| Instead of quoting the article, here's some necessary background on the unfamiliar geography and history involved. The article concerns two of Russia's autonomous republics in the North Caucasus: Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. As the hyphenated names imply, each republic is home to two distinct ethnic groups, and all four are traditionally Muslim. Back in the 1920's, these four nationalities were geopolitically "mismatched" to discourage anti-Soviet nationalism. During WW2, the Karachays and Balkars (kindred Turkic tribes) were deported to Central Asia and Siberia (just like the Chechens), while the Kabardins and Cherkess (both Circassian tribes) managed to stay on Stalin's good side. The two Turkic tribes were eventually rehabilitated and returned to their homelands but understandably hold a grudge against both Moscow and their Circassian neighbors. In both republics, local politics are a balancing act between the two titular ethnic groups. Like their neighbors in North Ossetia, the two Circassian ethnicities tend to be more loyal to Moscow (although the Ossetians are predominantly Christian, whereas the Circassians are, traditionally at least, mostly Muslim). It's a volatile and complex situation that was already reaching a boiling point before Beslan... as the article points out. |