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Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Author : Robert Yengibaryan
Distinguished Scientist of the Russian Federation
FIFTEEN independent states were formed in place of the dissolved
Soviet Union, with Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, all Central
Asian republics getting this status for the first time in their history.
They quickly established political and economic relations with the out-
side world, while the Muslim republics forged especially close relations
with Turkic Muslim world. The Russians, who lived in Azerbaijan and
Central Asia, and with them representatives of other nationalities not
professing Islam, started hastily leaving the above countries.
About four million square kilometers of former Soviet territory have
been almost cleansed of Christian inhabitants, as joyfully reported by
the world mass media - particularly by representatives of Islamic, pri-
marily Turkish, clergy and national intellectuals.
After the breakup of the USSR, when the whole world was waiting for what will follow next, stunned
by such an unexpected event only comparable to the end of World War II in its global implications,
Turkey immediately started an active dialog with the Islam-oriented former Soviet republics and au-
tonomous republics which remained part of the Russian Federation.
One and a half million Russians who lived in Azerbaijan left its territory in just a few years because
of the fast Islamization of all spheres of social and political life and a lack of prospects in that
country.
A wave of de-Russianization and de-Christianization also rolled across all Muslim republics of the
Russian Federation.
The city of Grozny, which was founded by Russians and served as Russia's stronghold in the North
Caucasus, was abandoned by the Russians and all other people, who were not professing Islam,
after the start of violent unrest. All those who stayed there were robbed blind, deprived of any
property, and expelled from the republic at gunpoint by the armed "militia."
A huge amount of Muslims numbering 8-10 million people, who in all respects differ from the in-
digenous population, have settled in Russia - from the south border areas to its northern capital.
RUSSIA has the largest territory among major military and political powers, which extends across
a broad expanse of two continents - Europe and Asia. Turkey also lies on two continents, but the
territory it occupies in Europe is insignificant and it does not rank among the world leaders.
In Russia, for many centuries, the titular Russian nation, which is mostly Christian, has been living
together with representatives of Islamic culture residing within their historical boundaries. However,
the collapse of the USSR and a multimillion-strong migration of Muslims from former Soviet re-
publics of Central Asia and Azerbaijan to central regions of Russia, including Moscow and St. Pe-
tersburg, as well as an upsurge of radical Islam across the entire perimeter of the Muslims' settlement
area, have created new political realities.
The Islamic Challenge in the 21st Century: The Russian Dimen-
sion