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openness of the economic sphere of political life. And this is possible only if the influence of the religious and political elite, that has ruled the country during more than 35 years, will weaken.
The author of the abstract - V.N. Schensnovich.
I. DOBAEV, A. DOBAEV. SOURCES AND FACTORS OF MODERN ACTIVATION OF TERRORISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST // The article is written by the authors for the Bulletin "Russia and the Moslem World" on 30.05.2016.
Keywords: Islamism, terrorism, the Middle East.
I. Dobaev,
Dr. Sc. (Philosophy),
Professor, Southern Federal University,
Rostov-on-Don
A. Dobaev,
Ph. D. (Economics), Regional Studies Center expert (Southern Federal University), Rostov-on-Don
The authors identify the causes of terrorism in the Middle East, reveal the internal and external factors of the conflicts that feed its modern activation. The modern terrorism, mostly based on the ideology of the radical Islamism, in the past two decades has become the subject of research of many domestic and foreign scientists [1]. It seems, however, impossible to understand the complex intricacies of its evolution and transformation without definition of the origins of terrorism in the very heart of the Islamic world - in the Middle East. The present article dwells upon this problem.
The origins of the modern Islamic terrorism, especially in the center of the Moslem world - in the Middle East - should be attributed to the time when establishment the colonial and semi-colonial systems in the region was completed, i.e. to the end of
the first world war. At that time the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire was divided between the Entente states on the basis of the secret "Sykes-Picot agreement" signed in 1916. Even at the time the backgrounds of Islamic terrorism were laid down, the most important of them in the period up to the early 80-ies of the XX century are the following [2, p. 99-105]:
- Emergence of the organizations, oppositional to colonial authorities resorting to methods of terror. For example, the first modern fundamentalist organization "Moslem Brotherhood" which emerged in Egypt in 1928-1929 took an active part in terrorist attacks against British troops in the Suez Canal zone. The aim of "Moslem Brotherhood" was to create in Egypt a society based on the dictates of the Quran and Sharia, in other words, through Islamization of, in the first turn, Egypt, they sought to recreate the Caliphate that had existed from the 7 century.
- Change of the parameters of the historical borders between the countries of the region occurred during the colonization. This fact was and still continues to be the cause of uprising of separatist movements, ethnic conflicts, border disputes and tensions between the states of the region. As a result, territorial claims are currently imposed by Saudi Arabia to Kuwait and Yemen, by Syria to Turkey, by Iraq to Kuwait and Iran, etc. In this regard, some researchers of the problem consider the boundaries arbitrarily demarked after the First World War, defined by the Entente, Britain and France, illegitimate.
- Emergence and subsequent lack of resolution of the so-called Armenian question. Having come to power, the Young Turks in 1915 organized the mass extermination of Armenians living on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. According to some reports, about 1.5 million people were killed and more than 600 thousand deported to the deserts of Mesopotamia.
The political party of the Armenian Diaspora "Dashnaktsu-tyun" began terrorist acts against leaders of the Young Turks.
Thus, the leadership of the party prepared and effected the operation "Nemesis" (named after the ancient Greek goddess
Nemesis) against the leaders of the Turkish party "Union and Progress" (in the historical literature they are known as the Young Turks). After the defeat of Turkey in the First World War (1914-1918), the leaders of the Young Turks and the leading figures of the Turkish government [Talaat (shot in Berlin on March 15, 1921), Enver (slashed by brigade commander Hakob Melkumyan in a cavalry battle during the struggle with the Basmachi in Turkestan), Naseem, Jemal (assassinated in Tiflis on July 25, 1922), Behaetdin Shakir (killed in Rome on December 5, 1921) and others ] were juridically sentenced in absentia to death by the decree of the Ottoman Empire of December 16, 1918 on the charges of involving Turkey in the war, organization of deportation and genocide of the Armenians [3, c. 1].
The 9 Congress of the Dashnaktsutyun party held in the autumn of 1919 in Yerevan took the decision to enforce the sentences against leaders of the Young Turks. 650 names of perpetrators and accomplices of genocide were concerned, 41 main culprits were selected. For implementation of the operation "Nemesis" the Congress formed up a responsible authority (headed by Armen Garo) and Special Fund (headed by Shaan Satkachlian). Operational command over the operation was entrusted to Shaan Natali and Grigor Merzhanov. Collection of the information for detection of the wanted persons was carried out under the management of Hrach Papazian, who managed to get into the top Turkish emigrational circles under the guise of a student [3, p. 1].
