Surge in religious extremism must be blamed on West – Kremlin official

[Hasbara Buster]

Surge in religious extremism must be blamed on West – Kremlin official

Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)

The current outburst of religious extremism is a direct consequence of the short-sighted policies of Western nations, the head of Russian Presidential Administration says.

“You all know about the serious processes that are taking place in the Middle East and North Africa, where the ethnic and confessional balance is now being blatantly destroyed,” Sergey Ivanov stated on Thursday.

“First of all we must talk about the sharp surge of religious extremism that is largely a consequence of the, diplomatically speaking, shortsighted policy of a number of Western countries,” he told the Presidential Council for Interaction with Religious Organizations.

“Everyone sees this very clearly,” he noted.

Ivanov added that the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) was the most vivid example of the disastrous results yielded by the West’s policies in the region.

The official said various religious minorities in the East – Alawites, Druze, Yazidis and Christians were all in a very vulnerable situation. “Hundreds if not thousands of Christian churches and other temples have been destroyed in Syria and Iraq, and hundreds of thousands of people have had to flee from their traditional dwelling places,” Ivanov told the council. He gave examples of members of the Christian community in Mosul who had to hide from IS radicals in Kurdistan, saying that those who remained at home are under constant threat of death. He added that people who follow traditional Islam were also suffering from repression and threats from Islamic State.

In the same speech the Kremlin official said that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine caused many physical attacks on Russian Orthodox churches and priests, on which the Kiev authorities were turning a blind eye.

“And I would like to emphasize that this is happening in the center of educated and civilized Europe,” Ivanov added.

“The illegal takeover of power that happened in Ukraine in February this year led to a very serious outburst of radicalism and caused mass violations of law, religious hatred and violence against believers,” he noted.

According to Ivanov, such a situation would have been impossible if the opposing parties in Ukraine from the very beginning solved their disagreements through dialogue and without external interference.

“Russia has always supported this approach and it will continue to do so,” he added.
In early November, a former general of Russian military intelligence service suggested in a press interview that the leaders of the IS could be under the direct influence of NATO and certain Western states.

“There are some grounds to suspect that American and British special services could support the Islamic extremists in order to target the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation,” RIA Novosti quoted Nikolay Pushkaryov as saying.

“The top of these movements could be under the influence of NATO agents,” he added.

Surge in religious extremism must be blamed on West – Kremlin official — RT Russian politics

 

[Aepsilons]

It "must" be blamed on the west ? Russia has a history of violence in Chechnya , Dagestan. Even before the Ukrainian crisis and western sanctions. This geostrategic reality should be taken into consideration before one lays blame.

 

[vostok]

It "must" be blamed on the west ? Russia has a history of violence in Chechnya , Dagestan. Even before the Ukrainian crisis and western sanctions. This geostrategic reality should be taken into consideration before one lays blame.

Events in Chechnya and Dagestan were direct consequences of Western flirting with religious fanatics, posing themselvs as Muslims.

 

[Aepsilons]

Events in Chechnya and Dagestan were direct consequences of Western flirting with religious fanatics, posing themselvs as Muslims.

I doubt that this is a new incident, my friend. Historical analysis indicates that insurgency in the Caucasus region is not a new "western" byproduct. Prior to the First Chechen War in 1994, there was the Chechen Insurgency from 1940 to 1944, where over a million of Chechens were sent to Serbia to die in Gulags, in the same manner as the Tatars of Crimea. Even before that there was the 1922 Chechen Revolt. And before that there was the great Caucasian War against the Russian Empire from 1817 to 1864.

The Chechens and Caucasus region have ha long, long history in fighting Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and again the Russian Feferation.

This is not a "new" phenomena.

 

[vostok]

I doubt that this is a new incident, my friend. Historical analysis indicates that insurgency in the Caucasus region is not a new "western" byproduct. Prior to the First Chechen War in 1994, there was the Chechen Insurgency from 1940 to 1944, where over a million of Chechens were sent to Serbia to die in Gulags, in the same manner as the Tatars of Crimea. Even before that there was the 1922 Chechen Revolt. And before that there was the great Caucasian War against the Russian Empire from 1817 to 1864.

The Chechens and Caucasus region have ha long, long history in fighting Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and again the Russian Feferation.

This is not a "new" phenomena.

