Vladimir Putin arrived in Chechnya yesterday, welcomed by his faithful ally Razman Kadyrov, and together they visited a weapons depot and then a mosque. Here the Russian president took a copy of the Koran in his arms and kissed it. Although Putin has certainly not converted to Islam, it is nevertheless a symbolic gesture. Why did he do it? We asked Irina Tsukerman, a lawyer specializing in human rights and national security and an analyst at the Arabian Peninsula Institute in Washington DC.
“There are several notable observations to make. First, until recently, Putin’s appeal to international political conservatives was to present himself as the defender of Christianity. He did so by siding with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, who at one point was embraced by the country’s minorities, including Christians, as the lesser of two evils, but who during the civil war and since has proven to be just as serious a threat. The Russians also had no problem with physical attacks on Christian communities in Syria, or even with a full-blown attack on Christian-majority Ukraine. It is ironic that after claiming to embrace Christian values, to have banned the Muslim Brotherhood, and, at one point, to be a partner of the United States in countering jihadist terrorism, Putin is now making gestures like kissing the Koran that, in the past, would have earned him opprobrium from the very audiences he courted through official policy moves and propaganda campaigns. The second observation is that Putin actually had no particular interest in Christianity or Islam, except to the extent that they served his political interests, and any careful observer of his career would not say so.”
And to think that the Soviet Union was atheist
A former SVR officer, Putin emerged from the cynical atheism of the communist Soviet Union into post-Soviet Russia, where it was common for “new Russians,” oligarchs, and organized crime “brothers” to donate to the church, attend services in a very ostentatious manner, and then commit all manner of crimes the next day after absolving their sins. Creating impressions of religiosity became fashionable in the 1990s and continues to be a symbolic and attractive model, especially for attracting Westerners. The reality of life in Russia is quite different, with sky-high rates of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, high levels of abortion, and generally low church attendance, not to mention a lack of basic orphanage infrastructure, high rates of alcoholism, and other problems that do not mesh with high levels of national religious observance. While paying lip service to Christianity and claiming to fight Islamism, Putin continues to engage in self-serving alliances, cultivating Islamism in Chechnya in an effort to stamp out nationalism that challenged the vision of a Greater Russia based on its various conquests of unwilling ethnic and religious minorities. Not only has Putin placed cooperative Islamists like Kadyrov in strategic areas to maintain control over these territories, he has even employed the most radical groups to further his personal agendas, such as cover for various terrorist attacks that would make Putin a “defender of the people” in the eyes of the public.
Vladimir Putin has a troubled relationship with Chechnya
«He initially used Chechen terrorists as a pretext for an FSB operation that blew up residential buildings and brought Putin to power; but in the later stages that helped consolidate control, such as Beslan and Nord-Ost, the Kremlin and the security services probably worked hand in hand with Chechen Islamists, until the operations got out of hand. David Satter’s book “The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep” is worth reading. Furthermore, Putin allowed Islamist mosques to proliferate across the country, even building a huge mosque in Moscow, while once again paying lip service to countering Islamic extremism by formally banning the Muslim Brotherhood. But by inviting countless guest workers from Central Asia and not enforcing deportations or any kind of visa controls, Putin essentially welcomed the Islamists.»
Let’s go back to the kiss of the Koranwhat does it mean?
“This gesture likely has less to do with embracing these increasingly radicalized communities amid rampant ethnic and religious discrimination, both in terms of funding local infrastructure and recruiting for the war in Ukraine, and more to do with Russia’s external relations, which are actively courting the Muslim world, from courting traditional U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia to embracing Iran and its proxy network, including Hamas, which Russia is now formally backing. In a country that has failed to rise up against an illegal, bloody, and costly war with Ukraine or the deadly persecution of the local opposition, Putin does not expect much of a vocal push against this gesture, given the general fear, apathy, and high levels of substance abuse in several more conservative areas. However, Putin believes that he will reap the benefits of this image with his new allies and perhaps gain more solid political support against them at a time when there is a possibility that Donald Trump with his alleged “Muslim Ban” will return to the White House »
Russian President Courts Muslim World Primarily for Geostrategic Reasons
«Of course, the rationale for Putin’s interests in Muslim-majority countries is equally cynical and consists of seven points: countering the West, gaining naval access to the Gulf, strengthening Russia’s political weight in the non-Western world, evading sanctions, making money, strengthening Russia’s coalition, and finally securing support for his personal power. It is important to note that such gestures are important in the Muslim world, especially after October 7, when Hamas flooded the media and social media with religious references to ignite religious fervor and appeal to common roots even among relatively secular Muslims not involved in politics or Islamism. »
