By Vestnik Kavkaza
Islam Saydayev is 41. He is one of those who radically reconsidered his experience and views in the middle of life. For a few years, Saydayev was deputy head of the information center of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in Georgia and could observe life of the Chechens abroad from the inside. Islam Saydayev wrote the book headlined "Remove the Witness" where he described in detail how these people were used by Georgian and Western intelligence agencies as a channel of support for armed groups opposing the Russian army in Chechnya. The presentation of the book was held in the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies.
“The main problem, which the author defines in the title, is the interaction with agents, interaction with some temporary allies, their use not based on long-term cooperation. This is a very interesting source in an enclosed area such as the work of the security services,” Nikita Mendkovich, economist, expert of the Russian Council on International Affairs, thinks. “I believe over time it will become very interesting historical source, in 10-20 years it will be possible to re-issue it with reference materials on the basis of some archival sources, when the archives of the Georgian special services are available. Such well-written, detailed memoir evidence would be the main source in this issue for the specialists.”
“When I got acquainted with Islam Saydayev in Grozny, it was during the first Kadyrov readings, people told me about him, that he is, to put it mildly, a separatist,” Artur Atayev, the senior scientists of the Caucasus Studies Sector in the RISS, remembers. “But at the fortieth minute of communication, I realized that I have not met in the North Caucasus a more pro-government person. He literally said: "If, to save the country, in the passport I will have to write “Russian ", I'll write" Russian. " Life changes people. The nine years that Islam spent in Georgia changed him more than 180 degrees. The book is extreme, and it can be felt when reading it.”
“The book of Islam Saydayev "Remove the Witness" is devoted to the terrorist propaganda activities of Georgia in the North Caucasus. It demonstrates very well how one thing flows into another. How already 10 years ago, if not earlier, Georgia attempted to merge the separatist and Islamist projects,” Yana Amelina, head of Sector for Caucasus Studies of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, told Vestnik Kavkaza. “Visible features of this we, I mean the general public, have seen not so long ago, one might say, last year. These projects at the end failed. But the fact is that they were conceived well before they were implemented. The book demonstrates that Georgia has been interested in the Circassian issue long before Russia got the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. That is to say, the Circassian question for a long time has been on the agenda of the Georgian special services. In addition, the book proves that the Georgian special services are not independent. That is, they are first of all, the agents of the Western intelligence services, primarily American and British, but also Arab. Concrete evidence is provided with names and specific facts.”
Islam Saydayev told Vestnik Kavkaza that “the main task that I set writing this book was to convey to the Russian public, to the international media, to the world and especially to our younger generation, especially in the North Caucasus, that we are the instrument of destruction of our own state. I wrote a few words at the end, which are the cornerstones of this book. The Chechens and North Caucasians, first of all, are useless for everyon in this world except Russia. Indeed, Russia has been the foundation that protected our culture, our traditions, our religion. No country is interested in keeping our traditions, our religion or our culture. And if, God forbid, something happens to Russia, we will lose what we have today.”
