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7. Putin: Russia does not allow the use of athletes for political purposes. - RIA Novosti. 21.10.2015. Access: http://ria.ru/sport/20151021/1305732315.html (checked 11/22/15).
8. 2 billion has been allocated for the promotion of the Russian language in the world. -Izvestiya. 06.01.2015. Access: http://izvestia.ru/news/587189 (checked 11/22/15).
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"Vlast", Moscow, 2015, №12, pp. 79-84.
D. Popov,
Ph.D. (Law), Head of the Ural regional information-analytical center RISS A. Starostin,
Deputy Head of the Department of Theology, Ural State Mining University, (Ekaterinburg) RADICAL ISLAMISM IN THE URAL REGION
The gradual growth of radical sentiment is fixed on the postSoviet space in the Muslim community of the Ural Federal District despite its distance from the centers of conflict. This is facilitated by the
following factors. The authority of the "official" Muslim structures in the opinion of believers and youth, decreases as a result of their organizational disunity and personal contradictions of the clergy. Number of muftiates varies from 2 to 6 on the regions of the Urals Federal District. The most intense competition exists between the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims (166 local organizations) and the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Asiatic Russia (46 local organizations) from the end of the 1990s. Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims gradually strengthening its position in the area, because it is supported by the authorities in the majority of subjects (Kurgan and Chelyabinsk regions, Khanty-Mansiysk District, Yamalo-Nenets District), while the regional administration of Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions still claim to equal treatment of all Muslim organizations.
Active migration of people from around Central Asia (Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions) and the Caucasus (Yamal, Yugra) creates favorable conditions for Islamism. Now, these people constitute the majority of worshipers in mosques in medium and large cities. This problem is particularly acute in the north of the Ural Federal District: according to the census, the number of people, practicing Islam for 20 years grew in 1,5 times up to 13.35% of the population in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, and 1.6 times, up to 16% in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region.
The emissaries of extremist organizations traditionally have been working among the religious-minded workers and among isolated from the society. In parallel, the share of the imams of the Central Asian and Caucasian nationalities increases (mostly Tatar-Bashkir), who are more susceptible to radical views.
Migration is accompanied by a progressive increase in interethnic tensions in the area, which is also the most noticeable in the
north of the Urals Federal District due to mass relocation of migrants from the North Caucasus (Dagestanis Chechens). The number of crimes in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District with the participation of migrants was increased by 40% in 2013 only. At the same time, the Caucasian organized crime groups are often associated with the local terrorist cells of Islamist organizations, according to reports of law enforcement agencies.
All provokes hostility toward Islam in society at large this in conjunction with the information policy of the media (highlighting the negative aspects of Muslim life). The growing dissatisfaction with the migration situation among local residents was revealed by sociological surveys in all regions of the Urals Federal District with the exception of the Kurgan region.
These factors became a favorable environment for spread of radical Islamic movements in the Ural Federal District: Salafism, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (HT), Nurdzhalar, Tablighi Jamaat and the Islamic Party of Turkestan (IPT).
Since the late 1990s, the Salafis (Wahhabis) have been active in the northern regions of the Urals, which were originally used as "recreation centers" of militants. The total number of Salafis in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District is estimated at 2-3 thousand people (large cells - "Jamaat" - exist in Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Rainbow, Nefteyugansk, Megion). Communities of Salafis made attempts to capture the local Muslim congregations in some localities. As a rule, they have close links with the criminal world (arms and drugs seized during searches, confirm this), seeking to get patrons in government structures. Recruiting work is focused on such categories of persons, as local residents, trapped in difficult circumstances; migrants; ex-prisoners; slavonic girls that marry people from the North Caucasus.
In some cases imams-Salafis preach under the cover of the official Muslim organizations. Salafis, studying in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, look more convincing in the debate with the clergy of the traditional Hanafi, 49% of whom have no formal religious education even. At the same time, authorities often experience difficulties in closing the "Salafi" mosques due to limited legal instruments, in spite of the fact that the prohibited literature is confiscated there periodically, and their parishioners become members of the bandit underground in the North Caucasus and other regions.
