Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
| Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev Зелимхан Яндарбиев |
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| 2nd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria | |
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In office April 21, 1996 – February 12, 1997 acting |
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| Preceded by | Dzhokhar Dudayev |
| Succeeded by | Aslan Maskhadov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 12, 1952 Vydrika, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | February 13, 2004 (aged 51) Doha, Qatar |
| Nationality | Chechen |
| Political party | VDP, NCChP |
| Spouse(s) | Malika Yandarbiyeva |
| Profession | Writer |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Zelimkhan Abdulmuslimovich Yandarbiyev (Chechen: Яндарбин Абдулмуслиман-кIант Зелимха, Russian: Зелимхан Абдулмуслимович Яндарбиев, also spelled Yandarbiev) (September 12, 1952 – February 13, 2004) was a Chechen writer and a politician, who served as acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria between 1996 and 1997. In 2004 Yandarbiyev was killed in exile in Qatar.
Originally a literary scholar, poet and children's literature writer Yandarbiyev became a leader in the Chechen nationalist movement as the Soviet Union began to collapse. In July 1989, he founded the Bart (Unity) Party, a secular democratic party that promoted the unity of Caucasian ethnic groups against "Russian imperialism". In May 1990, he founded and led the Vainakh Democratic Party (VDP), the first Chechen political party, which was committed to an independent Chechnya. The VDP initially represented both Chechen and Ingush until their split after Chechnya's declaration of independence from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
In November 1990 he became a deputy chairman to the newly formed All-National Congress of the Chechen People (NCChP), which was led by Dzhokhar Dudayev and which ousted the Soviet-era leadership. With Dudayev, he signed an agreement with Ingush leaders splitting the joint Chechen-Ingush republic in two. In the first Chechen parliament, from 1991–1993, Yandarbiyev headed the media committee. Since 1991 he served as Vice-President of the self-proclaimed republic.
In April 1996, following the assassination of his predecessor Dzhokhar Dudayev, he became an Acting President. In late May 1996, Yandarbiyev headed a Chechen delegation that met President of Russia Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Chernomyrdin for peace talks at the Kremlin that resulted in the signature of a ceasefire agreement on May 27, 1996.
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