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The Internet is the most important instrument in the hands of the Adygi activists in their dealing with the Chercessian problem and the Olympic subject. One of the most popular information-analytical webportals is www.elot.ru. It has virtually turned into a political platform of the Chercessian youth movement.
Unfortunately, the "answer" of the Russian state to the "Chercessian question" is unsatisfactory. Experience shows that federal and republican officials prefer not to object the "genocide of Adygis," on the contrary, they try to seek favors of ethnic activists who endlessly harp on the "Chercessian problem." This is shown, among other things, by their frequent meetings and discussions with these persons, helping the latter express their views detrimental to the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, government officials in charge of domestic policy should express the views of the Russian state on the pressing problems of history and our time and make concrete statements reflecting Russian national interests.
"Problemy sotsialno-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya yuzhnogo makroregiona," Rostov-on-Don, 2012, pp. 131-137.
V. Vasilenko,
D. Sc. (Political Sciences), Professor, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, V. Malyshev,
Post-graduate student, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration ISLAMIC EXTREMISM IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS
While examining the role of Islam in the development of Russia one can single out both internal and external factors in this religion.
In the light of the former, Islam can be regarded as a form of national-religious self-identification of the Moslem part of the population of Russia. On the other hand, it can be viewed as an instrument of the struggle for power of the religious Islamic elite under the slogan of national liberation.
An analysis of the current situation shows that many national and socio-political associations of the North Caucasian republics pursue a policy aimed at creating a uniform Islamic state under the guise of the need to revive the culture, customs and habits of the indigenous peoples. The religious situation in the region enables one to conclude that the greater part of devout Muslims in the North Caucasus regard the revival of religion as a method of restoring the self-consciousness of their people and their national and cultural traditions and customs.
The leaders and active members of national movements pursuing their ambitious political aims maintain stable connections with the functionaries of the existing Islamic organizations operating in the region, although a majority of the population is not inclined as yet to identify religious relations with national ones.
The stepping up of the activities of Islamic organizations in the region is going on against the backdrop of excessive tolerance, even conniving, of certain bodies of power in the North Caucasian republics of the Russian Federation and the absence of the necessary legislative basis and the wish to improve the existing situation. Such situation is in the interests of the local elite which wishes to enhance its potential electorate, receive money donations from Islamic countries, and at the same time to give legal access of the pro-Islamic forces to the levers of power. The development of the situation in this direction may bring Islamic fundamentalists to state power.
The political opposition is often using Islamic slogans. However, it is still unable to create a serious competition to the powers that be in
most regions. Yet, in some places, Dagestan for example, its weight and influence are always on an increase, and its coming to power, at least in one city or district, cannot be excluded. In other parts of Russia, where Islam is traditionally widespread, it is highly probable that radical Islamic political leaders may penetrate the ruling elites and take certain key positions there.
Another danger is a combination of Islamic political radicalism with nationalism and separatism. In most North Caucasian republics of the Russian Federation the nationalist-separatist forces have become weaker to a certain extent. They have suffered defeat in regional and local elections, but are striving to win back the lost political positions using the potential of more attractive Islamic organizations. A combination of national-separatism with politicized Islam can engender, or increase, interethnic tension in the region. Besides, such combination enhances the political potential of confessional and nationalistic movements and gives a new impetus to the formation of all and sundry alliances and blocs which are far from loyal to the federal authorities.
In the context of external factors Islam can be viewed as the agent of influence of the leading Muslim states on the Muslims of Russia, and on the other hand, as an instrument of the influence of Russia in the Islamic world.
The rapid spreading of Islam in the 1970s - 1990s radically changed the character of international relations, including the aspect of ensuring national security of Russia. In this context special attention should be paid to the ambitions of certain Islamic countries to make the Muslim world an independent center of force, the real impact of Islam on the formation of a multipolar world, the attempts of the United States and certain West European countries to play the Islamic card to the detriment of the national interests of Russia, and to penetration into
Russia of agents of influence of unfriendly foreign Islamic centers and their attempts to influence our country's life.
The coordinated actions of Muslim states, primarily Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, whose religious centers, official circles, special services and non-governmental organizations, using Islam, are striving to ensure favorable conditions to exert influence on the development of the political and economic situation in the North Caucasian region, which gives grounds to regard the spreading of Islam as one of the threats to the security of Russia in the region.
