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On the banks of the Bosporus the assault on Grozny is seen as a family matter
By Ali Isingor Special to CNNItalia ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNNItalia) -- For many of its main players, the Chechen war starts here, in the streets of Istanbul. It is here, in this Turkish metropolis, that they gather from all over the Islamic world, the Mujahedeen, the holy warriors of Islam. They are the same volunteer fighters that put up a fierce resistance to the Russian forces that have had Grozny under siege. Turkey is the principal ally of the Chechen independence fighters. Since the days of the Ottoman Empire, almost all the peoples of the Caucasus region -- including Chechens -- have had close ties with Turkey, which though secular is still part of the Islamic world. Each week Turkish Muslim groups and the Gray Wolves organize demonstrations against the Russian government. The Gray Wolves are extreme nationalists accused of being behind the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and who have managed to become part of Turkey's governing coalition. The Gray Wolves run the mosques and commercial activities in some parts of Istanbul. It is in these mosques, in the suburbs of the city, that offerings are collected after daily prayers for the Chechen refugees. It is money that probably also goes to soldiers on the front lines. At the Fatih mosque, one of the oldest centers of worship in Istanbul, the pro-Chechen network daily enlists men to send to the front, gathers funds and organizes demonstrations. At the mosque of Beyazit, which is under the control of Sunnite Muslims, Friday prayers are followed by demonstrations on behalf of the "martyrs of Grozny."
Pro-Chechen Internet sites feature prayers for the fighters in Chechnya. Many who log on to those Web sites feel compelled to offer some form of solidarity to their Chechen brothers.
The Russian response to the Ottoman policy was similar. The Russians tried to spread Orthodoxy among the people of the Caucasus. Often they succeeded. The Ossetians, for example, who are from the same ethnic branch as the Chechens, today are predominantly Christian. Throughout the slow decline of the Ottoman Empire, which took about 300 years, the Caucasian peoples began feeling new pressure from the Russians to the north. Again they put up a determined resistance. So much so that Turkish domination of the Caucasus lasted much longer than it did in other parts of the empire. When the Ottomans lost the war of 1856-57, the Russians decided to clear the region. Over the next 50 years, hundreds of thousands of Chechens and Circassians were relocated to various parts of the czarist empire. For the Turks it is one of the greatest tragedies of their history.