Czech Republic And Chechnya Are Different, Ambassador Reminds Twitter

Ever since the identities of the two Boston bombing suspects and their Chechen origins were revealed, social media has been flooded with interest over the Tsarnaev brothers’ home country, the Czech Republic. Err … Chechnya. Which one is it again?

This exact confusion is why the Czech Ambassador to the U.S. issued a statement on Friday to help confused tweeps appreciate the difference between the two countries. Namely, that they are two different countries.

The basic difference (aside from the name) is that Chechnya is a republic under Russian control while the Czech Republic is a parliamentary, landlocked country in Central Europe. A lot of supermodels come from there, too.

Anyway, the confusion resulted in a number of minor Twitter dust-ups, with “Chechnya” trending pretty high most of the day Friday. Czech ambassador Petr Gandalovi? noticed (because apparently he has nothing to do but surf Twitter all day) and released a statement noting his concern with Americans who need to brush up on their geography.

“As many I was deeply shocked by the tragedy that occurred in Boston earlier this month. It was a stark reminder of the fact that any of us could be a victim of senseless violence anywhere at any moment,” Gandalovi? wrote.

But …

“As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities – the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.

“As the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman noted in his message to President Obama, the Czech Republic is an active and reliable partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.”

Appreciating the difference does count, too. While the Czech Republic has pledged their unquestioning aid to the U.S., Chechnya’s leader pretty much blamed us for the Boston bombing and for turning the two Chechen suspects into evil terrorists with our Western influence.

So the least we can do is not confuse the Czech Republic for Chechnya.