The North Caucasus, due to its geopolitical position and ethno-confessional structure of the population, occupies a special place in the inter-confessional processes in modern Russia. The region is inhabited by over 100 nationalities and ethnic groups, among which are Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians and other Russian-language groups comprising 74 percent of the population. There are Dagestanis -7.6 percent, Vainakhs - 6.2 percent, Turks - 4.5 percent, Abkhaz-Adygis - 3.4 percent. The total number of the population of the region is about 17 million.
The Islamic infrastructure is growing and developing in the North Caucasian republics. From the point of view of ensuring the security of Russia, the spreading of Wahhabi ideas initiated and financed by the special services of a number of Arab countries within the framework of the program of destabilizing the situation and wresting the North Caucasus from Russia is the most dangerous phenomenon. The Wahhabi movement is one of the main sources of spreading Islamic terrorism in the North Caucasus.
The orientation of various Islamic organizations of Russia to foreign Muslim centers is causing justified concern. The desire of the Russian Islamic circles to rely on support from the Islamic world often
leads to their succumbing to the influence of political and geopolitical views from abroad. Such influence penetrates the country through the network of educational institutions organized in Russia on the money from one or another Muslim country, and also as a result of the study of Russian students at foreign Islamic educational centers.
It should be said that a greater part of Russian students receives Muslim education at the most radical Islamic educational establishments. No wonder that in a number of Muslims districts of Russia the influence of Islamic radicals, bellicose Muslim fundamentalists and various Muslim sects has been growing recently. The number of people who have received Islamic education abroad after the disintegration of the U.S.S.R. has exceeded ten thousand. However, the absence of a government-controlled policy in the sphere of Islamic education increases the threat of the most extremist trends of Islam penetrating Russia.
There is also a serious threat in opposing Russian Muslims to the rest of Russia as a "Christian Orthodox state." More facts have become known of the hostile attitude of Muslims to the Russian Orthodox Church.
A characteristic feature of Islam is the combination of religious and secular laws. In contrast to Christianity, Islam does not know of the division of legislation into canonic and secular law. The premises of the Koran are the "laws of direct action" for any devout Muslim, embracing his entire life, both religious and secular.
However, the socio-economic and political life of the peoples of the North Caucasus is based on secular state laws, but not the Sharia law. Speaking of the role of Islam in the life of the people living in the North Caucasian republics, it should be said that it is taken not only as a complex of religious dogmas and rites and rituals, but also as a sum total of everyday rules of life, and customs and habits on its basis which
are observed even by people indifferent to religion. The cultural and historical past of the North Caucasian peoples is, in one way or another, connected with Islam. Recently, more and more young people have displayed growing interest in religion and have actively been drawn closer to Islam. More Muslims are striving to unite the spiritual life of the Caucasian mountain dwellers - Chercessians, Abazins, Karachais, Nogais, and others.
According to approximate data, the number of Muslim believers in present-day Russia is more than twelve million. The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation reported that by January 1, 1996, there were 43 Muslim spiritual centers and boards, which carried on independent administrative and canonic activity (at present their number is sixty), 102 religious schools of different level, six missions, and 2,501 registered Islamic religious societies. But the real number of these institutions is much greater, because in some regions they are set up without special permission and registration.
On the territory of the North Caucasus alone there are eight functioning spiritual boards, 320 mosques, more than 400 madrasahs, and nine schools training Muslim priests. It should be noted that Islam is spread unevenly on North Caucasian territory. It is the most influential in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Karachay-Chercessia and Adygea. The network of functioning Islamic organizations is the most widespread in Daghestan - about one thousand; in Chechnya and Ingushetia their number is up to 500 in each, and in Karachay-Chercessia and Kabarda-Balkaria up to one hundred in each.
Penetration of Islam in the territory of the present-day Karachay-Chercessian Republic has been going on for 200 years. The main trend of Islam there is Sunnism of Khanafite mazkhab.
This religious trend is developing and strengthening its positions thanks to the activity of the Abu Khanif Islamic Institute in the city of
Cherkessk, where young men from 17 to 35 are studying in accordance with the Sharia standards and the curricula worked out in foreign Islamic centers. The teaching staff consists mainly of foreign instructors. The teaching process is in strict accordance with the Sharia demands and Sunna Muslim teaching of Khanafite mazkhab, which do not contradict the principles of a secular state. Representatives of this Islamic institute call for peace and accord with Christians and people of other faiths. It is indicative that the heads of this institute declined offers of financial support from representatives of reactionary foreign organizations, despite its rather unfavorable financial position.
