Chechnya celebrates CTO cancellation with rally and concert

The capital of Chechnya is hosting a rally and a concert dedicated to Moscow's decision to lift the counterterrorist operation (CTO) regime in the Republic's territory that had existed there for nine years.

In front of the theatrical and concert palace in the capital centre, in the avenue, which since recently bears the name of the former Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rally-concert is held. The theatre building is decorated with a huge portrait of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. The area in front of it houses a rally of several hundreds young participants, mainly, university students and members of youth movements. The districts adjacent to the palace are patrolled by power agents.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that many passers-by stop and ask militiamen about the reason of the festivity. Some of them say that they have just now learnt about the CTO cancellation.

As a whole, the news that since April 16 Chechnya cancels the CTO regime, introduced back in 1999, was positively perceived by residents of the Republic. However, many do not know how it will tell on the situation in the region and what changes can then follow.

Among the results anticipated as a consequence of lifting the CTO regime in Chechnya, residents name awarding the international status to the Grozny Airport, lifting of all earlier restrictions (including that on travelling across the country), termination of "addressable" and others "clean-ups" and revisions, withdrawal of militaries back to barracks and liquidation of block-posts and check points, still operating in mountain districts of Chechnya.

At the same time, there are also such citizens of Chechnya who have perceived cancellation of the CTO regime with some scepticism. "It's unlikely that cancellation of the CTO regime will seriously repair the general situation in the Republic. The adoption of the decision as such means nothing. In Ingushetia or, say, in Dagestan, there's no CTO regime, but even more people are murdered and kidnapped there than in Chechnya, especially recently. It seems to me that if not for the present financial crisis, Moscow would have hardly made this step," said Said-Khasan Makaev, a resident of Chechnya.