I like this idea.
Chechnya Leader Proposes Renaming Region By MIKE ECKEL AP September 5, 2006
MOSCOW -- Just the word "Chechnya" can conjure images of guerrilla warfare, mine explosions, rampant kidnappings and, for many Russians, wily merchants out to fleece law-abiding citizens.
Chechnya's Kremlin-backed President Alu Alkhanov wants to change that _ by changing the region's name.
Not only does "Chechnya" evoke associations with war and rampant crime, it has no legal basis, Alkhanov said in televised comments during a visit to St. Petersburg.
"Chechen" is a Russian word. In the Chechen language _ which is part of the Caucasian language group _ the term people use for themselves is "Nokhchii."
Therefore, "let it be the Republic of Nokhchiin," Alkhanov said.
"This is the way Chechens called their republic previously. I think it would be reasonable to give this name sole legitimate status," he was quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti agency.
Alkhanov instructed the region's information and press minister to meet with experts and representatives of public organizations to research the name change, Russian news agencies reported.
Alkhanov's proposal, which is unlikely to be received with any great affection in the Kremlin or among Russian nationalists, is not the first of its kind.
During the short period of de-facto independence in the 1990s _ between the region's two wars with Russia since the Soviet breakup _ separatist leaders called it "The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria."
Last year, Chechnya's parliament, comprised largely of Moscow-backed lawmakers, proposed renaming the provincial capital Akhmad-Kala in honor of the region's assassinated president, Akhmad Kadyrov. The idea was later shot down by President Vladimir Putin and Kadyrov's son, Ramzan, who said the capital should keep its current name, Grozny.
Several streets in Grozny, meanwhile, have been renamed in honor of the late Chechen president as part of the Kremlin-backed campaign to lionize him.
The name Grozny, for its part, is a Russian word meaning "terrible" or "threatening." The name was given by Russian imperial forces who guarded the 19th-century fortress once located where the city now stands.
Some linguists theorize that "Chechnya" derives from a village in the North Caucasus where soldiers from the czarist era first encountered local inhabitants.
Chechen lawmaker Ruslan Yamadayev, who is also a member of Russia's national parliament, said Monday it was reasonable to rename the republic.
"Some people think the move is untimely, but I disagree," he said in comments on Ekho Moskvy radio.
"Chechnya" has a widely pejorative connotation for Russians, not only because of the wars and the terrorist attacks by Chechen separatists, but because many Russians regard Chechens as unscrupulous in business.
After the two devastating wars between Russian forces and separatist rebels over the past 12 years, large-scale fighting has died down, though rebel fighters continue to carry out small-scale, hit-and-run attacks.
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