BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/02/2007

Belarusians Protest Construction Of Church Commemorating Russian General

The Batskaushchyna (Fatherland) World Association of Belarusians has petitioned the Belarusian authorities against the ongoing construction of an Orthodox church in the city of Kobryn, southwestern Belarus, Belapan reported on February 20. The church is expected to be named after Russian military commander Aleksandr Suvorov (1729-1800) who helped suppress the 1794 Polish national liberation revolt led by Belarusian-born Polish and American hero Thaddeus Kosciusko. The petition, signed also by members of the Belarusian Language Society and the Union of Belarusian Writers, was sent to Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski and Minsk and Slutsk Metropolitan Filaret, head of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. "Crimes against the Belarusian people were committed under the command of Suvorov. Batskaushchyna is against the construction of the monument that will become the symbolic justification of the bloodshed," Batskaushchyna Deputy Chairwoman Yelena Makouskaya told Belapan. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/02/3-cee/cee-210207.asp

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