Igor Rotar
Igor Rotar is an expert on security, ethnic and religious trends in the North Caucasus and Central Asia. He has previously written for Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Komsomol’skaia Pravda, Izvestia, Rossia, Novie Izvestia, as well as the Forum 18 News Service.
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Articles by Igor Rotar
Is Kharkiv Province Another Enclave of Separatists?
On March 6, the car of the commander of the Ukrainian special police battalion “Slobozhanshchyna,” Andriy Yanholenko, exploded in the government-controlled eastern city of Kharkiv. The commander and his spouse...
What Is Next for Donbas Separatists After Fall of Debaltseve?
After weeks of intense battles, Russia-supported militants have captured Debaltseve, a strategically located town in eastern Ukraine (Interfax, February 18). In a telephone conversation with the author on February 19,...
The Cossack Factor in Ukrainian War
Russian State Duma deputy in the Committee on Defense Viktor Vodolatsky, who is also the supreme ataman (head) of the Union of Cossack Forces in Russia and Abroad, openly admitted...
The Kremlin ‘Specialist for Creating New Independent States’ Moves to Eastern Ukraine
The “commander-in-chief” of the “Novorossiya” defense forces (the Russia-supported separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine), Igor Girkin (a.k.a. Strelkov), told journalists recently that prior to March 31, 2013, he had been...
Russia’s Actions in Ukraine: Parallels with Other “Hot Spots” of the Former Soviet Union
The conflict in eastern Ukraine has clear parallels with other “hot spots” in the former Soviet Union, where the Kremlin has ambitions. The clearest parallels are with the Transnistrian conflict...
Are There Possible Future ‘Crimeas’ in Central Asia?
On May 21, two people were killed by law enforcement officers in Tajikistan’s eastern city of Khorog (the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, located in the eastern half of...
Can Ashgabat Reconcile Kabul With the Taliban?
The government of Turkmenistan has begun mobilizing the country’s army reservists and has sent them to the border with Afghanistan. At least a few dozen reservists were deployed to the...
Will ‘Dostumistan’ Be Established Near Afghanistan’s Border With Uzbekistan?
In January 2014, the chairman of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan party, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a well-known politician and leader of ethnic Uzbeks in Afghanistan, made unofficial visits...
Conflicts Between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan Potentially Undermine CSTO and Custom Union in Central Asia
On January 30–31, the deputy prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Tokon Mamytov and Murodali Alimardon took part in negotiations to try to relieve tensions from recent border clashes, which...
Moscow and Dushanbe Strengthen Their Military Alliance
The lower house of Tajikistan’s parliament ratified on October 1 a long-delayed deal to extend the presence of Russia’s military base (the former 201st division) in Tajikistan until 2042. The...
Chinese Investment in Kyrgyzstan Hampered by Unstable Business Climate
A joint declaration on strategic partnership was among several agreements that were signed following talks in Bishkek between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kyrgyz Republic counterpart, Almazbek Atambaev,...
Chinese Policy Toward Xinjiang Resembles Soviet Policies Toward Central Asia, Highlights Differences Between West and East ‘Turkestan’
On August 20, Chinese authorities shot dead at least 16 ethnic Uighurs in a desert area of the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), accusing them of terrorism and illegal religious activity....
Is Uzbekistan’s President ‘Testing the Waters’ for a New External Policy?
On July 6, the pro-government website 12news.uz published an article by Uzbekistani Professor Rustamjon Abdullaev entitled, “Uzbekistan must join NATO and stake territorial and other claims against some former Soviet...
More Young Tajik Radicals Starting to Fight Abroad?
The government in Dushanbe has said that three citizens of Tajikistan were recently killed fighting on the side of the rebels in Syria. Also according to Dushanbe, 11 Tajikistani fighters...
Taliban and Afghan Military Clash near Turkmenistan’s Border
In recent weeks, clashes between government troops and Taliban fighters have shifted to Faryab Province of Afghanistan near the border with Turkmenistan. In the wake of the violence, thousands have...
The Disappearance of Tajikistan’s Ethnic Uzbek Leader: A New Stage in the Struggle Between Tashkent and Dushanbe?
