Latest Articles about North Caucasus
Russian Expert Foresees the North Caucasus as an Untenable Colonial Domain
On May 29, the respected Russian newspaper Vedomosti published an analytical article on the situation in the North Caucasus. Expressing a view rarely articulated by Russian experts, he described the processes in the region as “the continuation of the disintegration of the USSR” and “anticolonial.”... MORE
Krasnaya Polyana: Breaking the 150 Years of Silence (Part One)
After the Crimean (a.k.a. Eastern) war of 1853–1856 and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1856 ending that war, the Russian Empire began to turn toward the final conquest of the Caucasian mountaineers. Russia was finally able to turn an army of 200,000... MORE
With Eye on Sochi, Authorities in North Caucasus Play Down Continuing Wave of Attacks
The armed resistance movement in the North Caucasus has carried out suicide bombings ever since the start of the second military campaign in Chechnya. On June 4, 2000, a 22-year-old Chechen woman, Khava Baraeva, detonated an explosive-laden truck near a Russian military target, killing three... MORE
Circassian Activists in Turkey Receive Boost from Erdogan
On May 21, Circassians worldwide marked the 149th anniversary of the end of the Russo-Caucasian war. In the North Caucasus, the largest republic with a Circassian population, Kabardino-Balkaria, held multiple events marking the anniversary. Hundreds of young people staged a procession in the republic’s capital,... MORE
Moscow’s Revolving Door of Alleged Killings of Militant Leaders in Ingushetia Continues
The armed conflict in the North Caucasus continues to kill and maim (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/224400/). Murders, kidnappings and explosions have become the daily routine in this part of Russia. Only suicide bombings carried out by the armed resistance groups provide a slightly different picture. Neither side of... MORE
Did Surkov Step Down, or Was He Forced to Step Down?
In his childhood, Vladislav Surkov, an ethnic Chechen by birth, initially had his father’s surname, Dudaev—a surname that is related to the Zandak teip (clan) (www.anticompromat.org/surkov/surkbio.html). However, with Russian first and last names, he managed to achieve not simply a breathtaking career, but to become... MORE
Forging of Alliance Between Tatar and Bashkir Nationalists Worries Moscow
Tatar and Bashkir civil organizations are moving toward the forging of an alliance, regional and Russian experts say. “Bashkir nationalists have tried to find support among Tatar and Ugro-Finnish nationalists for several years, but their attempts were unsuccessful,” Bashkir analyst Ed Murzin told the Regnum... MORE
Disappointed in Moscow, Russian Circassian Activist Hails Georgia’s Approach to the North Caucasus
In an interview with the Kavkazskaya Politika website, the well-known Circassian activist Ibragim Yaganov said Russia must take steps to alleviate the hardships it inflicted on the Circassians. Yaganov contrasted Russia’s policy of stubborn silence on the Circassian issue to the European colonial powers, which... MORE
International Islamist Movement Spreads to the North Caucasus
The Jamestown Foundation has repeatedly reported on Hizb ut-Tahrir’s (HuT) activities in Russia over the past several years. And as the investigation of the Boston bombings progresses, reports are surfacing in the West that Tamerlan Tsarnaev interacted with Magomed Kartashov, the leader of the Dagestan-based... MORE
Ethnic Abaza React to Rising Karachai Nationalism
On May 3, groups of Karachay and Abaza youth clashed in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. According to a member of the Abaza organization, Janibek Kuzhev, the fight took place in the village of Psyzh in Abazin district of Karachaevo-Cherkessia. As Karachay youth tried to intimidatingly drive through the... MORE