Akhmed Zakayev, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, has sent an official letter to President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Ismail Kahraman and asked to recognize the deportation of entire Chechen people in 1944 by the Soviet leadership as an act of genocide.

In a part of his letter, Mr Zakayev said: “As a result of that action, more than two thirds of the Chechen people perished during this period from starvation, illnesses and the cold, as well as direct repression by Russian punitive institutions. The deportation was carried out at a time when more than 70,000 of our most able-bodied countrymen had gone as volunteers to join the war against Hitler’s Germany. In the course of the deportation all sick people, some pregnant women, and elderly people were exterminated by regular troops because they could not move through the mountainous regions without assistance.“

Mr Prime Minister also mentioned the European Parliament’s recognation on this topic:

“On the basis of the conclusions of expert reports, the European Parliament in its resolution of 26 February 2004 recognized the deportation of the Chechen people as an act of genocide. Paragraph 15 of this resolution states:

15. Believes that the deportation of the entire Chechen people to Central Asia on 23 February 1944 on the orders of Stalin constitutes an act of genocide within the meaning of the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 and the Convention for the Prevention and Repression of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1948;“.

Mr Zakayev underlined that Chechen people regret that over the past 20 years of our struggle, no Islamic country has shown itself as decisive as did united Europe.

And head of the Chechen government finished his letter with these words: “We believe unambigously that the proposed political action by the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey will be a righteous step which the Turkish and Chechen peoples will receive with enthusiasm and see as concrete evidence of the rapprochement of our peoples today and in the future.“