Salim Shamsiddinov, a leader of Tajikistan’s ethnic Uzbek community, went missing on March 16. According to Amnesty International, Shamsiddinov’s disappearance could have been a politically motivated abduction. In May of...
The Afghan Threat: Reality or Uzbek Political Games?
A shootout occurred on March 21, on the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, between armed Afghans and residents of the Shuroabad District (in southwestern Tajikistan). Four people died. According to...
The Nursi Movement in the Former Soviet Union: Islamic Radicals or Agents of Turkish Influence?
According to Maria Kravchenko, a member of the Russian human rights center “Sova,” Russian authorities continue to persecute the followers of Said Nursi, a Turkish theologian who died in 1960....
Leader of Northern Tajikistan Is Arrested in Ukraine
The former prime minister of Tajikistan, Abdumalik Abdullojonov, was arrested in Ukraine last week at the request of Tajik authorities. Abdullojonov claims that his life would be in jeopardy if...
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan Heighten Tensions in Violent Local Border Dispute
Already unstable relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan worsened this week. Violence had erupted in early January 2013 in the Uzbekistani enclave of Sokh located inside Kyrgyzstan that resulted in property...
The Tablighi Jamaat: A Soft Islamization from the Ferghana Valley to Russia’s Turkic Regions?
In 2012, Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies suppressed the activities of 205 missionaries representing the unregistered religious organization Tablighi Jamaat, Kazakhstani Senator Iran Amirov said. According to the Central Asian republic’s...
Fresh Border Incident Could Provoke New Inter-Ethnic Clashes in the Ferghana Valley
Residents of Uzbekistan’s enclave of Sokh located within Batken province (southern Kyrgyzstan) attacked Kyrgyz border guards and took, according to different sources, between 30 and 40 citizens of Kyrgyzstan hostage...
A Portrait of Uzbekistan’s Dissident Cleric In Exile: Obidhon Nazarov
In late August, a series of drone strikes in Northern Waziristan were reported to have killed a number of jihadist leaders. Most media attention focused on the possible demise of...
Will Russia Support Not Only Kyrgyzstan’s Army, but Also the Police?
According to the newspaper Izvestia, Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs requested that Russia provide the small Central Asian republic with direct assistance in the form of arms and technical support....
Russia Offers Generous Support for the Kyrgyz Army
According to the newspaper Kommersant, Russia agreed to provide military and technical support to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the form of direct assistance. Russia is prepared to spend $1.1 billion...
Chinese ‘Expansion’ in Kyrgyzstan: Myth or Reality?
On October 22, about 450 villagers threatened to destroy the offices of the Chinese company Zijin Mining Group in the village of Orlovka in northern Chui province in Kyrgyzstan. The...
Uzbek Dissidents Under Death Threats in Sweden
A court of appeals in the Swedish town of Sundsvall will consider an appeal lodged by prosecuting authorities in a case of attempted murder of Imam Obidhon Nazarov in early...
Limited Support for Arrested Parliamentarians Indicates Stability in Kyrgyzstan
Despite the predictions of Kyrgyz and international analysts, the swift arrest and sentencing of the three Kyrgyzstani lawmakers who tried to capture the parliament building did not spark serious riots....
Jamestown’s Igor Rotar Cited by Foreign Policy
Jamestown Analyst Igor Rotar was cited in Foreign Policy regarding the explosive situation in Central Asia's restive Ferghana Valley.
A New Wave of Protests in Kyrgyzstan
On October 3, the Kyrgyz opposition tried to capture the parliament building, where the office of the president and his administration are also located. The rally resulted in shooting by...
Will the Fergana Valley Become a Hotbed of Destabilization in Central Asia?
The ethnically and culturally complex region of the Fergana Valley is divided among three countries: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz and the Tajik parts of the Fergana Valley are...
Islamic Extremist Group Jamaat Ansarullah Overcomes Tajikistan’s Inter-Tribal Conflicts
On September 11, Tajikistan’s Supreme Court reached a final verdict in a case against 15 alleged members of the banned Islamic militant group, Jamaat Ansarullah. In the closed trial hearing,...
