Kuril Defenders Go On to Offensive

Kommersant ^ | Nov. 21, 2005

[lizol]

Kuril Defenders Go On to Offensive

Advocates of the territorial integrity for the Kuril Islands staged a rally in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk past Saturday, having timed the action to the start of official visit of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to Japan. The participants wanted Putin “to declare a refusal to transfer any territory to Japan” and asked money to arrange propaganda activities in the neighboring country.

The rally was staged by For Russia’s Kurils! association of deputies of Sakhalin Duma and by For Integrity of Russia’s Eastern Territory public organization and timed to the start of Putin’s official visit to Japan. The purpose to attain was “to deliver directives to the president before his tour to Japan for Russia’s-Japanese negotiations.” In this undertaking, the masterminds of the event were backed up by Sakhalin branches of LDPR, Communist Party, United Russia, Youth Integrity and many others.

Despite frosty weather, around 300 people came to the Lenin Square in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Saturday holding posters, which read “Kurils are the native land of Russia,” “Russia has no spare territory,” "Russia’s borders are bathed in blood of our fathers and grandfathers," “We’ll protect the islands, our fatherland,” etc.

The speakers were emphatic. Regional Duma’s deputy and For Russia’s Kurils! member, Sergey Ponomarev announced it was time to shift from “the tactics of defense to an attack.” The speeches of other orators proved no less ardent. In the end, the rally resolved to call on Putin “to be consistent and to declare a refusal to transfer any territory to Japan,” hoping the president will inform Japan about their standing, which will become permanent at negotiations.

[denydenydeny]

“Russia has no spare territory”...“We’ll protect the islands, our fatherland,”

It is to laugh.

The Russian population shrinks every day. They can barely keep actual Russian cities running, let alone islands that most of these vodka-soaked lunatics couldn't find on a map.

[lizol]

Yeah, I like the "fatherland" thing mostly.

The Kuril Islands are known in Japanese as the Chishima Islands, also known as the Kuriru Islands. (...)

The islands were inhabited primarily by the Ainu and were being explored and settled by the Russians and Japanese in the 18th and 19th centuries. The border between the two empires was established in 1875, when Japan inherited the islands (Treaty of Saint Petersburg) in exchange for ceding Sakhalin to Russia. Russia reclaimed them after World War II (Treaty of San Francisco), but Japan maintains a claim to the four southernmost islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan, and the Habomai rocks, together called the Northern Territories (see Kuril Islands Dispute).(...)

Today, roughly 30,000 people (ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Tatars, Koreans, Nivkhs, Oroch, and Ainu) inhabit the Kuril Islands. About half of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the regional administration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands

[mym]

Russia offered 2 of 4 islands to Japan several years ago. Japan rejected since they wanted all 4 islands. So they'll get nothing.

Japan need Russia more than Russia need Japan. Russia, Japan sign WTO, energy, anti-terrorism documents - we (Russians) got all we need from Japan. And Kurils are ours.

[lizol]

Sure they are. It's one of the results of war.

But calling them "fatherland"? Well ...

[dfwgator]

I thought it was the "Rodina" (motherland), not Fatherland. "Fatherland" is more German.

[lizol]

Youre probably right, that it was "rodina" originally in Russian.
But in the article it's translated as "fatherland".

In Polish it would be "ojczyzna", which is also feminine (like Russian "rodina"), but means "land of fathers" (which is masculine).