Isthatrite

Can you explain a little bit about the separatist movement in Chechnya regarding why they wish to be independent from the Russian federation?

Is this a sectarian issue down the Sunni/Shia split, just more of an independence movement, or something else? Also, what is the typical public opinion in Chechnya today with regard to the separatist idea?

Hi Ms. Atwood, thanks for doing this.

I really loved Oryx and Crake, and I'm working on Year of the Flood.

I have been curious about your book Surfacing. It seems to have such a different style from the others I have read. What would you say was your main intention for a reader to get out of that story?

Oh, that is very surprising. I hope you will forgive my asking a clarifying question.

My understanding was that perhaps one element of the Russian hesitancy to become involved in Syria was related to the Syrian rebel groups being predominantly Sunni muslims, and that this harkened back to the Chechen conflicts in which Sunni groups among Chechens participated in escalations of the violence at that time. There was an implication that the two conflicts are somehow connected in Putin's mind.

Would you be willing to expand on that issue and the sentiment of Chechens with regard to the Syrian conflict?