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204 
 
Russia. According to the first group, which consisted mainly of Chechens, the 
attitude towards Russia should be hardened, even secession should be considered. 
Dudayev, representing the first group suggested that the Confederation should set 
up a committee to investigate and judge the leaders of the North Caucasian 
republics where Russia had been allowed to send troops. This committee should 
even have the right to pass death sentences on them. The other group, including 
Shanibov and most of the Abkhaz were defended more moderate policies.
517
 In 
contrast to Dudayev, Denga Khalidov, the first deputy chairman of the 
Confederation, told the congress that they would need at least 10 years to form a 
true Caucasian confederation. During that period, a federal treaty should be signed 
with Russia and all North Caucasian republics. Dagestan and Abkhazia should also 
sign a similar treaty. During that period, the Confederation would form its own 
political system and begin to play a role in international politics. Khalidov, in 
addition, stated that the political structure of the Confederation would be “identical 
to that of the common European home”. Due account would be taken of the 
different character of the regions, and in international politics it would act as the 
legal successor to the Mountain Republic which existed in the Caucasus in 1918. In 
case official state structures in Caucasian republics pursued policies contradicting 
the republics’ ‘common interests’; the Confederation might organize acts of civil 
disobedience, and “use other means of political struggle”.
518
 
                                                                                                                                        
516
 “North Caucasus Regional Movements’ Leaders in Conflict,” FBIS-USR-93-114, 22-23, 1 
September 1993. 
517
 Şanibe, “Yeniden doğuş,” 44. 
518
 “Congress of Confederation of Mountain Peoples in Groznyy,” SWB SU/1504, C1/1, 6 October 
1992. 

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205 
 
Although the majority of participants defended the first approach, most of 
the leading cadre supported the second, and managed to maintain a moderate line. 
In the final declaration, the Confederation advised all socio-political organizations 
and movements to demand that the leaders of their republics seek real 
independence and, conclude treaties on political, economic and cultural 
cooperation between one another. Moreover, the formation of a joint regional 
security forces run along the lines of the national guard. In the event that the 
leaders of the republics rejected these measures, the Confederation threatened to 
organise peaceful actions of mass protest and civil disobedience to demand that the 
unpopular leadership resign and that elections to republican parliaments be 
organized ahead of schedule. 
After the Congress, Shanibov blamed ‘the third force’ without naming it. 
He went on to say that he appreciated Dudayev’s achievements in reviving national 
consciousness throughout the Caucasus, nevertheless he also stressed, “we are 
unanimous on global issues but somewhat differ on tactics, which manifest itself, 
inter alia, in the approach to the Russian-Caucasian mutual relations.”
519
 
“Chechnia has today become the flagship of freedom in the region”, he said, but, 
the other 15 peoples within the Confederation should for the time being link their 
future with Russia. 
 
Within the same days, especially after the outbreak of armed conflicts in the 
region Moscow was faced with the question of how to address regional disputes. 
                                                 
519
 “Shanibov calls for Unification of the Caucasus within Russian Federation,” SWB SU/1504, 
C1/2, 6 October. 

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206 
 
The Russian Federation Security Council set up a special Inter-regional 
Commission on the North Caucasus which was given the task of looking for ethnic, 
psychological and legal solutions to conflicts arising in the region that threaten 
Russia’s security of state and society.
520
 In addition to representatives from the 
Russian ministries of security, defence, finance, and economy, the then Russian 
Minister of Justice, Nikolay Fyodorov also took part in the commission as a deputy 
chairman. By this commission Yeltsin wanted a way of dealing with the region 
directly. 
The Security Council’s Committee produced two reports entitled ‘The 
Current Ethno-political Situation in the North Caucasus and the Path Toward its 
Stabilization,’ and ‘The Conception of Russian Nationalities Policy in the North 
Caucasus’. Both of reports singled out ‘national separatism’ on the part of the 
Confederation and the national movements in the republics as the root of all 
problems in the North Caucasus. 
The first report recommended that, instead of working with the new 
political forces such as the Confederation and other national movements, Moscow 
establish alternative organizations in the North Caucasus. The separatist urges of 
the nationalist movements could only be overcome if Moscow concentrated its 
efforts on increasing the popularity of as many pro-Russian socio-political groups 
in the region as possible. 
The second report, which outlined the tenets of Russia’s policy toward the 
region, affirmed that assisting the creation and growth in popularity of pro-Russian 
                                                 
520
 Vladimir Lysenko, then Deputy Head of the Ministry for Nationalities and Regional Policy, and 
later the Chairman of the Russian Duma Subcommittee on Federal Relations was heading this 

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