CHECHNYA WORRIES TATARSTAN’S LEADERS.

Claiming that Tatarstan is “an island of stability” in a sea of troubles, Tatarstan President Mintemir Shaimiev told Kommersant-daily May 7 that the Chechen events “have aroused certain doubts in me” about the path Moscow is taking. He said he and his colleagues were particularly concerned about the continuing discussions in Moscow concerning a possible redrawing of the internal political borders of the Russian Federation. Such a plan would never be acceptable to the Tatars, Shaimiev said.

Russia Will Double Gas Supplies to Turkey.