The North Caucasus: Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia

[Penta]

Insofar as there's a "native" form of Islam in the Caucasus, what is it? Sunni? Shiite? Salafi? Sufi? Some other variety?

[bourbon]

Channel One "Uncovers" a Turkish-U.S. Plot in the Caucasus, The Jamestown Foundation: Chechnya Weekly, April 24, 2008.

Russian state television’s Channel One on the evening of April 22 broadcast a putative documentary film made by Kremlin correspondent Anton Vernitsky called “Plan 'Kavkaz'” (The Caucasus Plan). The film purports to show how Turkey, the United States and Great Britain attempted at the start of the 1990s to divide Russia into small parts not controlled by the federal center. The film featured Berkan Merrikh Yashar, born Abubakar—a Turkish-born ethnic Chechen who claims to be a journalist who once worked for Radio Liberty in Munich and a politician with close connections to the Turkish leadership.

Yashar states in the film that at the start of the 1990s he prepared a political platform for separating Chechnya from Russia and that there were several sources financing this project. He claims, among other things, that passports for the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria were printed in France while "many tons" of Ichkerian banknotes, which resembled U.S. currency, were printed in Germany. Yashar says that Western special services did not really care about the independence of the peoples of Caucasus but were acting only in the interest of their "personal profit." He also claims that Western special services tried to convince Muslim muftis in Russia—not only in Chechnya, but also in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan—to break away from Russia because of religious differences. He also refers to the self-exiled Russian tycoon and his former partner, the late Badri Patarkastishvili, stating that they were involved in questionable deals in the Caucasus.

[Sarajevo071]

Insofar as there's a "native" form of Islam in the Caucasus, what is it? Sunni? Shiite? Salafi? Sufi? Some other variety?

The Sufism of the Naqshbandi tariqa (or brotherhood).

[Ray]

Caucasus embraces Islam

http://www.kafkas.org.tr/english/kultur/din.html

[Jedburgh]

Russia Profile, 22 Jul 08: Similar, But Different: Radical Islam is the universal challenge in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan

The Northern Caucasus today has diverse problems that are impossible to solve “using the same measure.” However, as this region “awakens” and bears witness to an increase of protesting attitudes, the Caucasus, more than ever before, needs a comprehensive Russian strategy of development.

Despite multiple reports about the stabilization of the situation in the Russian Caucasus, the number of problems in this region does not decrease on a daily basis......

[bourbon]

The Jihadi Insurgency and the Russian Counterinsurgency in the North Caucasus, by Gordon M. Hahn. Post-Soviet Affairs, Volume 24, Number 1 / January-March 2008.

Abstract
A political scientist reviews the vicissitudes of the Caucasus jihadi insurgency and Russia's counterinsurgency efforts since 2005, drawing on the press, jihadist websites, and scholarship on insurgencies and counterinsurgencies. The development of jihadi-oriented fighting units, the rise and decline of Maskhadov's supremacy, the rise of Islamist elements, the Chechen separatist movement and the expansion of the jihad, Moscow's counter-jihadi successes, the jihadi network after the death of Basayev, and the rise and career of Ramzan Kadyrov are examined. These events are analyzed in terms of the dynamics of insurgency and counterinsurgency conflict.

39 Page pdf at the link.

I've been looking for examinations of Russian counterinsurgency in the Kadyrov era. Came across this and thought I would share it.

[Jedburgh]

CSIS, 18 Nov 08: Violence in the North Caucasus: Trends Since 2004

Since January 2004, CSIS staff have been compiling, almost daily, a database that tracks violent incidents occurring in the North Caucasus. The following figures draw on this database, through August 31, 2008.

Due to the nature of these incidents and the difficulty in finding trusted reporting, we are not in a position to verify all of them. We will, however, continue to update our database as information is made available to us......

[Jedburgh]

Russian Analytical Digest, 4 Dec 08: Chechnya and the North Caucasus

■ Analysis
The North Caucasus after the Georgia-Russia Conflict

■ Opinion Poll
Russian Public Opinion on the Conflict in the North Caucasus
Views of Inhabitants of Dagestan on the State of Affairs in Their Republic

■ Analysis
War and Peace in Chechnya: The Role of Ramzan Kadyrov

■ Opinion Poll
Russian Views of Kadyrov