Friday, January 24, 2025

Secularist and Democratic Ichkerian Army Taking Shape in Ukraine

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 20 – When the people of Chechnya began their struggle for independence at the end of Soviet times, their leaders were committed to a vision of a secular and democratic country. When the West didn’t back them, some of them turned to Islamist radicals further alienating many. But now, the Chechens are changing again.
    In Russian-occupied Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov has installed a kind of pseudo-Islamic state that imposes many of the dicta of the Muslim faith as state policy. But despite the assumptions of many that Chechens are Islamist, assumptions Moscow has encouraged, a new generation is arising that is fighting for the original ideals of democracy and secularism.
    This remarkable and transformative idea has received little attention, but Akhmed Zakayev, head of the exile Chechen Republic Ichkeria government, explains how it is happening and why (kavkazr.com/a/v-ukraine-my-stali-organizovannoy-strukturoy-ahmed-zakaev-o-svobodnoy-chechne-i-rezhime-kadyrova/33282063.html).
    He points out that in contrast to the first generation which fled Chechnya after the Russian advance and often fell under the influence of Islamist groups in the Middle East, the new generation of Chechens living in Europe, some 400,000 in all, have been shaped by Western institutions and values.
    They have gone to Western universities and absorbed Western values, and some of them have now formed five battalions of a Chechen force to alongside Ukrainians against Russian aggression. This force, which has come into existence in Ukraine, is the foundation of forces which will restore the original ideals of the Chechen movement.

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