Police in Moscow this week arrested the imam of one of the city’s mosques, Makhmud Velitov. The authorities accused the cleric of “public justification of terrorism” as described in Article 205.2, Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code. The authorities alleged that Velitov defended a... MORE

Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee (NAK) reported that during a special operation in Dagestan’s Karabudakhkent district on July 7–8, “as a result of operational and combat activities, the forces of the FSB [Federal Security Service] neutralized nine people” (Riadagestan.ru, July 8). According to the NAK, the... MORE

Cossacks in Ingushetia have appealed to the Terek Cossack Force to accept them as members. The latter is expected to make its decision by this fall. The Cossacks of Ingushetia have asked to become members of the Terek Cossack force for years, so far unsuccessfully.... MORE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, on July 5, that the June 28 attack at Istanbul’s international airport was carried out by natives of Dagestan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Korrespondent.net, July 5). “Unfortunately, our neighbors from the North Caucasus were involved in the terrorist attack,” Erdoğan... MORE

From the start of the conflict in Syria, access to the conflict zone has only been possible from the Turkish side. The militants’ dependence on Turkey forced them to avoid spoiling relations with the Turkish government. Even if Ankara did not help the militants in... MORE

With Russia’s September 2016 parliamentary elections fast approaching, the political elites in the North Caucasus are becoming increasingly nervous. The country continues to be embroiled in an economic crisis, which is forcing a change in the relations between Moscow and regional governors, while the overall... MORE

The Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta has blasted the country’s political parties for using well-known public figures who are unlikely to make good lawmakers as front men. The United Russia party, for example, has touted several actresses; the notorious prosecutor in annexed Crimea, Natalia Poklonskaya; and... MORE

For the past month, several events happened in Moscow related to the problem of radicalization of North Caucasian youth and the replenishment of the Islamic State’s ranks by residents of the Russian Federation. While Russian analysts recycle theories that were relevant a year or two... MORE

A Note from Jamestown: As Turkish law enforcement officials work to determine who is responsible for this week’s Istanbul airport attack, international news media has focused their attention on one man, Akhmed Chataev. While Turkish media was first to finger Chataev as the one responsible... MORE

Tensions between two Russian regions, Chechnya and Ingushetia, tend to oscillate, with top officials of the two territories periodically quarreling with each other. Chechnya and Ingushetia are not simply neighbors, but ethnic cousins that speak practically the same language and share the same cultural heritage.... MORE