Islamic Crimea according to the Kremlin

In Simferopolis, the construction of a large new mosque is advancing as a symbol of Russian activism to promote an anti-Western narrative in the Muslim world despite centuries of Moscow's persecution of the Tatars.

Kiev (AsiaNews) - During the end-of-year press conference, the representative of the President of Ukraine for Crimea, Tamila Taševa, denounced the activism of Russians in the Islamic world, to support a narrative on the "Russian Crimea" that manages to overcome the traditional visions of the Crimean Tatars, subjected to persecution and deportations as they were not assimilable to the ideology of the Moscow regime.

Russia takes advantage of its participation in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which it has joined as an observer since 2005, which guarantees Moscow a condescending approach from Muslims as one of the allies in the confrontation with the West.

The Arab elites are looking for points of reference to avoid the dangers of destabilization and the Russian war supported by the Muslims today becomes a very important element in the party game, starting precisely from the re-definition of Crimea annexed in 2014.

The Noor News agency, one of Russia's Muslim information sites, has recently taken up the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his greeting to the KazanForum 2023 last May, also seen as a wish for the new year, in which "Russia is open to the widest and most productive commercial and humanitarian collaboration with Islamic countries, also underlining the role of Russian Muslims in the expansion of international contacts, to form together a multipolar and more just world order".

As Taševa observes, "Islamists are not worried about the Russian occupation of Crimea, despite the historical presence of native Muslim peoples such as Sunni Tatars and other Turkic groups."

An Indonesian delegation from the "Ulema Council" recently arrived in Kiev, to which they tried to present the situation of their Crimean co-religionists, persecuted by Russia which tries to show itself as a friend of Islam.

Russian propaganda in this sense is supported by many Muslim political and religious leaders, especially by Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, who is shown praying in Arabic with weapons in hand.

This is also confirmed by the mufti of the Ummah of Kiev, the administration of the Muslims of Ukraine, Murat Suleimanov, according to whom "now the comparison with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza is used by Russia to reassure the Islamic world regarding the invasion of 'Ukraine: you see, we respect all religions and traditions."

The activities of the Islamic exponents most loyal to Moscow in Crimea are therefore supported, who have ongoing negotiations for joint projects with the muftis of Istanbul and others.

Last October, the "VII Kurultaj of Crimean Muslims" was held in Simferopol, which kicked off the construction of a new large mosque in the city, which is already at an advanced stage of construction.

As local mufti Emirali Ablaev says, 80% of the materials for the building come from Turkey. Suleimanov reacts by stating that "we are the Muslims of Crimea, we have the right to represent our point of view in Europe, also regarding Russia's war in our country and in our occupied peninsula".

The Islamic world's position on Russia's war in Ukraine is highly ambiguous, with many Muslims de facto supporting Russia. Another mufti in the service of the Ukrainian armed forces, Said Ismailov, also observes that Russian propaganda is very active on the territory, and is even reported by the Arab editorial team of Russia Today, while the Ukrainian point of view is censored in every way. The leader of the Crimean Tatars and deputy of Ukraine Mustafa Džemilev has meanwhile invited the Russians to leave Crimea "as long as the Kerch bridge works".

Crimea has always been disputed between Christians and Muslims, Slavs, Greeks, Tatars and Turks, and Russia tries to represent the various souls, the Orthodox and the Muslim, lining them both up against the West in one of the crucial points of this confrontation.

Photo:Devlet Geray / WikiCommons 

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