The operation "Nemesis" was carefully prepared, it had quite a definite goal - accomplishment of the revenge, and was highly efficient. In the course of its implementation groups of avengers consisting of 5 people took particular Turks under surveillance, and then one, sometimes two or three avengers enforced the sentence against the leaders of the Young Turks, who were as a rule, accompanied by personal bodyguards.
In addition to the leaders of the Young Turks heads of the operation "Nemesis" took the decision to terminate some of
the figures of Musavat Azerbaijani government, guilty, in their opinion, of organizing the massacres of the Armenians in Baku in September 1918: the former Prime Minister Fatali Khan Khoyski (June 1920), and the former Minister Behbud Khan Javanshir (July 1921), the organizer of the Armenian massacre in Shushi (Karabakh) [3, c. 2].
After establishment of the Soviet power in Armenia, the members of "Dashnaktsutyun" party were subjected to brutal repression. At that period the party launched its main activity abroad, within the diaspora, having established its headquarters in more than 100 countries. In comparison to other political organizations the diasporas of "Dashnaktsutyun" feature well-defined structure, orderliness and strict party discipline. Its whole structure, format of relationships between different cells is of distinctly paramilitary nature.
After legalization in the homeland in 1990 "Dashnakt-sutyun" immediately became actively involved in the Karabakh movement. A couple of pure Dashnak detachments, equipped and armed exclusively at the expense of the party, were created. Thanks to regular membership fees and donations of the fellow-party members from the diaspora, the party has stable sources of funding, and therefore the possibility to purchase quite significant quantities of weapons at the right time.
Parallel to the political component the party included also a secret organization "Dro" with the units responsible for the functions of political, military and economic intelligence operating within it. The militants of "Dro", whose task included termination of political opponents, were involved in a number of high-profile political assassinations in Armenia. The arsenals of the organization contained a large quantity of small arms and light weapons. All this gave President Ter-Petrosyan a handle to impose a ban on the activities of the "Dashnaktsutyun " party" as a whole [4, p. 105].
The ban was lifted by President Kocharian even in 1998, although the court decisions on involvement of some prominent
members of "Dashnaktsutyun" in political assassinations and preparation of the armed seizure of power were not legally removed. Taking into consideration the long experience of secret activities of the party and its commitment to violent methods of struggle, some analysts believe that even today the party may have armed units in its structures. This is also possible for the reason that "Dashnaktsutiun" enjoys certain patronage of the present authorities. However, no one is in possession of reliable data about the existence of such divisions [4, p. 105-106].
There also exist other Armenian terrorist groups. Among them, we can point out the "Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia" (ASALA) created in 1973, which for fifteen years had been carrying out terrorist acts not against specific individuals, organizers and perpetrators of the Armenian genocide in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey, but against representatives of Turkey, especially diplomats, around the world. It is on to them, that the organization shifted the blame for the atrocities of the Turkish government during the First World War, having actually no right to it [3, p. 2].
- Deprivation of the Kurdish people of their right to independence and establishment of their own state. The Kurds, listed among the "small Nations", which were promised independence at the end of the First World War by the British Prime Minister Lloyd George and the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, found themselves deceived. Same as before, they found themselves divided, which ultimately pushed them to a multi-year armed struggle for their rights.
Today, in the countries of the Middle East (Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey), according to estimates, there live over 20 million Kurds: over 10 million in Turkey, more than 5 million in Iran, 3 million in Iraq, 1 million in Syria. The Kurdish issue is not resolved yet in any of these countries,.
Currently, about 40 Kurdish political parties, organizations and groups are functioning in the countries of the Middle East and Western Europe. Some of them use terrorist acts in the
purposes of their struggle. The most famous of them is the "Kurdistan Workers' Party" (Turkey), a nationalist organization banned by the Turkish authorities, trying to create an independent Kurdish state by the means of terrorism. The founder and the Chairman of the KWP was, prior to his arrest by the Turkish security forces, Abdullah Ocalan, the KWP has been waging armed liberation struggle against Turkish government troops since 1984.
- Colonization of Palestine by the Zionist international organizations and Arab-Israeli wars following formation of the state Israel in 1948. With the consent of the English government contained in the so-called "Balfour letter" (1917), the world Zionist organization (WZO) in the twenties of 20 century began to purchase land in Palestine and expand Jewish emigration in order to prepare the conditions for creation on the Palestinian territory of the state of Israel.
