"In the century that they have lived together, Central Asia and Russia have united through many economic bonds. But in spirit, these countries are alien to us. You can see this in their rising nationalistic impulses today. There has even been an international conference held on the need to form a single great Islamic state stretching from Alma-Ata to the Turkish shores of the Mediterranean. And this plan is by no means just a fantasy! I regard Russia's conquest of Central Asia in the 19th century as a mistake. Today I don't see any future for Russians living there and consider the government's top priority to be helping the refugees to resettle in Russia. Russia made a similar mistake, going back to the time of Boris Godunov, when she took on the responsibility of helping out Georgia and Armenia in the Trans-Caucasus, and thus got entangled in the interminable Caucasian war of the 19th century. We have no business being in the Trans-Caucasus, and we should be bringing Russian refugees out of there."