The New York Analysis of Policy and Government concludes its examination of how Russia both provokes, and suffers from, Islamic extremism.
It would be misleading to ignore the horrendous acts of Islamic extremists in establishing the Russian antipathy towards Muslims. The Middle East Forum explains: “On September 1, 2004, a group of Chechen terrorists took hostage and two days later murdered at least 335 schoolchildren and parents in Beslan, a town in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. The atrocity focused world attention on Chechnya. The Russian government used the event to reiterate its arguments that Chechen terrorists and foreign jihadists supporting them have ideological, financial, and operational ties with Islamist terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda.[1] Although President Vladimir Putin and top Russian security officials provided evidence of links between Chechen fighters and Al-Qaeda, European politicians and mainstream Western journalists focused instead upon the Russian army’s brutality and dismissed Putin’s claims as an attempt to gain sympathy in the West and deflect criticism of Russia’s handling of a nationalist insurgency. Putin may have been opportunistic, but he was also correct. A close examination of the evolution of the Chechen movement indicates that Islamists and followers of Al-Qaeda have increasingly sought to co-opt the Chechen movement as their own.”
Whatever the underlying causes of the Russian-Chechen dispute, the murder of schoolchildren was unforgivable, and served at the very least as a substantive justification for the Kremlin to expand its repressive acts.
Aljazeera notes that Moscow’s takeover of Crimea has had a particular impact on Muslims. “The Turkic-speaking, Muslim ethnic group of 250,000, or about 12 percent of Crimea’s population, largely resisted the 2014 annexation of Crimea…They held protests, blocked highways and prevented Russian troops, armoured personnel carriers and tanks from entering their villages…Tatars are by far the largest stratum of Crimea’s population to face persecution, and their peaceful resistance is seen almost daily. Dozens flock to each search, arrest or court session. They post videos and comments online, triggering squalls of reposts and media reports…more than a dozen Tatars have disappeared without a trace; some were seen kidnapped by burly men, US-based Human Rights Watch said in November. Two were found dead. Hundreds of Tatars, most of them observant Muslims, have been arrested and interrogated, had their houses searched and religious books confiscated. At least 26 were sentenced to up to 15 years in jail on charges ranging from ‘separatism’ to ‘terrorism’ to ‘organisation of mass riots.’”
Writing in Politico, Colin P. Clark states that “ Russia is fast replacing the United States as the No. 1 enemy of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other Sunni jihadist groups motivated by violent and puritanical Salafist ideology. This shift is rooted in recent Russian actions in the Middle East—including its escalating intervention in Syria and its moves toward intervention in Libya with the recent deployment of special forces to an air base in Egypt—that have drawn the ire of militant Sunnis worldwide and elevated Russia as the jihadists’ top target. And if the Islamic State’s “caliphate” in Syria collapses and foreign fighters, an estimated 2,400 of whom are from Russia, attempt to return home and fix their sights on the Kremlin, the situation could dramatically worsen for Moscow.”
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Despite failing to provide a prosperous economy and leading a national government that is, essentially, a corrupt oligarchy, Vladimir Putin continues to enjoy popularity within Russia by casting himself as a bulwark against imaginary threats from western nations, and against threats, some real, some not, from Muslims, and some of which are reactions to his own repressive policies. Attacks by Islamic extremists have provided the Russian president with an excuse to expand his own powers and the intrusive actions of his intelligence services.
Illustration: Chechnya map, from Human Rights Watch