Fresh Border Incidents Underscore Unresolved Problems in Ferghana Valley
Tajikistan’s officials reported that an Uzbekistani border guard entered Tajikistani territory on horseback on September 11 and began filming Tajikistan’s side of the border. After he ignored a command to...
Will Tajikistan’s Karategin Valley Again Become a Militant Stronghold?
The Karategin (literally “black mountains”) Valley—also called Rasht Valley, located in the West-Central part of the country—is a very special region of Tajikistan. During the 1992–1997 Tajikistan Civil War, the...
The Influence of North Caucasus Islamic Radicals on the Situation in Central Asia
On July 20, five men suspected of terrorism-related activities were arrested in Atyrau (western Kazakhstan). The arrested men had contacts with the Az-Zahir Baibars Brigades of Jund al-Khilafah (Soldiers of...
Influence of Central Asian Islamic Radicals on the Situation in the North Caucasus
A multitude of rumors and speculation exists about the connection between Islamic radicals from Central Asia and the North Caucasus. The following will seek to separate rumor from reality, while...
Tajikistan’s New Most Wanted: A Profile of Warlord and Narco-Trafficker Tolib Ayombekov
On July 24, Tajikistan's government launched an operation against an illegal armed group. The special operation was initiated in reaction to the incident on July 21 when regional security chief...
Tajikistan Launches Military Operation in Remote Pamirs Region
On July 24, Tajikistan’s government launched a military operation against an illegal armed group led by border-police commander Tolib Ayombekov, a former Islamist rebel whom authorities have accused of drug...
Kidnapping in the North Caucasus Is Prevalent but Varied Across Region
On June 13, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) obligated Russia to pay 60,000 euros ($73,680) to relatives of Ramzan Umarov, who was kidnapped by police on April...
Kidnapping in the North Caucasus Is Prevalent but Varied Across Region
On June 13, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) obligated Russia to pay 60,000 euros ($73,680) to relatives of Ramzan Umarov, who was kidnapped by police on April...
Bomb Blast Connected to Terrorist Activity in Kazakhstan Kills Eight People in Almaty Province
On July 11, an explosion occurred at a house in the village of Tausamal in Almaty province in Kazakhstan. Eight men (including four children) were killed. Prosecutors in Kazakhstan’s Almaty...
Islamic Radicalism in Kazakhstan: Myth or Reality?
Prior to the wave of terrorist attacks in 2011, the problem of Islamic radicalism in Kazakhstan was less ubiquitous than in the other Central Asia republics. Kazakhs (who were nomads...
Situation in Southern Kyrgyzstan Continues to Smolder Two Years Since Ethnic Riots
In June, 2010, an armed conflict between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz occurred in the south of Kyrgyzstan. According to official statements, around 500 people were killed; according to unofficial data...
Growing Violence in Kabardino-Balkaria Threatens to Destabilize the Northwest Caucasus
According to the Committee of Inquiry of Kabardino-Balkaria, on November 21, three gunmen were killed during a special operation in Nalchik (the capital of the republic). A source within the...
Growing Violence in Kabardino-Balkaria Threatens to Destabilize the Northwest Caucasus
According to the Committee of Inquiry of Kabardino-Balkaria, on November 21, three gunmen were killed during a special operation in Nalchik (the capital of the republic). A source within the...
Kadyrov Exploits Ties with Moscow to Build Islamic State
On Аpril 28, 2011, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report. A full chapter concerns the Chechen Republic—the only Russian region to which the...
Kadyrov Exploits Ties With Moscow To Build Islamic State
On April 28, 2011, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2011 Annual Report. A full chapter concerns the Chechen Republic—the only Russian region to which the...
Harsh Measures only Strengthen the Insurgency in Dagestan
On March 23, the village of Gubden in Dagestan was completely blockaded by Russian military, police and Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. After that, the servicemen began to search the...
Harsh Measures only Strengthen the Insurgency in Dagestan
On March 23, the village of Gubden in Dagestan was completely blockaded by Russian military, police and Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. After that, the servicemen began to search the...