Hizbut-Tahrir has cells in both the north and south of the Ural Federal District. They are characterized by high cohesion and coordination of activities with the structures in other regions (in particular, in Bashkiria). The main work of the members of Hizbut-Tahrir is focused on the promotion of the ideas, but the weapons, psychotropic drugs and diagrams of potential targets for attacks (building of law enforcement agencies, infrastructure facilities) are confiscated during searches at them as well. Recruitment of supporters (in addition to the same categories of persons, that of Salafis) is held among the Tatar and Bashkir shift workers, as well as students and young professionals who are dissatisfied with their social position.
Thus, there is an expansion of social composition of the organization in recent years: if migrants from Central Asia dominated initially, then the proportion of representatives of Muslim nations has declined to 50%, while the share of Russian and Ukrainians increased to 40%, the average age dropped to 18-30 years, and the number of people with higher education and the children of wealthy parents -increased. Hizbut-Tahrir has changed its tactics: in 2013 its supporters in the Urals switched from secret training in apartments and careful recruitment of followers to the demonstrative actions on the example of their Tatarstan colleagues. Earlier, they attempted to go into the public
political sphere (in 2012, one of the activists of Hizbut-Tahrir was a participant of non-systemic opposition in Chelyabinsk).
The Ural cells of Hizbut-Tahrir, Salafis and the Islamic Party of Turkestan conclude tactical alliances with each other in order to convert Muslims in organized opposition to the system of government in Russia, abandoning the mutual accusations of theological persuasion and coordinating actions including sending neophytes into the ranks of the militants in Central Asia , the Caucasus and other "hot spots", such as the Kiev "Maidan" in the beginning of 2014. The participation of people from the Urals as a militant "Islamic state" in the hostilities in Syria and Iraq has become a real threat.
In general, there has been a steady increase in the number of supporters of radical Islamic organizations in the Urals Federal District, which requires a response from the state. Experts discuss the need for legislation to prohibit the ideology of Salafism (Wahhabism) in Russia, establishing criminal responsibility for its dissemination, using the accumulated international experience from the far (Syria and Turkey) and neighboring countries (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan) abroad.
It is necessary to organize courses for Imams according to Russia's traditional sense of Islam (maturidi); overseas-trained imams are required to undergo re-certification in Russia, mandatory for the continuation of religious activities; Persons involved in extremist activities should be prohibited to hold religious positions (Akhund Imam, Imam-Khatib, rais-Imam, Imam, the muezzin, etc.), and to conduct religious sermon. It is advisable to take into account the experience of the Chelyabinsk region, where permission to build mosques is issued only after agreement with the mufti of the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims of Russia Rinat Raev "in order to prevent activities of the radical wing of Commons" from 2013.
It is also important to strengthen the control over the funding of religious organizations from abroad. It is necessary to allocate space for publications or broadcast time in the state media for the spiritual and moral materials with participation of authoritative religious leaders, focused on the assertion of traditional Islam among Muslims (now such a program comes only in the Chelyabinsk region).
Multiple violations of the law by the Islamists have been subjected to criminal punishments dictate the need to strengthen the criminal liability (increase in the real terms of imprisonment) for offenses connected with participation in the prohibited organizations. In this case it is advisable to insulate the contingent from other prisoners during sentence serving, preventing promotion of radical ideas among them.
Undertake other necessary measures, produced in collaboration with the Muslim Ummah and the expert community.
"Geopolitika. Informatsionno-Analiticheskoe Izdanie", Moscow, 2014, Issue 25, pp. 51-54.
A. Tetuev,
Dr. Sc. (hist.), Chief Researcher of Kabardino-Balkarian Institute of Humanitarian Studies ETHNO-POLITICAL PROCESSES IN KABARDINO-BALKARIA IN THE EARLY 21st CENTURY
Demographic and migration factors, among others, have a significant impact on the ethno-political processes. High natural population growth with insufficient rate of economic development leads to high labor surplus and migration. The biggest concern is the trend of outflow of the Russian population out of the republic, which is the cementing foundation of inter-ethnic harmony.
