A leading researcher of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Boris Dolgov, told Vestnik Kavkaza how to contain the rise of extremism and protect Russia from the Islamic State terrorist organization.
In his opinion, "the expansion of radical Islam that we are seeing now in the form of Islamic State, which is conquering parts of Syria’s and Iraq’s territory, successful in attacking and expanding into neighboring regions, is a threat not only to the region, in my opinion, but also to Russia, in particular for the Caucasus and southern Russia."
"We heard statements of the leaders and ideologists of Islamic State, who straightforwardly stated that their aim is the so-called liberation of Chechnya and the establishment of Islamic State on the territory of the Russian North Caucasus and Russia's south. And this threat does exist, because, as we know, according to recent data, there are between 2.5 and 5 thousand immigrants from Russia in the ranks of Islamic State. And the possibility of their return to Russia by some illegal means is one of those threats," the expert believes.
Boris Dolgov thinks that a second, equally serious threat is the radical Islamist movement, groups of radical Islamists who operate in Russia: "We know that there are armed groups in the Caucasus, and possibly in other regions, which are inspired by the idea of Islamic State. That's the first problem. The second problem is that the ideology or fundamentalist vision of Islam and the concept of jihad are concepts that are used in the Russian Federation among the Muslim community."
According to Dolgov, the basic idea, which attracts new "fighters" to the ranks of Islamic State, is the idea of universal justice: "It is no secret that the idea of creating a state of justice on the basis of Sharia law and o Koran attracts attention. In general, we know that it is because of this ideology that people from Russia became part of Islamic State, to embody the idea. Necessary measures should be taken to counter the spread of this ideology."
Talking about what measures could be taken, Boris Dolgov, said: "First of all, Muslim figures should speak about it. They speak, and certainly it is a very positive thing. They should explain to Muslims what Islamic State is, that it is not Islam, that cutting heads off, publicly executing innocent people just because they belong to other faiths, is absolutely contrary to Islam, to the Koran. This is only a mask that extremists and terrorist groups, particularly Islamic State, are putting on. This is a danger and the measures that should be taken to counter this threat, which is real for Russia and the Caucasus and the South in particular."
