ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
July 3, 2007 Tuesday 09:19 PM EST
Inter-ethnic relations in Moscow assume a new tint
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has said inter-ethnic relations in Moscow
are entering a new phase. The local population and the natives of the
southern republics of the former Soviet Union prepare and agree on
places of mass clashes and brawls.
In an interview with the TVTS television channel on Tuesday, Luzhkov
said that certain groups of young people continued to manifest
nationalism, chauvinism and xenophobia. According to Luzhkov, an
attempt to stage mass clashes in Moscow’s central district of Kitai
Gorod on June 22 revealed a totally new phenomenon. Both members of
nationalistic organizations and youths from southern ethnic
communities gathered with an equal desire to fight. “Both sides
showed an intention to fight. It is a totally new phenomenon,”
Luzhkov stressed.
The police acted quickly. Its actions were well organized.
“Everything was under control, every step was tracked,” Luzhkov
went on to say. However, imperfect laws didn’t allow law enforcers to
intervene and prevent the clashes. More than 20 people were detained.
“All the judicial procedures are under way now. A representative of
the Armenian community was wounded. We arrested a person who did
that. He will be tried very strictly,” Yuri Luzhkov said.
The mayor noted that all the participants in the clash would be
charged for “kindling inter-ethnic strife” and not with “ordinary
hooliganism” as it was done previously.
“This is right!,” he said. “Moscow is a multinational city. We
should learn to treat representatives of any other nationality
calmly, otherwise the country will fall apart,” the mayor went on to
say.
In conclusion, Luzhkov promised that the city will live calmly and
those who kindles inter-ethnic strife will be punished strictly.