The resulting confrontation between the Palestinians and the Jews subsequently grew into an armed confrontment. The organizations "Irgun" and "Stern", which appeared in the Jewish community, started terrorist activities not only against the local population, but also against British institutions in Palestine and their staff. For example, in April 1948, militants of the "Irgun" committed a massacre of the population in the Arab village of Deir Yassin, captured by them, having shot 254 of its inhabitants [5]. In 1940-1945 Jewish terrorists murdered in Cairo the British Minister for the Middle East, Lord Mawten; attempted murder of Prime Minister Anthony Eden and E. Barker, the Commander British troops in Palestine, by means of miniature explosive devices placed in mail, etc.
The terrorist attacks against the British were to force the British authorities to cancel the restrictions they have imposed on entry of the Jews to Palestine. The activities of "Irgun" and "Stern" were directed by the illegally set up Jewish Agency (JA) of the intelligence service, subsequently named "the Old Mossad".
The heads of the JA, ignoring the UN resolution, unilaterally proclaimed on May 15, 1948 the creation of Israel, which resulted in armed confrontation between the Palestinians and the Israelis, soon turned into the first Arab-Israeli war.
About 1 million Palestinians were forced to emigrate to neighboring Arab countries. In their midst there arose Palestinian organizations of different orientation, united in the one point: to destroy Israel and to establish in Palestine their own state, using all means, including terrorism.
Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq providing support and assistance to Palestinian organizations, sought to use the latter in their political plans. The emergence of Israel was extremely negatively perceived in the Moslem world. The founder of the Egyptian organization "Moslem brotherhood" Hassan al-Banna called the appearance of the Jewish state, "the penetration of Zionism to Palestine and the challenge to the Arab nation and Islam" [6, p. 80].
- Gain of the U.S. expansion in the Middle East starting from the 1920-s. The Treaty of Versailles (January 1920) gave the U.S. ample opportunities to start their expansion in the region, especially due to the fact that the Middle East started to become the center of world oil production. In 1924 the U.S. (under the American-British agreement became) co-owners of the League of Nations mandate for control over Palestine, and in 1948 American troops were brought in Lebanon under the pretext of "ensuring security in the region." The Middle East policy of the United States, largely focused on securing a strategic partnership with Israel, contributed to the fact that the anti-American trend began to prevail in the aspirations and actions of terrorist organizations in the region.
After the Second World War, which culminated by the completion of the colonial system in the region, many Arab countries, with the assistance of the Soviet Union experienced social and political transformations important in their consequences. Some of the sources of terrorism also changed in a
certain way. However, there arose new circumstances, the factors promoting terrorism, among which the most considerable, up to 1991, were:
- Growing economic difficulties in the countries of the Moslem world, combined with such problems as unemployment, especially among young people, high birth rate, deteriorating health services, rising crime and corruption, increasing migration, which together create fertile ground for Islamist groups seeking to change social and political order.
- Excessive militarization of the regions of the Islamic world, including weapons of mass destruction, permanent border clashes occurring there, local armed conflicts on ethnic and religious basis, involving both extremist and terrorist organizations.
- The Islamic revolution in Iran (February 1979) and proclamation of the Islamic Republic there. Islamic leadership of Iran at the state level has declared the "export of the Islamic revolution" as one of the principles of its foreign policy and undertook some activities in this direction, stimulating the emergence of mass religious-political armed groups in Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, Egypt and the Sudan, as well as in the area of the Palestinian Authority. The establishment in Iran of an Islamic theocratic state, in addition to the ideological stimulation of Islamic extremism, significantly expanded its financial and organizational base.
- The war in Afghanistan and the presence of Soviet troops there (December 27, 1979 - February 15, 1989). Moslem fighters who took part in the fighting against the puppet regime and the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, trained with the assistance of the US and Pakistan intelligence agencies turned into a powerful mobile military force of Islamic extremism. It was then that the Americans developed and launched the so-called "Program-M" which provided the transfer of the Islamist movement from Afghanistan to the territory of the Moslem republics of the former Soviet Union. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from
the country foreign "Mujahideen", deprived of a considerable part of financial and material support from the United States and Saudi Arabia, were forced to return to their countries. Their presence there led to significant strengthening of Islamist movements, destabilizing the situation.
