On October 31, the parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria approved an appeal to Russian Federation Council chairwoman Valentina Matvienko and State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin to assist in the repatriation of Syrian Circassians to the North Caucasus. “Over 150,000 Circassians live on the Syrian territory,” the appeal... MORE

On November 2, outgoing Georgian prime minister and multi-billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili named his protégé, 31-year-old Minister of Interior Irakli Garibashvili, as his successor when he voluntarily steps down as head of government following the November 17 presidential inauguration (Channel 1; Rustavi 2 TV, November 2).... MORE

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and State Duma deputy speaker long known for his provocative and inflammatory statements, has sparked controversy once again, this time for comments about North Caucasians. During a television talk show on October... MORE

In October 2013, Russian authorities reportedly thwarted a possible attack by militant extremists against the Maradykovo chemical weapons (CW) storage and elimination facility in the Middle Volga region of Kirov. The authorities stated that two young males from the North Caucasus allegedly had bomb components... MORE

Soon after outlawing the Russian version of the Koran translated by the well-known scholar Elmir Kuliev (https://kavpolit.com/zapret-kulieva-ne-zapret-perevoda-a-zapret-korana/), it became apparent that the Russian authorities had opted for the most uncompromising plan to push back the onslaught of Islamization in the country. The process of Islamization,... MORE

Having failed to achieve tangible success in combating the armed jihadi resistance in the North Caucasus, Russia has opted for the path of Joseph Stalin. Interestingly enough, the proposal did not come from any sort of Bolshevik party in the Russian State Duma—indeed, President Vladimir... MORE

Russian pollsters say that the Russian public has changed its attitude toward the North Caucasus over the years. The authoritative Moscow-based polling organization, the Levada-Center, polled Russians about the North Caucasus throughout the 1990s and 2000s. “When the war was still ongoing in the North... MORE

The Central Electoral Commission of Georgia has finalized the vote count after last Sunday’s (October 27) presidential election (https://www.results.cec.gov.ge). The candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition, Giorgi Margvelashvili, received 62.11 percent of votes cast; the leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM)... MORE

The October 21 suicide bombing of a Volgograd passenger bus was carried out, apparently, by a woman originally from the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan (see EDM, October 25). Nevertheless, a Russian website has recently asserted that the country’s Islamist groups would like to recruit... MORE

On October 22, government forces deployed in Dagestan’s mountains were significantly reinforced when at least 500 servicemen arrived in the district of Untsukul. Government forces will reportedly also be sent to other districts in Dagestan’s mountainous region to improve the deteriorating security situation in the... MORE