Almost all eighty Muslim organizations officially registered in the Karachay-Chercessian Republic function under the guidance of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Karachay-Chercessia and Stavropol Territory. It should be noted that supporters of the Wahhabi trend have stepped up their activity there. There are 35 Wahhabi cells uniting up to 1,700 people who formed 14 "jamaats." The emergence and activity of Wahhabi Muslims societies in Karachay-Chercessia are due to support from foreign reactionary Islamic centers propagating Wahhabi ideas, the existence of foreign Islamic educational institutions in the republic, as well as trips of young men from the republic to other countries (Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia) to study there.
The Republic of Ingushetia is situated geographically in the zone called the "green belt of Islamic states in the South of Russia" by Islamic leaders. Islamic customs there are based on and supported by the way of life. The stable Islamic traditions are historically strengthened by the division of the population into families (clans) and Muslim fraternities with intertwined family and religious ties which make it difficult for new ideas or religious trends to penetrate this medium.
In the early 1990s there were about fifty Muslim fraternities in the Chechen-Ingush Republic. More than ten of them were in Ingushetia.
Despite the fact that the processes going on in the socio-political life of Russia have resulted in a certain erosion of moral foundations and religious views, the authority of fraternities is still strong and influential, especially in the religious sphere.
The 1st congress of republican Muslims was held in 1994 which set up the Spiritual center of Muslims of Ingushetia. It is a public body managing religious affairs in the republic. It concentrates efforts primarily on creating a system of Islamic education and establishing international Islamic connections. With this aim in view it maintains ties with public and government organizations in the countries of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and in its close neighbors, that is, some republics of the former Soviet Union.
Islam is popularized in Ingushetia through government bodies and also through international Islamic charity and educational organizations.
In June 2011 the First republican youth forum took place in Ingushetia which discussed problems of opposing extremism. The situation in the republic remains rather tense. The level of radicalism is rather high and the ranks of the armed underground are growing.
International Islamic organizations have stepped up their activity in the republic recently. They render material assistance to individuals and help young people go abroad to receive religious education.
Apart from increasing number of representatives of international Islamic organizations coming to the republic and their growing influence on the domestic situation, further Islamization of Ingushetia was largely due to the presence of over a thousand certified theologians
trained in various countries of the Islamic world, whose sentiments and activity are definitely anti-Russian.
The development of the situation in Chechnya has given a great impetus to Islamization, especially its extremist and reactionary Wahhabi trend.
In Kabarda-Balkaria there are Wahhabi cells in almost all districts of the republic, uniting up to a thousand men, as well as two groups of "jamaats" in the cities of Nalchik and Baksan. Most of the emirs of the jamaat groups have received military training in special camps of Islamic extremists.
There is information that militant groups headed by real bandits have plans to unfold combat actions, carry out terrorist acts in the North Caucasian region, and also seize power from the weak secular administrative bodies. According to sources, religious extremists plan to establish a Sharia state in Kabarda-Balkaria by a change of the demographic situation in the republic, active propaganda of Islam, especially among young people, and a plebiscite on life according to the Sharia law. The supporters of this idea have set up the republican "Shura" in Kabarda-Balkaria, which they regard as an element of Islamic statehood.
The situation in Daghestan is dangerous from the point of view of the uncontrolled spreading of Wahhabi ideas. The activities of their supporters are aimed at wresting the Republic of Daghestan from the Russian Federation and based on the experience of Chechen separatists. In their view, the seizure of power in the republic is only a matter of time. The practical transparency of the borders with Azerbaijan allows the local Wahhabis to receive illegally from abroad everything necessary for their activity. The bodies of power and official clergy do not have enough influence and ability to restrain the subversive work of the Wahhabi elements in the Republic of Daghestan.
The growing number of Wahhabi cells has been noted in the zone of residence of supporters of Islamic fundamentalism on the territory of Daghestan and Ingushetia, as well as on Stavropol Territory. Militant "jamaats" have been formed in many of these cells. It should be specially noted that practically all Wahhabi cells and jamaats in the North Caucasian region are under strict control of the religious extremist leaders of the Council of field commanders. The financing of jamaat groups and Wahhabi cells is a secret matter, printed and video materials are spread through bribing government officials and Wahhabi emissaries who have penetrated bodies of power. Representatives of the official clergy serving at mosques are replaced with young imams trained at Islamic educational centers abroad in Wahhabi spirit.
The Wahhabi elements are actively drawing to their ranks new supporters, primarily from among young men, and use money donations for this. Replenishments of the Wahhabi ranks consist of religious fanatics, economically backward and poor people, as well as criminals.