CHARGES FILED AGAINST TAJIK OPPOSITION FIGURE
On September 22 the Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan launched a criminal case at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against Dodojon Atovulloev, the founder of the newspaper...
ASSASSINS OF KYRGYZ JOURNALIST STILL AT LARGE
On October 24, 2007, one of the most prominent journalists in the southern Kyrgyzstan and the Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley, Alisher Saipov, was assassinated in the town of...
The Islamist Underground in Southern Kyrgyzstan
Last year's uprising in the Uzbek city of Andijan was only the first symptom of renewed tensions in the Ferghana Valley. The region has seen an increase in inter-ethnic tensions...
Resurgence of Islamic Radicalism in Tajikistan’s Ferghana Valley
The Ferghana Valley is one of the most unstable regions in Central Asia. In early 1989, pogroms of Jews and clashes with Meskhetian Turks broke out and resulted in the...
TAJIK OFFICIALS WARN OF RISING ISLAMIC ACTIVITY IN THEIR COUNTRY
According to Abdughaffar Kalandarov, chief prosecutor of Sogd district in northern Tajikistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan considerably stepped up its activity in the region after the punitive operation conducted...
UZBEKS APPEAL TO BAKIYEV, CLAIMING ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
Representatives of the Uzbek community of Jalalabad city have appealed to Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, claiming they are the victims of overt discrimination. "Trends to incite dislike of Uzbeks and...
NEW INFORMATION EMERGES ON UZBEK ISLAMISTS, BUT IS IT ACCURATE?
The Russian newspaper Moskovsky novosti recently published an extensive interview with Shuhrat Masirokhunov, identified as the former chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's Counterintelligence Service. Masirokhunov was extradited from...
ANDIJAN SHOW TRIAL VERDICT CONDEMNED BY WEST
The first criminal trial related to the May uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan, ended in Tashkent on November 14. The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan sentenced the 15 defendants to prison terms...
TAJIKISTAN BRANDS “BAYAT” A TERRORIST, RELIGIOUS, EXTREMIST, ORGANIZATION
Tajik Interior Minister Khumiddin Sharipov has declared that the extremist religious organization "Bayat" remains active in Tajikistan. "We have once again received reports that Bayat remains active. Not all of...
YULDASHEV TESTIMONY PLAYED AT ANDIJAN TRIAL
As the trial of Akramiya members entered its fifth week in Tashkent, the court heard testimony from Akram Yuldashev, the "spiritual force" allegedly behind the May uprising in Andijan. The...
REBUFF FROM EU PUSHES KARIMOV FURTHER INTO MOSCOW’S ARMS
Meeting October 3 Luxembourg, the European Union Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs voted to impose sanctions against Uzbekistan. They banned the sale of weapons and military equipment to Tashkent,...
ANDIJAN TRIAL OPENS IN TASHKENT WITH SHAKY GOVERNMENT CASE
The trial of 12 Uzbek citizens and three Kyrgyz citizens accused of organizing the May uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan, opened in Tashkent on September 15. The 15 defendants are accused...
KYRGYZSTAN BANS “EXTREMISM” WITH PRODDING FROM BEIJING
On August 17, three days after his inauguration, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed the new law "On Counteraction against Extremist Activity." official Kyrgyz government newspaper Erkin Too published the text...
ANDIJAN LEADER THREATENS “CAMPAIGN OF TERROR” AGAINST KARIMOV REGIME
Kabul Parpiyev, a leader of the May uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan, is threatening to unleash a campaign of terror against the regime of Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Parpiyev is currently...
DEPARTURE OF ANDIJAN REFUGEES MAY DESTABILIZE FERGANA VALLEY
"We shall return with victory and invite you all to the celebration party!" With these parting words to journalists, 439 refugees from the May uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan, boarded an...
TASHKENT INSISTS ANDIJAN HAD KYRGYZ LINK
Law-enforcement agencies from Osh district in southern Kyrgyzstan are continuing to investigate the possible involvement of Kyrgyz citizens in the May 10 armed uprising in Andijan, an Uzbek city near...