- An extremely important factor, expanding the sphere of influence of the Islamic extremism, is, of course, the collapse of the socialist system and the Soviet Union, formation of independent States on its territory. Outbreak of the process of Islamization in these countries was accompanied by increasing influence of the ideas of Islamic extremism, their introduction into local Moslem communities. The result of an instant, by historical standards, collapse of the Soviet Union and the preceding bankruptcy of the ideas of socialism in many countries in the Middle East (Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, etc.), the ideological vacuum there, and later in the Moslem regions of Russia became quickly getting filled with Islam, often radical.
All this resulted in a complex and ambiguous course the process of Islamization in our country, which began in the late 1980s on the crest of Gorbachev's "perestroika" and gained strength in the troubled post-perestroika period. The process of politicization of Islam in Russia was especially extensive in North Caucasus, where the ideology of the so-called wahhabism was spreading actively even in the early 1990s. The growth of extremist and terrorist tendencies became most pronounced here at first in the "self-determination" of the "sovereign" Chechnya, and then, as the result of the ensuing military operations on the territory of this republic.
The U.S. victory in the cold war facilitated a new trend of development of international relations. The Americans used the collapse of the Soviet Union to strengthen their position in the Middle East, which for a long time was regarded by administration of the United States as the region of the activity of terrorist and extremist groups, threatening national security and interests of America. The following factors contribute to the
growth of extremist sentiments and terrorist acts in the postSoviet period:
- Rise of the Islamic radicalism of fundamentalist orientation. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to formation of ideological vacuum in the Middle East, which was rapidly getting filled with various kinds of concepts based on the constructs of the radical Islam.
- Basis of the Islamic radicalism, including wahhabism, consists of the provision about Takfir (accusation of unbelief), and the doctrine on Jihad (Holy war for the faith) [7].
Israel and the United States are declared the main opponents of the radical Islam. The spiritual guide of the Iranian Islamic revolution R. Khomeini stated quite eloquently: "If each Moslem were to pour a bucket of water on Israel, the flood would destroy this Zionist state" [8, p. 68].
In that period Islamic radicals, as a rule, opposed the expansionist policies of Israel, against suppression of actions of the Palestinian people, requiring the creation of its own independent state.
The anti-American bias of the Islamic radicalism was due to the protest of the international Islamic community, westernization of life in Moslem countries, as well as to the fact that the U.S. has constantly been an ally of Israel and constantly interfered with the internal affairs of Islamic countries, while pursuing its selfish goals. Islamist tendencies have become a constant factor of public life in Arab countries and the stronger is their degree of westernization, the more powerful is the public outcry in Moslem countries, the more active are the processes of formation of the radical opposition, its participation in demonstrations against the ruling regime.
The process of urbanization, especially rapidly occurring in the Moslem East should be called another reason for radicalization of Islam. So, 22 of 28 countries of traditional spread of Islam ceased to be agrarian-peasant in the early 1980s. The increase in the number of people brought up in Moslem
traditions and living below the poverty line proved to be a fertile ground for social demagogy of various religious spiritual mentors, all kinds of terrorist organizations and military organizations and recruiting "kamikaze", able to commit terrorist acts, sacrificing their own lives.
The fact which also may be considered typical is that during the cold war, the U.S. did a lot to "tame" Islamists, with a view to use them, with the help of Pro-American regimes in the countries of the East, to counter the Soviet Union. Even at that time, Soviet political analysts drew attention to the fact that one cannot exclude the possibility of the fact that American intelligence agencies and similar structures of allied states cooperating with them could prepare terrorist acts under the guise of "Islamic Jihad" or some dummy Islamic organization created ad hoc [9, p. 56]. Indeed, such methods were actively practiced by the U.S. and its allies, for example Israel. It should also be emphasized that the use of such dirty tricks often backfired on their organizers, the example of Osama bin Laden and his "al-Qaeda" seems quite appropriate here.
- Failure of the Middle East settlement (MES). The term "Middle East settlement" (MES) is considered to be a peaceful settlement of the long-lasting Arab-Israeli conflict, the core of which is the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation over the ways of creating an independent Palestinian state composed of Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan river.
- Right of the Palestinians to create their own state is entrenched in the relevant UN resolutions and international treaties, including the Palestinian-Israeli "Declaration and principles of the interim settlement", signed in Oslo (Norway) in 1993.