The spreading of Islamic ideology in the Republic of Daghestan is widely used by the special services and Islamic centers of the leading Islamic countries, primarily Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan for intelligence and subversive purposes. The situation becomes still worse due to the absence of a really functioning government or public body which could coordinate the activity of religious organizations without interfering in their internal affairs. The former Spiritual Board of Muslims of Daghestan which functioned previously has split into three religious associations formed on the national principle, and their activity is aimed, above all, at strengthening their own prestige and taking the leading position in Daghestan.
There are now 1,670 functioning mosques, 310 madrasahs, 14 Muslim higher educational establishments and three Islamic parties in the republic. The mosques have 650 schools attached to them. About 3,500 imams and muezzins are serving at various religious organizations. During the past decade more than 1,500 young men have gone to ten Muslim countries to study.
Daghestani Wahhabis are striving for unity with other extremist organizations and separatist and nationalistic circles in the neighboring republics. For example, they have established close contacts with their fellow-thinkers in Chechnya. This alliance can lead to the violation of the territorial integrity of Russia and create a new independent state of an Islamic Republic type in the future.
The foremost task of the Wahhabi elements is the destabilization of the situation, disintegration and collapse of Ingushetia and Daghestan as parts of the Russian Federation. In experts' opinion, this task will be achieved through the existing Islamic educational institutions of Wahhabi orientation and field commanders organizing kidnapping of people. The main source of spreading and popularizing Wahhabi ideas and practices is the "Al Bir" madrasah in Malgobek.
It should be said that many religious leaders of the republic supported by a considerable part of its population have a negative attitude toward the activity of the Wahhabi elements.
In many parts of the Russian Federation where Muslims comprise a majority of believers Wahhabi ideas are banned. Such bans were initiated in the Republic of Daghestan in September 1999, as well as in other parts of Russia - Ingushetia, Kabarda-Balkaria and Karachay-Chercessia. In July 2001 the head of the Provisional administration of the Chechen Republic issued an order banning the activity of Wahhabi religious organizations and groups.
We should pay attention to the political course of a number of Islamic states directed to achieving selfish strategic aims in the South of Russia. In long-term perspective the activities of the special services, governmental and non-governmental bodiex and religious Muslim centers of certain Middle East countries, primarily, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Iran, are aimed at creating a mountain state in the North Caucasian region dependent on the above countries, with the subsequent ousting of Russia from this strategically important region and the formation of a "sanitary Islamic cordon." It is from these positions that we should regard the support by these countries of the activity of the Confederation of the Caucasian Peoples and other nationalist radical movements, and their financial and other assistance with the use of special services and the mountain diaspora in the Middle East countries.
While recruiting supporters, the Wahhabi elements use the concept of "Muslim solidarity." At the same time they brand adherents of classical Islam and all Muslims outside their religious trend as "infidels."
It is indicative that the Wahhabi emir in Chechnya, the Saudi Arab Abdurrahman has issued a "fetwa" allowing slave trade and kidnapping with a view to getting ransom. The armed gangs of Wahhabis have invaded peaceful Daghestan, killed many people, including Muslims, but were eventually defeated and driven out.
Wahhabi teaching is extremist and inciting to activity aimed against the rights and freedoms of citizens, spreading war propaganda, fanning national and religious enmity and conflicts, violating state security and public law and order, organizing illegal armed units, and forcibly changing the constitutional structure of the Russian Federation.
Islamic extremism has no difference from any other form of ideological coercion. It is intolerant toward representatives of other confessions and trends even within Islam itself.
The attitude of radical Islam to the states inhabited by people of other faiths is based on the concept of "sacred war" contained in the Koran and evolved in the lifetime of the first caliphs. According to this concept, Islam should wage a constant war against all infidels and adherents of other faiths until they are either killed or completely suppressed.
Islam is used as an instrument by dishonest politicians and religious leaders for reaching their own aims. Modern political institutions and administrative bodies are objects of the aggressive attacks of religious extremists, which, as they claim, are the main obstacle in the way of establishing the foundations of a new religious order.
Religious extremism is a socio-political movement striving to influence the social development process proceeding from religious-legal standards and theological dogmas. Religious extremism does not differ from any other form of ideological coercion. It is expressed in absolute intolerance toward representatives of other confessions or in a confrontation within any one confession.
Religious terrorism is the extreme form of religious intolerance and hatred, the tactics or strategy of religious groups expressed in systematic, organized and religiously founded use of terror for achieving certain aims.
It should be said that religious extremism has never been expressed or manifested in "pure form." As a rule, the true causes of religious conflicts have always been economic and political interests. For example, the real reasons for spreading Wahhabi ideas are the desire of certain Islamic states, Saudi Arabia, first and foremost, to
expand their sphere of political influence, and also to regulate demand-supply and price formation on the world oil market.
