60 People Detained After Anti-Semitic Protests in Makhachkala

The law enforcement agencies of Dagestan have detained 60 participants in the riots at Makhachkala airport. More than 150 people have been identified. The airport remains closed. Sixty people have been detained after an anti-Semitic riot at Makhachkala airport in which hundreds of people stormed the airport building and infiltrated the airfield in search of Israelis and Jews. “More than 150 active participants in the riots have been identified,” the press service of the Russian Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for the North Caucasus Federal District said on 30 October. All detainees “have been brought to territorial police departments for further proceedings.” As a result of the riots, nine police officers were injured, two of them were hospitalized, the agency claimed. According to local law enforcement, Makhachkala airport is “under full control”, while it remains closed and incoming flights are diverted to other airports. Federal Agency for Air Transport said the airport would reopen on 31 October. “The airport will resume operations only after security agencies conduct a thorough inspection of the airport terminal, airfield and the surrounding area,” the agency stated. However, in the afternoon of 30 October, Federal Agency for Air Transport reported that Makhachkala airport resumed the reception and departure of flights from 14.00 Moscow time. At the same time, flights of Azimut and Red Wings airlines from Tel Aviv to Mineralnye Vody and Makhachkala will be temporarily directed to other Russian cities. On the evening of 29 October, the Dagestan department of the Russian Investigative Committee instituted a criminal case under the article on mass riots. Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin said that the progress of the investigation “has been put under control”. Head of Dagestan Sergey Melikov, commenting on the riots at Makhachkala airport at the press conference, said that “there will be no mercy for anyone”. According to him, “many facts are registered, video and photo fixation was conducted, so no one should escape responsibility”. The head of Dagestan blamed “enemies” for the riots Melikov blamed “enemies” for organizing the riots at Makhachkala airport. “It is no secret that attempts to destabilize the situation in Dagestan and create a protest background, including using prohibited methods related to inflaming inter-ethnic discord, inter-confessional problems, are carried out by our enemies,” Melikov claimed. According to him, the Telegram channel “Utro Dagestan”, which has reported that “refugees from Israel” will allegedly arrive in Dagestan, is “regulated” from Ukraine by “traitors and banders”. “Utro Dagestan” was launched by former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, but after the beginning of anti-Semitic riots, he said he had nothing to do with it for more than a year. Last weekend, a wave of anti-Semitic actions spanned across the North Caucasus. In addition to the airport’s assault, a spontaneous anti-Israeli protest was held in Makhachkala. The same rally took place in Cherkessk, the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia. In the capital of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Nalchik, unknown people set fire to a Jewish religious national-cultural community center under construction. In the city of Khasavyurt in the Republic of Dagestan, a crowd gathered outside the Flamingo Hotel, demanding proof that there were no Jews inside. The crowd threw stones in the direction of the hotel and shouted “Allahu Akbar”.