew. A 1997
peace agreement signed by Moscow and Grozny formally ended the war
and granted Chechnya de-facto independence. A prior agreement,
however, allowed Russia to defer making Chechnya's territorial status
final until 2001.
Other republics followed in the footsteps of the Chechen people who
had struggled for independence. The Council of North Caucasian People
gathered in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, in 1998. In the meeting, the
people of the North Caucasus agreed not to fight with each other. The
conflicts of 1999 had their roots in the decisions taken in this meeting. The
Russian forces launched a bombing campaign against several villages in
Dagestan. These villages, with 1,500 residents, sought help from the
Chechen people. A Chechen veteran, Shamil Basayev answered this call,
in the summer of 1999. Under heavy bombing, the Dagestani villages
were laid in ruins and only two people survived. The consequences of this
operation caused Chechnya to drift into a new war with Russia.
Dagestan is a neighbor of Chechnya, densely populated with Muslims