HOMO JIHADICUS

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V. The influence of war migration on the post-Soviet area – Jihad in the Middle East and threats for the region The subject of the mass departures of post-Soviet Muslims to Syria and Iraq is often brought up in statements of government representatives (mainly Russian and Central Asian) as well as in the local media. The issue is also being raised on the forum of regional organisations, especially those active in the security dimension (for example the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – the CSTO or Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – SCO). The tone of the statements is almost always alarmist and comes down to underlining the alleged risks associated with the hypothetical return of the militants. A frequently recurring theme is the civil war in Syria and Iraq, as well as the establishment of Islamic State – all as a result of mistakes America’s Middle East policy, or even as an effect of Washington’s deliberate actions aimed at destabilisation (IS as an “American project”) 198 . The hysteria which began in the Russian media after militants seized the government military base in the Syrian town of Tabqa can serve as example that illustrates the use of the issue of Islamic State as a scare factor; they uploaded a video in which Islamic militants presented the seized Russian weaponry (delivered by Moscow to Bashar al-Assad’s regime), spoke in Arabic and threatened Vladimir Putin with “the liberation of Chechnya and the entire Caucasus” 199 . In the Russian media this unremarkable private statement made by an Arab militant was being presented as Islamic State’s “official” warning to the Russian Federation. A similar tone was used while spreading the information about an alleged attack on Russia by “thousands of militants”, which was supposedly voiced by Omar Shishani in conversation with his father, who lives in the Pankisi Gorge 200 . Analysing the phenomenon of post-Soviet Jihadists’ war migration and the situation in the countries of origin leads, however, to diametrically different conclusions. Paradoxically, the described phenomenon not only fails to constitute a threat to security in the post-Soviet area, it even stabilises the situation in 198 The popular news programme Vesti Nedeli broadcast by the Russian state television Rossiya channel is one example of this narrative, for example the 19 th of October 2014 programme, available at: http://vesti7.ru/archive/index?edate=19.10.2014#21181. See also: http://www. ng.ru/cis/2014-10-21/1_asia.html 199 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZc3etLP-38 200 http://www.aif.ru/society/safety/1357241; http://www.km.ru/world/2014/10/09/islamistskie-ekstremisty-i-terroristy/749443-polevoi-komandir-igil-prigrozil-rossii PRACE OSW REPORT OSW 09/2012 09/2015 65
the countries of origin. The main short term effect of the conflict in the Middle East is the exodus of the most radical Muslims (and in the case of the Northern Caucasus – also active militants). War migration from the former USSR states, especially from those where Salafism and radical Islam are strongest, is therefore playing the role of a security valve – and is de facto beneficial for the authorities and the official Muslim clergy apparatus collaborating with them. While in the long term perspective, participation in jihad can strengthen some milieus ideologically, its immediate effect is to weaken Salafist communities, whose power and popularity, especially amongst young people, is growing, and who are viewed by official Islam as their main ideological rivals. Jihadists’ propaganda also serves as an unexpected ally of the authorities – as their aim is not only to recruit volunteers for fighting, but also call for all Muslims to resettle along with their families to the territory of Islamic State. PRACE OSW REPORT OSW 09/2012 09/2015 The at least neutral relation of the authorities of many of the region’s states towards volunteers departing for Syria can be seen in the concentration of the security services on individuals returning from Turkey and the Middle East, with little attention focused on those departing to this area (those departing, as opposed to those arriving, are much less often and much less thoroughly controlled and interrogated when crossing the border). It is not rare for the law enforcement services to intervene only after appeals from a volunteer’s family, which desperately seeks methods to prevent them from departing 201 . Individuals returning from jihad or suspected of participation in the war in the Middle East face harsh consequences (frequent cases of arrests and trials, often resulting in prison sentences 202 ), despite the fact that the legislation of some of the states does not treat participation in armed conflict abroad as a crime (for example in Russia in order to convict an individual for taking part in jihad, it is necessary to prove that he acted against the interests of the Russian Federation 203 ). There is also no information regarding the intelligence services of the post-Soviet states attempting to neutralise the alleged threats stemming from Jihadists, for example through the liquidation of the leaders of armed groups or those responsible for recruitment and logistics on Turkish territory. Meanwhile similar measures, aimed for example against opposition activists in Central Asian states or 201 http://izvestiya.az/nov/9650 202 http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/250956/; http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/236388/; http://www.doshdu.ru/novosti/v-rossii-osuzhden-uchastnik-siriiskoi-voiny 203 Article 208 of the Russian Federation penal code: participation in an armed group on a territory of a foreign state, illegal from the legal viewpoint of that state, conducted against the interests of Russian Federation. 66
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HOMO JIHADICUS Islam in the former
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© Copyright by Ośrodek Studiów W
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3. Georgia /82 4. Kazakhstan /86 5.
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eturn) is stabilising the countries
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Introduction The aim of this report
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fighting in Syria and Iraq, as well
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a reduction of the former religious
Page 15 and 16: Renaissance Party (IRP) at the summ
Page 17 and 18: attractive Salafism (which is often
Page 19 and 20: Republic in 2009 26 or the appearan
Page 21 and 22: latter included both post-Soviet mi
Page 23 and 24: The existence of a miniature Islami
Page 25 and 26: Regardless of its goal of establish
Page 27 and 28: II. Origins of the influx of volunt
Page 29 and 30: with whom they still have a common
Page 31 and 32: were, paradoxically, the good Sovie
Page 33 and 34: especially the extremely radical on
Page 35 and 36: posts and participated in training
Page 37 and 38: of Syria and Iraq was not dictated
Page 39 and 40: • Kazakhstan - officially: over 3
Page 41 and 42: The situation is completely differe
Page 43 and 44: fully independent sovereign - they
Page 45 and 46: of JMA is Aleppo and its surroundin
Page 47 and 48: contacts with Omar Shishani and Abu
Page 49 and 50: −− −− −− Abdul Karim Kr
Page 51 and 52: Yarmuk). Despite Omar Shishani bein
Page 53 and 54: of direct negotiations, the need to
Page 55 and 56: Only at the turn of 2012 and 2013 d
Page 57 and 58: Abu Omar Sasitlinsky (real name Isr
Page 59 and 60: (especially against Islamic State).
Page 61 and 62: participated in IS mass executions
Page 63 and 64: characterising them is necessary to
Page 65: after participating in combat for a
Page 69 and 70: The most often stated main proof of
Page 71 and 72: The motive which militants most oft
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Page 75 and 76: of public life. Except for the cult
Page 77 and 78: have used for years of limited guer
Page 79 and 80: problems. This seems impossible, th
Page 81 and 82: of new mosques and religious school
Page 83 and 84: example in the energy sphere), and
Page 85 and 86: Adjarian Muslims (regardless of whe
Page 87 and 88: ut also a small number of Azeris) c
Page 89 and 90: Both the return of Kazakh militants
Page 91 and 92: tivities of the Kyrgyz security for
Page 93 and 94: Despite large scale persecution 262
Page 95 and 96: the fact that the central governmen
Page 97 and 98: 9. Crimea The Islamic issue in Crim
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Page 101 and 102: group’s symbols during mass Islam
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Page 105 and 106: the rubble of the USSR are still un
Page 107 and 108: Map 3. Islam in the post-Soviet are
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HOMO JIHADICUS

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