OPPOSITION TRIAL BEGINS IN TAJIKISTAN
On July 7 Eribek Ibraghimov, a former Tajik opposition field commander, went on trial before Tajikistan's Supreme Court. Better known by his nickname "Sheikh," Ibraghimov stands trial with four other...
ETHNIC CONFLICT SIMMERS IN SOUTHERN KYRGYZSTAN
Dzirgalbek Sourabaldiyev, a well-known businessman and a member of Kyrgyzstan's parliament, was assassinated in downtown Bishkek on June 10. The deputy was shot five or six times, and his driver...
What Lies Ahead For Tajikistan?
Tajikistan differs from the other countries of Central Asia for several reasons. Tajiks are the only relatively large group of Persian-speaking people in Central Asia. The titular nationalities of the...
Terrorism in Uzbekistan: A Self-Made Crisis
However paradoxical it may sound, the recent terrorist acts in Uzbekistan were not a complete surprise, either to average citizens in the republic or to political analysts. The horrific economic...
KARIMOV ORDERS BLOODY END TO ANDIJAN UPRISING
Troops dispatched by Tashkent have put down last week's popular uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Undeterred by the thousands of demonstrators, troops opened fire on the crowd, shooting women and children...
MASSES REJECT CHARGES OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM IN UZBEKISTAN
Early this morning thousands of residents took to the streets of Andijan, Uzbekistan, to protest a show trial of alleged Islamic extremists. Initial reports say that nine people are dead...
Why Extremism is on the Rise In Uzbekistan
The July 30 attacks on the Prosecutor General's Office, the U.S. Embassy, and the Israeli Embassy in Tashkent demonstrate the continued terrorist presence in the republic of Uzbekistan. These forces...
Hizb ut-Tahrir Today
An Interview with Sadykzhan Kamuluddin by Igor Rotar Sadykzhan Kamuluddin (Kamalov), president of the Islamic Center of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and former Mufti and member of the Kyrgyzstans Supreme...
Hizb ut-Tahrir in Central Asia
Without doubt, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) is one of the most powerful organizations operating in Central Asia. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) is banned in nearly all Central Asian republics, but despite...
The Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan: A Resurgent IMU?
Over the past three years, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)--a group on the U.S. Department of State's list of international terrorist organizations--has kept a very low profile. Twice, in...
PROTESTORS CLOSE KYRGYZSTAN’S MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ROUTES
The situation in Kyrgyzstan remains very tense following its disputed February 27 parliamentary elections. News reports about massive protest demonstrations organized by the opposition continue to pour in from across...
PROTESTS RISE FOLLOWING DISPUTED KYRGYZ VOTE
Kyrgyzstan held parliamentary elections on Sunday, February 27. Some 388 candidates vied for 75 parliamentary seats. According to preliminary data collected by the Central Electoral Commission, candidates secured a first-round...
KAZAKHSTAN INTRODUCES NEW EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
Police in Almaty have detained supporters of the Islamic organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir who had organized an unauthorized demonstration close to the central city mosque on the morning of January 20. The...
UZBEKISTAN BULLDOZES SETTLEMENTS ALONG BORDER WITH KAZAKHSTAN
A tense situation is unfolding near the South Kazakhstan--Uzbekistan border. In a program approved by Uzbekistan's Prime Minister, Shavkat Mirziyaev, local authorities are planning to demolish settlements and private dachas...
TAJIKISTAN OFFICIALS FAIL TO APPREHEND KEY MEMBER OF BAYAT
On the night of December 25-26, 2004, law-enforcement officials in Tajikistan attempted to apprehend a member of the Islamic terrorist organization Bayat, Ali Aminov, in the village of Chorku, Isfara...
ELECTRICITY SHORTAGE SPARKS RIOTING IN FERGANA VALLEY
On December 1 a spontaneous riot erupted in Markhamat, a district center located 30 km south of the city of Andizhan in Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley. The riot involved approximately 300-350...
KARIMOV, NIYAZOV HOLD MINI-SUMMIT ON COOPERATION EFFORTS
The President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, and the President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, met in Bukhara on November 19. The leaders of the two countries signed a treaty "On Friendship,...
