INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Legislators in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya have enshrined its leader Ramzan Kadyrov as the father of the country in an
unanimous vote.Members of Chechnyas legal assembly added the term Mekh-Da -- Chechen for daddy of the land -- to the republics
constitution, according to Chechen state media
The function of this modification is to develop harmony in using the title for the local leader in the Chechen language, the Chechen
broadcaster Grozny said Thursday.The title will most likely apply to Kadyrov and his future successors.The republic of Chechnya is a bulk
Muslim region in the North Caucasus that was ravaged by 2 separatist wars in the 1990s and early 2000s
Kadyrov, 46, has ruled Chechnya since 2007 with an iron fist, drawing widespread claims of rights violations and Western sanctions.His
daddy, Akhmad Kadyrov, had actually been a Chechen separatist fighter in the 1990s however later on changed sides and pledged loyalty to
He was named the first head of the republic of Chechnya before his assassination in 2004
A faithful ally of President Vladimir Putin, Ramzan Kadyrov has actually fully backed the invasion of Ukraine and emerged as a singing
anti-Ukrainian hawk amongst Russias leadership.Kadyrovs militia units, called the Kadyrovtsy, are understood to be fighting alongside
regular Russian forces in Ukraine.Thursdays vote followsanother title modification in the bulk Muslim republic of Tatarstan, which was till
recently the only Russian area to have its own president
In December, Tatarstans legal assembly changed the local constitution to change the title president for rais, an Arabic term meaning
