THE GHOST OF EXTREMISM

An act of religious extremism has taken place in the village of Soganliq in Geor-gia's Kvemo Kartli region setting the public of the country in turmoil. Ramin Isayev, a young follower of the Salafi sect in Islam, killed his fellow villager Fikrat Ahmadov. The incident followed Ahmadov's interview to Imedi TV channel in which he had expressed his concerns about the spread of religious radicalism in Georgia. Georgia's Muslim religious organizations came up with a statement on the incident. Resi-dents of the village held protests. The Georgian prosecutor's office promised a thorough investigation not only into the fact of crime but also into the situation with religious movements. Geor-gian specialists and public figures have long since been speaking about the rapidly growing numbers of Islamic radicals in the country. The murder of the 23-year-old resident of Soganliq is to some extent the result of the expanding activity of communities propagating intolerance and radical views. Mufti Ayvaz Mardanov representing the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus in Georgia, has told us about threats posed by the escalation of sectarian tensions and the growing numbers of supporters of extremist religious movements in Georgia.

- Was there any other, non-religious motive behind the crime that happened in Soganliq village?

- It all started from an attempt by a number of Salafis - persons advocating radical Islam - to build a mosque in the village where almost all believers traditionally follow Shia Islam. That gave concern to believers living in Soganliq as they fear manifestations of intolerance and propaganda of religious extremism by Wahhabis. In their opinion, efforts by the community propagating radical views will lead to conflicts in that village and to terrorist threat. The terrorist attacks and violence in the North Caucasus and the Middle East are examples of what radicalism leads to. Because of this, the Wahhabis had to gather for religious rituals in premises next door to their unfinished mosque. Recently reporters of the Imedi TV were making a report in Soganliq on the religious situation in the village. Fikrat Ahmadov was speaking in that report. I did not see his interview but, according to residents of the village, Ahmadov voiced anxiety about the growing numbers of radical Islamists in Georgia, which jeopardizes stability in Georgian society. Ramon Isayev, his childhood friend who had joined the radical Islamist community, disliked the opinion he voiced. Isayev called Ahmadov for a talk. A fight broke out between them during which the latter got knife stabs. Two days later, Ahmadov died from the wounds. There are no other motives behind this crime. Indig-nant at this crime, the villagers held a rally to demand that religious radicals who are ready to commit violence against believers of traditional faiths, should be kept in check. In response, the Wahhabis began to threaten and intimidate the villagers. They are sending SMSs threatening rally participants, all those who expressed their protest in the media and warned them against new rallies. The situation remains tense in the village.

- What are state structures doing to stabilize the situation?

- In the context of those events, the representative office of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus (BMC) and the Board of Muslims of Georgia have urged the government to take efforts to ensure security and freedom of religion in the region of Kvemo Kartli. As far as possible, religious structures themselves are working in all towns densely inhabited by Azeri communities to protect the young from the radicals' influence. We regard it as a threat not only to intrafaith and interfaith peace but also to political stability in Georgia. Unlike Armenia, there are many Muslims living in Georgia. Religious radicalism is getting here in different ways. In the first place, this is a great menace to Georgia's Azeris. The populations of Marneuli, Gardabani, Bolnisi and other towns definitely reject Islamic radicalism. The construction of the mosque in Soganliq was sponsored by Chechens. By the way, 10 years ago, one Arab public figure, which was planning to build mosques throughout the region, arrived in Marneuli. It was clear that the Arab guest's plans had hidden agenda, so the then BMC representative, Ali Aliyev, took every effort to prevent the spread of radicalism in our region. For this purpose, Ali Aliyev even met the Georgian president. I am sure that, if those steps had not been taken, the region of Kvemo Kartli would be in the hands of forces propagating religious extremism. At the same time, it should be said that there are quite a lot of Wahhabi communities in the region of Kakheti, the towns of Telavi, Rustavi and in Ajara.

- Did the government take any preventive measures on this problem?

- Some time ago, a social network ran a video of Georgian militants fighting on the side of Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq. The video showed terrorist Tarkhan Batirashvili (the red-bearded general commanding the ISIS northern front - R+ editorial note) promising to come back home and punish religious figures for "leading the people the wrong path" and to "establish order in Georgia". That video brought Georgia's law-enforcement bodies into action. The police arrested some relatives of terrorists connected with radical Islamist organizations and seized quite a lot of firearms, ISIS flags and other things during searches.

There were also isolated cases where Georgian law-enforcement bodies found Wahhabis' weapons in towns and villages populated by Azerbaijanis. The incident in Soganliq has shown how easily they resort to violence.  

- It turns out that the government's actions to prevent religious extremism were not very efficient?

- Georgia is a small country and it is not difficult to reveal potential threats here. However, the government is in a hard situation in terms of ensuring rights and freedoms. Against the backdrop of stepping up European integration, it is not easy to bring accusations based on suspicions of radical religious views and extremist plans. The Georgian parliament has done some work to curb the potential of religious extremism. They adopted laws on criminal liability for involvement in illegal armed formations abroad and for aiding and abetting terrorism. Yet in purely practical terms, the government has to be especially careful dealing with such sensitive an issue as religious denominations. The Georgian authorities seek to ensure the right and freedom of conscience for all denominations and avoid any irregularities and discrimination in this domain. Georgia being an Orthodox Christian state, its government gives special attention to creating an environment for ethnic minorities to have freedom of conscience.

- Which of Georgia's regions is under the strongest Wahhabi influence? 

- It is Kakheti's villages. I think that, in general, the spread and influence of radical trends will be on the rise in Georgia. Because there is yet no adequate counteraction, such as educational work by structures propagating traditional Islam. Georgia's Muslim offices have quite a lot of their own organizational problems to attend to.