Caucasian Wahhabis' of 90s - direct "descendants" of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, trained and bred by West. And it has little to do with the Chechen collaborators during the Second World War. Collaborators were also in Western Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and other places, too, and were subjected to mass deportations for aiding the Nazis.
Modern pseudo-Muslim terrorism - almost 100% "achievement" of West. I think it foolish to argue with that.

 

[Aepsilons]

This is the problem with fanatical ideology, @vostok , as it recognizes no national border or keeps tabs on its progeny. It will spread if there are extremist pockets in any society for it to grow. The Americans learned from this in their foray in Afghanistan.

 

[jamahir]

The Americans learned from this in their foray in Afghanistan.

western governments have always supported the wrong party... be that in south asia or in korea or in south america or in africa.

 

[Galad]

It "must" be blamed on the west ? Russia has a history of violence in Chechnya , Dagestan. Even before the Ukrainian crisis and western sanctions. This geostrategic reality should be taken into consideration before one lays blame.

Always good idea to educate yourself before speak.Research who did support so-called "freedom fighters"there.And who support all kind of terrorists till this day there.Or who was/still is member of the American Committee for Peace in Chechenya.Or who have said USA must use radical islam for its own geoplitical advantage.Or for what exactly will be use new Nato base in Georgia.All of the above or keep parroting propaganda.

 

[Aepsilons]

western governments have always supported the wrong party... be that in south asia or in korea or in south america or in africa.

From the subjective socialist perspective , yes. Do note that any foreign intervention by Great Powers led to some repercussions, whether it be the Soviet, American, British, French, et al.

Always good idea to educate yourself before speak.Research who did support so-called "freedom fighters"there.And who support all kind of terrorists till this day there.Or who was/still is member of the American Committee for Peace in Chechenya.Or who have said USA must use radical islam for its own geoplitical advantage.Or for what exactly will be use new Nato base in Georgia.All of the above or keep parroting propaganda.

You are Bulgarian. Citizen of EU and from a country that is part of NATO. I find your opinion an outlier compared to majority of Bulgarian perspective , who are very supportive of NATO's policies against threats to its strategic depth.

 

[Schutz]

Well if were talking about modern islamic terrorism then yeah mostly because we are talking about RECENT times, although Russias persecution of Muslims goes back a long way aswell. Whoever wants to blame who does not really change the issue that there are people in the world who chant god is great whilst murdering civilians does it now? its not like killing of muslim tartars, Chechnyans havent been happening for decades with insurgencies in and around Russia for far longer than the "west" has been dealing with.

 

[jamahir]

From the subjective socialist perspective , yes. Do note that any foreign intervention by Great Powers led to some repercussions, whether it be the Soviet, American, British, French, et al.

agreed, but one must also see what a great power was trying to do... imagine afghanistan when the government was socialist... imagine it now, after the cia-bred taliban government... imagine libya guided by muammar gaddafi... imagine it now or imagine it if the british sas had successfully assassination him in 1971... it is clear to see when people benefited and when they did not.

 

[vostok]

This is the problem with fanatical ideology, @vostok , as it recognizes no national border or keeps tabs on its progeny. It will spread if there are extremist pockets in any society for it to grow. The Americans learned from this in their foray in Afghanistan.

You have to agree that the West has caused a burst of modern pseudo-Muslim terrorism. The West sponsored and trained the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

[jamahir]

Well if were talking about modern islamic terrorism

i must correct you... there is nothing called "islamic terrorism"... if you are talking about qaeda or taliban or ikhwaan, then they are "muslims"... actually, they are munafi*, fake-muslim.

same goes for the other word... "islamists".

 

[Aepsilons]

Well if were talking about modern islamic terrorism then yeah mostly because we are talking about RECENT times, although Russias persecution of Muslims goes back a long way aswell. Whoever wants to blame who does not really change the issue that there are people in the world who chant god is great whilst murdering civilians does it now? its not like killing of muslim tartars, Chechnyans havent been happening for decades with insurgencies in and around Russia for far longer than the "west" has been dealing with.

Precisely. Anyways the way Russia had "dealt" with Chechens and Dagestanis during the Great Caucasian War makes what is happening in Chechnya now pale in comparison.

The point is this region is a hot bed; this is usually the case where there is a clash of cultures and religions. Russia is traditionally Slavic and Christian Orthodox, whereas the Caucasus region are mostly Muslim and of varied ethnic composition.

This bears some phenotypic semblance to the Balkans during the early 20th century. A powder keg.

 

[jamahir]

The West sponsored and trained the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

with india providing refuge to some of the anti-socialist afghans like hamid karzai.