Assessing the general situation in the North Caucasian region it should be noted that the Islamic factor has made a very negative impact on its development. Such course of events creates prerequisites for disintegration, local ethno-confessional and ethno-territorial conflicts, and the isolation of the North Caucasian republics from Russia, which will ultimately lead to the establishment of geopolitical control of Muslim countries over this vitally important region of Russia.
With a view to stabilizing the socio-political situation in the region and preventing threats to the security and territorial integrity of Russia from Islamic extremism it is necessary to evolve and implement a comprehensive program of protecting security of the South of Russia, including political, economic, social, legal and military-strategic aspects.
The possible radicalization of Muslims under the impact of extremist Islamic organizations in central regions of Russia (Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kalmykia), as well as the growing influence of radical Islamism in Siberia and the Russian Far East against the backdrop of socio-economic disarray should not be excluded.
The anti-Russian forces in the West and in the Muslim world render broad support to Islamic extremists in Russia. They instill in the minds of Russian Muslims the idea of their "isolation from the united Muslim world," "infringement of the rights of the Muslim population," or its "inadequate representation in the state legislative and executive bodies." Attempts are being undertaken to present Russia as the "main enemy of Muslims in the world." Islamic extremism is used for creating and maintaining constant seats of tension in the North Caucasus.
We now observe the expansionist claims of the Islamic world fanned by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, and extremist
organizations of certain Asian and African countries, attempts are undertaken in certain countries to push Islamic and Orthodox Christian civilizations onto the path of confrontation, turn Russia into a testing ground, and use it as a buffer against the penetration of Islamic extremism in Western Europe.
Apart from that, in such parts of the Russian Federation as Daghestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kabarda-Balkaria, Adygea, Karachay-Chercessia, and some others, hidden preparations are being made for the creation of a separate national Islamic state independent from Russia and with an international status. This process is called "creeping separatism," but nobody talks of it openly now.
In view of the above-said concerning the Islamic factor and its influence on the separatist tendencies in Russia it is necessary to step up the efforts of all bodies of power to fight separatism in the parts of the Russian Federation inhabited by people with traditional Muslim faith.
The struggle against Islamic extremism should be waged with reliance on and support from Muslims themselves and their spiritual and public leaders. The state should act together with the loyal representatives of the Muslim clergy and heads of Islamic public and political organizations.
The number of Russian Muslim students going to study in countries with the strong influence of the radical Islamic circles should be limited.
As to teachers and instructors invited from abroad, they should adhere to moderate Islamic orientation.
Wahhabi teaching should be banned in Russia because it is in sharp contradiction with the Russian constitutional principles and legal standards, which envisage the right of the citizens of the Russian Federation to freedom of conscience. But Wahhabi teaching contains
standards and concepts oriented to unlawful activities running counter to the Law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations.
"Voprosy natsionalnykh i federativnykh otnoshenii," Moscow, Issue 3(18), 2012, pp. 153-171.
R. Nazarov, Ph. D. (Philosophy), V. Aliyeva, Ph. D. (Philosophy), S. Ganiyev, Post-graduate student, Institute of History, Uzbek Academy of Sciences MONITORING THE ETHNOPOLITICAL SITUATION. THE CIS COUNTRIES. UZBEKISTAN
Demography. According to the data of the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the number of the republican population increased by 1.5 percent in 2011, and reached 29 million 559.1 thousand in 2012. There were 626,900 newly-born babies. The number of the deceased was 144,700. The population surplus was 435,700 people. The towns and cities account for 51 percent of the country's population (15 million 069,600). The rural areas are inhabited by 49 percent (1,489,500). The ethnic composition of the population is as follows: Uzbeks - 80 percent, Tajiks - five percent, Russians - 4.5 percent, Kazakhs - 3.5 percent, Kara-Kalpaks - two percent, Tatars -1.1 percent, Kyrgyz - one percent, Turkmen - 0.7 percent, Koreans -0.6 percent. In all, the republic is inhabited by representatives of more than 130 nationalities and ethnic groups. The able-bodied people account for 68.8 percent.
Family problem. The republican center "Oila" ("Family") attached to the Women's Committee of Uzbekistan has submitted amendments to the Family Code with a view to raising the age limit of girls for marriage from 17 to 18 years. The Center's experts note that 17-year-old girls are not yet ready for motherhood and family responsibility. During the past year there were 283,000 registered
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