We found ourselves in the occupied city

The Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region was negotiating with protesters for two hours. Here is the summary of their conversation

On the evening of May 13, a spontaneous action of residents was held in Yekaterinburg, dissatisfied with the construction of the Church of St. Catherine in the square in the city center. The protesters demolished the fence that appeared in the square in the morning; In response, people who called themselves "the defenders of the temple" applied force. The confrontation lasted all night. The next day, the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region Yevgeny Kuyvashev gathered representatives of both parties to listen to their arguments. The meeting lasted more than two hours. Medusa listened to the recording and made a squeeze of the main theses of supporters of the construction of the temple in Yekaterinburg and their opponents.

Opponents of the construction of the temple on the site of the square:

We do not need this confrontation. People come to protect their favorite place. Our position is a search for a solution that would satisfy everyone.

We tried all democratic and legal methods - courts, appeals to the president. They tried to start a dialogue with representatives of the Holy Catherine and Administration, but none of them went for it.

We did not provoke what happened yesterday. Now this situation is already not controlled by us. The point of no return is passed. People realized that they did not have the opportunity to be heard, although they want this.

All this would not have happened if we sat down at the negotiating table before. Now you need to reset the situation - remove the fence.

There are no conspiracies and sponsors - according to polls, 40% of residents against the temple. There are people who will protest against the temple, wherever it is. But there are 1% of all who came yesterday. The rest come out to protect nature and square.

For constructive dialogue, mutual trust is necessary, but it is not. The townspeople woke up on May 13 and saw the fence, and inside - armed people. We seemed to find ourselves in the occupied city. You can not build a temple with machine guns and violence.

It is necessary to give a legal assessment of law enforcement agencies. The police did not respond to the use of force and gas by RMK fighters. Why do riot police and police guard them?

Let's find a place that suits everyone, and then choose a good project. Now people see concrete Byzantine walls 85 meters high and ask - why is this necessary? The temple must rally us, and not vice versa.

Supporters of the construction of the temple on the site of the square:

The only compromise for you is the transfer of the construction of the temple. But we understand that other people who are against.

All procedures were carried out. There was a decision of the City Duma, a public discussion of the project was underway on the website of the administration of Yekaterinburg. Only 300 voted against the temple of more than 3.5 thousand people.

People who suit all this need a hype. You realized that you do not have a legal mechanism, and they called people to the street.

It is strange to blame supporters of the construction of the temple of ignorance of the opinions and escalations of the conflict, when the peaceful citizens broke the fence, crushed the guards and occupied someone else's site.

We have been living in the reality of the “Surka Day” - all this has already been since 2010. For nine years we have been transferring the construction site - this is an indicator that we are ready for compromises. But in response, we received not a constructive dialogue, but a rebellion and riots.

We know that in the creative field there is never a consensus. That ballet, that the exhibition. And you offer the impossible - consensus.

Unfortunately, there is no trust in your position. There is respect for you as activists. There is even love. We will pray for you today and on other days so that we do not hate each other.

The transfer of a place is a spit in the face of those 20 thousand who came to the procession. These are also people. They are no worse than you.

Activists say they worry about the trees. Gather your active group, dig these trees and transfer to another place.

In our city there will always be people whose position we do not like. The fact that the Orthodox were silent for nine years, does not mean that they do not care. We just endured. It is dangerous to experience this patience.

I and my co -religionists have a very deep and still hidden injury on refusal [in construction] in a historical place. Unfortunately, the [Yekaterinburg site] E1 broadcasts insults against believers, the Patriarch.

It is very good that we sat down at this table. I think we proved our desire - we twice agreed to transfer the temple to another place for peace and love. Now we have the right to count on a concession on your part - for reasons of love and the world.

Please never trust in the police to be the main moderator of events. Yesterday, from my point of view, she behaved absolutely correctly. She should not interfere and disperse.

Opponents of construction:

The stumbling block is not that someone was not asked and the opinion was not taken into account-they will always be disagreed. But every time it is a public land. If this is a private initiative, let it be built on private land. Why is the emphasis in this square?

If people come out unhappy, it means that the law is imperfect. You must say many thanks to the people who go out to express their opinion on the streets. Thank God that people are not indifferent.

Let's ask the townspeople where they would like to be a temple. We are not against the temple and Orthodoxy. But offer the sites and let the townspeople choose. We still have democracy in the country. Not everyone voted for the president, but we all accepted him.

Supporters of construction:

We have one and a half million inhabitants in the city. It turns out that if the majority is according to the majority, and the person is 500 - do not agree, is it normal? You were 500 people yesterday. It turns out that the rest of the majority agree. Where is the logic?

The Orthodox temple is both spiritually and aesthetically good. I understand if we were discussing the shopping center.

Everything is repeated in history. When the Eiffel tower was built, the townspeople did not like it. A little time passed, and this was a brand of France. In Sochi, 95% of residents were against construction during the Olympics. Now they all believe that Sochi has become one of the best cities. I assure you that in 20 years this place will arrange everyone.

I can not represent such a discussion in Muslim countries - so that some people are against it. If we have the main religion of Orthodoxy, why do we have questions?

We were already compromising. Choose a new place of construction. They made a project not on a napkin, it cost money - this is also a compromise. An attempt to find further compromises is an attempt to blur the situation, to make it never ended. People do not admit this, they say that they are allegedly Orthodox - this is not true of course ...

- How do you decide who is Orthodox and who is not?

- There are criteria ... Anticleric fuse is connected to an anti -state mood. The church is only to blame for the fact that it finds a common language with the state. We, like the state, love our country - that's why we get! All patriotic forces falls.

You propose not to look for a secret conspiracy. And I am against. Let's look. There is an E1 representative here. How long has E1 become the media? You were an ordinary enemy voice of the Americans!

If someone did not like the fence, it was necessary to go to court. But when the democratic procedures did not suit you, you decided to demolish the fence, that is, you moved to terrorist actions. And the terrorists actually do not negotiate.

The governor offers to summarize the intermediate results:

I invited you to say that it happened yesterday. The terrible thing happened. There was a complete reason to bring to criminal liability for the destruction of property, but I insisted that no one be detained. Bodies will be in force within the law.

People went through hearings, made a project, drawn up documents, chose the site. There is no legitimate reason to cancel the construction.

I myself, maybe [a demolished television] tower liked it, but it is dangerous for life. She is unfinished, something is constantly flying from her, and I can’t complete her. The Winter Cherry could happen. And I decided to demolish her. And the protest acquired a political character. Like yesterday.

Now as for the temple. The temple stood once. Why do believers do not have the right to put a new one in the same place? They are for historical justice. In 200 years, there will be no Yeltsin Center, the drama theater-and the temple will remain.

I also read the Internet. Today, political processes are brewing. Somewhere artificially ... On your part there is an organized unauthorized action, you are its involuntary or free participants. I want to warn you from stupidity. Submit an application, hold a rally. And what happened yesterday is beyond.

Pavel Merzlikin, Irina Kravtsova, Sultan Suleimanov, Konstantin Benyumov