POPULARIZATION SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED

After Iraq, militants of the terrorist group called the Islamic State [alternatively known as ISIS] continue to capture new territories and carry out attacks on major cities in Syria, too. They brutally victimize hostages and execute women and children. Meanwhile, to counter this terrorist group, a US-led coalition has been formed, which makes air and missile strikes against the positions of terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

R+ talked with Akhmet Yarlykapov, a Ph.D. (History) and a senior research associate of the Centre for the Regional Security and Caucasus Studies of the Institute of International Studies under MGIMO [Moscow State Institute of International Relations] University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, on the possibility of ISIS spreading into the Caucasus region and the ways of fighting terrorist and extremist ideas.

- With what do you associate an unprecedented intensification of Islamic radicalism that we see in the Middle East?

- Unfortunately, the growth of Islamic radicalism in the Middle East is a complicated process that does not have a single cause, hence an easy solution. Here, a whole tangle of factors snapped into action including the effects of colonialism, the failure of secular nationalism projects based largely on leftist ideas, and much more. A profound crisis that is mounting in most of the Muslim countries has triggered the process of rethinking Islamic identity and brought to life the so-called "Islamic globalization". It was fostered by globalization in the West, which facilitated the exchange of ideas and accelerated crisis processes in the traditional Islamic communities that rallied around a single mosque and a local imam. Now people need not go to one and the same mosque in order to feel themselves members of the same jamaat. Jamaat communities often acquire an extraterritorial format, where the imam can be hundreds or thousands of kilometres away from his followers. Besides, the genie has been let out of the bottle by interventions of Western countries, which released a spring that has been under compression for a long time. Today, countries with rigid secularism, such as Iraq, Libya and Syria, have actually turned into contradiction-ridden territories which do not constitute a single state. Such territories are an ideal breeding ground for the cultivation of radical groups.

- Extremists from the Islamic State, notorious for their raids in the Middle East, voiced threats directed against the North Caucasus and Azerbaijan. How real are these threats?

- I would take these threats seriously. It is no secret that the international Islamic radical groups fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria include, among others, people from the Caucasus. There, they receive a serious military training and gain experience in the field of sabotage and terrorism. At the same time, these people are a major source of information about the region for the ISIS leadership. Of course, they cannot fulfil their threats right now, as there are too many problems in the Middle East, especially in view of increasing military involvement of Western countries led by the United States. However, it seems to me (and I would be glad to be mistaken) that the problem is already in the phase that has no purely military solution. Therefore, the countries and the regions of the Caucasus should at the very least take a notice of this problem.

- What can be done to prevent ISIS extremists from getting into our country?

- First of all, we have to preclude promotion of their ideas. The experience of the Caucasus Emirate has shown that their social base is limited. In particular, the Caucasus Emirate has failed to form any territory under its jurisdiction (whereas the total area controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is comparable in size to Britain). Currently, it is imperative to preserve this important advantage. Of course, it is necessary to carry out meticulous work of finding out who from among citizens of our countries are in the ranks of ISIS militants. Obviously, in the case of a decision to extend terrorist activity to the Caucasus, natives of this region will be used in the first place.

There is another aspect to which I would like to draw the attention of Azerbaijani readers. When it comes to formations such as the Islamic State, one should always bear in mind their sharp anti-Shia orientation. In such a mixed Sunni-Shia community as Azerbaijan, they may try to sow discord along this line.

- How powerful is the social base for the development of extremist movements in the Caucasus? Who is the main target of propagandistic information disseminated by religious extremists?

- We are very fortunate that, despite all the problems that have been haunting the Caucasus for more than two decades, the social base of extremism in the Caucasus is still narrow. The vast majority of Caucasus residents do not support extremists and their slogans. Being aware of their limited capabilities, religious extremists tend to pinpoint young people as their target in the first place. Indeed, such groups as the unemployed, the poor and undereducated strata of society, with which extremists used to work back then, have gone together with the 1990s. The coverage has certainly become wider, but the main bet is still being made on young people.

- Representatives of the North Caucasus republics say that neighbouring Azerbaijan could help to stabilize the situation in the Caucasus through joint economic and other projects. What is your opinion on this matter?

- I believe that stability in the Greater Caucasus region can only be achieved through joint and coordinated efforts. Of course, this requires a broad approach, not limited to cooperation of merely law enforcement agencies and special services. I believe that Azerbaijan has great potential for expanding cooperation and stabilizing the situation in the region.