Israel's refusal to perform the said agreements and use of its armed forces to suppress the actions of the Palestinians led to an uprising ("intifada") of the Palestinians (December 1987) and new actions in early 2000 (the "intifada-2"), which assumed large proportions, led to participation of the armed groups of
Palestinian organizations and intensification of their terrorist activities against Israeli soldiers and civilians.
The most active resistance the Israelis met from the side of the extremist Islamic organizations "The Islamic Resistance Movement" (HAMAS) and "Islamic Jihad", which favor the establishment of the Islamic state in Palestine.
The Israeli authorities carry out mass arrests among the participants of the uprising, resort to shooting of rallies and demonstrations, bombing of administrative institutions of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The Palestinians themselves, as well as some foreign media refer to the actions of the Israeli authorities as to state terrorism (terror).
The attempts of the co-sponsors of the MES (the United States, the Soviet Union- Russia, the UN and the EU) to identify the ways of establishing peace in Palestine are unsuccessful. The main reason for the failure of the MES is the too pro-Israel position of the United States that do not allow infringement of its "strategic ally".
The actions of the U.S. and Israel against the Palestinians contribute to the upsurge of terrorism of anti-Israel, anti-American bias not only in the Palestinian National Authority and Israel but also in neighboring Arab countries.
In September 2002, the "Quartet" of international mediators comprising representatives of the U.S., the EU, Russia and the UN prepared in New York a draft plan, of the stage-by-stage MES, the result of which should be proclamation of the Palestinian state in 2005.
However, the implementation of this plan was disrupted by the second Gulf War, initiated by the Americans. The Israeli authorities support implementation of the US plans for "restructuring" of the Middle East.
At the same time it should be noted that the actions of the Palestinian organizations against Israel, their ongoing terrorist attacks, disorganize the Israeli society, damage the economy, lead
to enhancement of extremism and terrorism in Israel, complicate its international standing.
- A sharp increase of the U.S. expansion in the region, where the explored oil reserves make almost 70% of the world's total and that is in this context officially declared by the U.S. administration a "zone of vital national interests of America." The Pentagon report submitted in 1995 to the American administration, says: "...the United States must maintain its military presence in this strategically important region of the world. This is required by our interests, the interests of the allies... And only the armed forces of the United States are able to meet and repel the very real threats to stability and security in the Middle East" [10, c. 3].
The main objectives of the American policy in the Middle East can, of course, be regarded as further consolidation of exclusive domination of the United States in the region, squeezing Russia, that had lost its position after the collapse of the Soviet Union, out of the region, strengthening control over the oil extraction and ensuring the security of Israel, a strategic ally of America in the Middle East as well the US-friendly regimes in the region.
Of course, these aspirations and the concrete actions of the United States ensuring them contributed to strengthening of terrorist activity in the region,, mainly of anti-American and antiIsrael bias.
The anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan launched by the Americans and their allies after the events of 11 September 2001, deployment of their garrisons and bases in this country, and in some Central Asian States, the second Gulf War (2003), culminating by the overthrow of Saddam Hussein regime, the occupation and the de facto fragmentation of Iraq. All these actions led to intensification of the liberation movement in the region, use of terrorist methods of struggle, resulting in peril of not only American servicemen and representatives of law enforcement agencies of their allies, but also civilians.
- Inspiration by the West under the leadership of the U.S. starting from December 2010, of series of so-called "color revolutions" in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria), which in various sources is often referred to as the so-called "Arab spring". Support of the various groups of radical Islamists in Syria by the Western coalition, resulted in formation of "the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), subsequently transformed into a powerful terrorist group of a new type - the "Islamic state", has posed the threat of a large-scale regional war to the whole world. Currently, the U.S. and its allies are allegedly fighting with the ISIL, but at the same time are rendering full support to other terrorist organizations, waging in Syria the war against President Bashar al-Assad and his supporters.
As for Russia, in the fall of 2015 its aerospace forces at the invitation of the legitimate leadership of Syria came to the aid of this country. As a result, in early 2016 almost 40 per cent of the occupied Syrian territory was released from the "Islamic State". The success of the Russian troops and the Syrian army seriously alarmed the Western coalition headed by the U.S. which became the cause of the U.S.-Russian agreements on temporary cessation of hostilities in Syria. However, geopolitical interests of global and regional players, various factions involved in the fighting differ too much. Hence it appears that the "Syrian crisis" is unlikely to be resolved in the short and even medium term, regional and religious motivated terrorism will continue to determine the nature and dynamics of political processes in the Middle East.
References.
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