CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 61

LIANA HAYRAPETYAN
RADICAL ISLAM IN RUSSIA:
THE CASE OF TATARSTAN
Abstract
The spread of Radical Islam among Russian Muslim is a central issue for the
authorities of Russia. The fi rst confl ict in Chechnya facilitated the radical-
ization of Islam in the North Caucasus. Chechen warlords became involved
in terrorism and organized terror bombings in Moscow in 1999, thus mak-
ing terrorism a domestic issue for Russia. Hence the second Russian mil-
itary campaign in Chechnya was labeled as counter-terrorism operation. In
Volga-Ural region the situation was stable. However, Tatarstan has been en-
countering the issue of the radicalism since the beginning of the 21 st century.
During the 2010s there were several Islamic jamaats, which were involved in
terror attacks in the territory of Tatarstan (mostly bombing pipelines), inter-
national Wahhabi organizations are active in Tatarstan. The terror attack in
Kazan in July 2012, when the Mufti of Tatarstan was injured, indicated the
strong presence of radicals in the region. The attack made the authorities of
Tatarstan take severe approaches towards the radicals. The law enforcement
bodies operate professionally: those who are suspected to have radical views
are immediately caught and imprisoned. The active propaganda of traditional
Islam in which the state is also involved is another way to prevent the radical-
ization of the region. Though the Wahhabi presence remains, the situation in
Tatarstan is stable due to the work of the law enforcement bodies.
Keywords: Russia, Tatarstan, Islam, Radicalism, Wahhabism
Introduction
“Our Islamic community is at home” those are the words that the Pres-
ident of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said during his meeting with
Muslim religious leaders in Kazan on 25 January 2018 1 (Putin 2018). To-
day, about 20 million Muslims live on the territory of Russia. Large num-
bers of Muslims live in Moscow and St Petersburg. Russian Muslims are
1
Vladimir Putin, “Vstrecha s Muftijami Centralizovannyh Religioznyh Organizacij Mu-
sul’man Rossii i Rukovoditeljami Bolgarskoj Islamskoj Akademii,” (In Russian), [Meeting
with Muftis of Centralized Religious Organizations of Muslims of Russia and Leaders of the
Bulgarian Islamic Academy], Offi cial website of Kremlin, January 25, 2018, http://kremlin.
ru/events/president/news/56702 (accessed April 15, 2018).
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