DEMOGRAPHICS, BORDERS COMPLICATE ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORTS IN CENTRAL ASIA
The terrorist group "Jamaat of Central Asian Mujahideen," which is structurally affiliated with the international terrorist organization al-Qaeda, has been exposed and dismantled in Kazakhstan. According to Vladimir Bozhko, first...
MERCHANTS PROTEST NEW BANKING LAWS IN UZBEKISTAN
Mass riots have rocked the city of Khokand located in Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley. The riots started after a government decree on toughening trade regulations, which was issued in August, went...
KAZAKHSTAN EXTRADITES SUSPECTED ISLAMIC MILITANT TO UZBEKISTAN
According to Kazakhstanskaya pravda, officials from the Committee for National Security (KNB) for South Kazakhstan blast extradited Odillkhon Mominov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, back to his homeland. Tashkent wanted Mominov...
Why Extremism Is On The Rise In Uzbekistan
The July 30 attacks on the Prosecutor General's Office, the U.S. Embassy, and the Israeli Embassy in Tashkent demonstrate the continued terrorist presence in the republic of Uzbekistan. These forces...
Uzbekistan’s Secret Services Already Pursue Suspects Into Kyrgyzstan, Will They Try To Enter Kazakhstan, Too?
Reliable sources in Uzbekistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs are claiming that two of the three suicide bombers who committed detonated explosions in Tashkent on July 30 were Kazakhstani citizens of...
Popular Frustration With Karimov Fuels Terrorist Attacks In Uzbekistan
At 5:00 pm on Friday, July 30, suicide bombers detonated explosives near the Embassies of the United States and Israel and in the vicinity of the building housing Uzbekistan's Prosecutor...
Terrorism In Uzbekistan: A Self-made Crisis
However paradoxical it may sound, the recent terrorist acts in Uzbekistan were not a complete surprise, either to average citizens in the republic or to political analysts. The horrific economic...
The Growing Problem Of Uighur Separatism
'Chinese Chechnya' is how - only half-jokingly - Central Asians refer to the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China (historically known as Eastern Turkistan). Such a comparison is not without...
Hizb Ut-tahrir Today
An Interview with Sadykzhan Kamuluddin by Igor Rotar Sadykzhan Kamuluddin (Kamalov), president of the Islamic Center of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and former Mufti and member of the Kyrgyzstans Supreme...
What Lies Ahead For Tajikistan?
Tajikistan differs from the other countries of Central Asia for several reasons. Tajiks are the only relatively large group of Persian-speaking people in Central Asia. The titular nationalities of the...
Hizb Ut-tahrir In Central Asia
Without doubt, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) is one of the most powerful organizations operating in Central Asia. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) is banned in nearly all Central Asian republics, but despite...
The Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan: A Resurgent Imu?
Over the past three years, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)--a group on the U.S. Department of State's list of international terrorist organizations--has kept a very low profile. Twice, in...
MYTHS AND PREJUDICE ACROSS THE FSU
By Igor Rotar An interesting paradox has emerged across a number of the former Soviet republics: an unexpected anti-Semitism in people who have often never even met any Jews. And...
THE DYING ARAL SEA
By Igor Rotar The drying Aral Sea is one of the worst ecological disasters of the twentieth century. Located in the west of Central Asia, with part of it belonging...
THE HIZB UT TAHRIR PARTY IN CENTRAL ASIA
By Igor Rotar A FAULT LINE?
MOSCOW INTRODUCES FULL VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR GEORGIANS
By Igor Rotar TBILISI PUNISHED FOR ITS RELUCTANCE TO FIGHT THE CHECHENS From March 1 full visa requirements came into force between Russia and Georgia. On the same day, Moscow...
INTERVIEW WITH GRIGORYANTS
By Igor Rotar Russia still presents a threat to the international community, says Sergei Grigoryants, chairman of the human rights foundation Glasnost. Sergei Ivanovich Grigoryants is one of Russia's best-known...
ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN AZERBAIJAN: MYTH OR REALITY?
By Igor Rotar Azerbaijan is the only Muslim republic in the former Soviet Union where the Shiite branch of Islam is dominant. Various estimates put the number of Shiites at...
