Chechnya is a region in the Northern Caucasus which has constantly fought against foreign rule, beginning with the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. In the late 18th century (1785) Russia began trying to conquer Chechnya, and finally succeeded by 1859. However, the Chechens always took the opportunity to revolt whenever they thought they could get away with it, usually when Russia was otherwise occupied with war or internal weakness. They revolted during the Russo-Turkish war (1877), the Russian revolutions (1905 and 1917), and during World War 2. This last revolt resulted in much of the Chechen population being deported to Siberia and Kasakhstan until 1956. With the impending collapse of the Soviet Union, an independence movement, the Chechen National Congress, formed in 1990. This movement was ultimately opposed by the Russian Federation, which argued: (1) Chechnya had not been an independent entity within the Soviet Union but was a part of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic and hence did not have a right under the Soviet constitution to secede; (2) Other ethnic groups inside Russia would join the Chechens and secede from the Russian Federation if they were granted that right; and (3) Chechnya was at a major chokepoint in the oil-infrastructure of the country and hence would hurt the country's economy and control of oil resources. Today, Chechen separatists still claim an independent Chechnya and have orchestrated terrorist attacks in the republic and within Russia itself. These attacks have ranged from mass hostage-takings to rail, subway, and suicide bombings. The Chechen desire for independence from Russia is only partly due to the fact that they are Muslims; the Chechen people have always resisted foreign rule even before they converted to Islam.