Some social media users said Dzhokar Tsarnaev was Czech when he is Chechen. Czech official: We're not Chechen

The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two separate places, and the Czech ambassador to the U.S. wishes social media users would get that straight in the wake of news that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings are Chechen.

“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,” said Amb. Petr Gandalovic said in a statement posted on Friday night. “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.”


On Twitter and elsewhere, some social media users were saying that Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev, who were named as suspects in Monday’s bombings, were Czech when in fact the Tsarnaevs are Chechen.

“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,” the ambassador continued. “We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.”