Alu Alkhanov said the current name has a negative connotation.
He said he has instructed the region's information and press minister to begin meeting with experts and representatives of public organizations to search for a new name.
Alkhanov said one possibility is to rename Chechnya the Republic of Nokhchiin.
(Interfax, AP)
The Chechnya Conflict
The Chechnya Conflict
The aftermath of a December 2002 Chechen resistance attack on the main government building in Grozny (epa)
CHRONOLOGY
The fighting in Chechnya has raged, with short breaks, since 1994. It has brought misery, death, and destruction to the North Caucasus republic and to Russia as a whole. View an annotated timeline of the conflict.