THE CHECHEN TRAIL IN GEORGIA: REPORT FROM PANKIISK GORGE
By Igor Rotar "The only problem is your nationality. The Chechens may have left journalists alone during the last war, but today people see any Russian as their enemy. It's...
CHECHNYA: A PYRRHIC VICTORY OR GENUINE SUCCESS?
By Igor Rotar "Welcome to hell." These are the words that greet all visitors to Grozny, scrawled by Chechen fighters to intimidate the federal troops. The place that until recently...
ISLAMIC RADICALS: PARALLELS BETWEEN THE TROUBLES IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
By Igor Rotar The Russian authorities claim that the ideological inspiration and the main source of funding behind the paramilitaries in Chechnya is the well-known Saudi terrorist Osama Bin Laden....
BISHKEK NEITHER OPPRESSES NOR PROTECTS ITS WAHHABITES
By Igor Rotar "Members of the Uzbek special forces and Interior Ministry not only record video footage in local so-called Wahhabite mosques and search and interrogate Kyrgyz citizens suspected of...
ELECTIONS IN KARACHAI-CHERKESSIA ABORTED: THE REPUBLIC FAILS TO PASS ITS DEMOCRACY TEST
By Igor Rotar The first elections for the head of the north Caucasian republic of Karachai-Cherkessia almost erupted into civil war recently. As soon as rumors began circulating that the...
THE NORTH CAUCASUS–SPECIFIC TENSION FACTORS IN THE REGION
By Igor Rotar (This paper was given by the author at the international conference of Caucasus specialists in Tbilisi, organized by the President of Georgia's State Bureau for CIS Studies,...
MOSCOW AND TASHKENT BATTLE FOR SUPREMACY IN CENTRAL ASIA
By Igor Rotar UZBEKISTAN'S "GLOBE" In the main square of the Uzbek capital Tashkent is an unusual monument known to locals as the "globe of Uzbekistan." On the pedestal is...
UPRISING QUASHED IN TAJIKISTAN: FURTHER CATACLYSMS EXPECTED
By Igor Rotar On November 4 a rebellion broke out in Northern Tajikistan, with the rebels, led by Colonel Mahmud Khudoiberdiev, taking control of almost the entire Leninabad Oblast. Khudoiberdiev...
THE INTERNATIONAL CIRCASSIAN COMMUNITY: IS MASS REPATRIATION OF ADYGEIS FEASIBLE?
By Igor Rotar In August, on board aircraft from the Russian ministry for emergency situations, twenty-three Adygei families (eighty-six people) were brought to Adygea from the Yugoslav province of Kosovo....
“WAHHABISM” IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION: A REAL THREAT, OR JUST AN EXCUSE TO SETTLE ACCOUNTS WITH THE OPPOSITION?
By Igor Rotar In a resolution adopted on July 25, one thousand delegates of the Congress of the Muslims of the Caucasus demanded that: "'Wahhabism,' a movement new to our...
“ENLIGHTENED ISLAM,” UZBEK-STYLE: ISLAM KARIMOV IS GETTING RID OF HIS MOST DANGEROUS RIVAL
By Igor Rotar The Fergana valley is a special region of Uzbekistan. Cut off from the rest of the republic by mountains, it is more closely economically linked with the...
THE WESTERN NORTH CAUCASUS: A CALM REFUGE IN A ZONE OF INSTABILITY
By Igor Rotar The average Russian thinks that the entire North Caucasus is a battle zone, only to be visited in case of extreme necessity. But this stereotype is only...
TBILISI HAS ONLY PARTIAL CONTROL OVER GEORGIA’S ARMENIAN REGIONS.
By Igor Rotar Georgia's ethnic Armenian population compactly resides in the Meskhet-Javakhetia region, which borders Armenia, predominantly on the Javakhetian side. Armenians make up more than 90 percent of the...
MINGRELIA: GEORGIA’S NEW “HOT SPOT”?
By Igor Rotar In April, the situation in Mingrelia (the Black Sea region of western Georgia that borders Abkhazia) heated up again. It all began when Georgian special operations troops...