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Museum-preserve in Chechnya under threat of complete destruction

By Timur Aliyev

GROZNY, Chechnya - Relics of Chechnya’s medieval architecture may be completely destroyed, fears Ismail Munayev, head of the Chechen office of Rosokhrankultura, a federal agency supervising compliance with the law in the media and in the protection of cultural heritage.

He says that the government of the Chechen Republic has adopted a resolution according to which the territory of the Argun natural and historical-cultural preserve that contains Chechen medieval towers, tombs and religious buildings will be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

The resolution of the Government of the Chechen Republic, taken on August 12, 2005, talks of transferring the aforesaid territory in the Itum-Kalinsky and Sharoisky districts to the category of land used for defence and security purposes where administrative and service buildings and structures are to be built.

"If the resolution comes into force it will be impossible to get into the territory. Even if the soldiers don’t destroy them, we will not be able to restore the towers that have already been destroyed, or to maintain those that have survived," Munayev says.

According to him, the resolution which transfers the territories to the military will be adopted in violation of an earlier resolution – the Decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin of February 20 1995 “On the confirmation of the list of objects of historical and cultural heritage with federal (all-Russian) importance”. This document contains a list of 12 museum-preserves and museum complexes situated on the territories of Russia, including the Argun museum-preserve, which are subject to protection as monuments of national importance.

“Because of the Chechen government’s subordinate status, resolutions taken by it cannot abolish federal laws. And that means that this resolution can be considered illegal,” says Munayev.

The Argun state historical-architectural and natural museum-preserve covers the territory of the Argun river basin, the foothills and the mountainous part of Southern Chechnya (with a total area of 240 thousand hectares). According to Rosokhrankultura’s data for the Chechen Republic, it contains 89 medieval architectural relics of federal importance.

Those towers which are located on its territory have already undergone destruction. According to the museum-preserve workers who have managed to get into the territory, in the last five years 25 tower complexes and burial sites have been destroyed.

Translated by David McDuff.

(MD/T)