Foreign Terrorist Fighters from the South Caucasus

Russian Federation remains concerned about the foreign terrorist fighter issue, especially about the cases of South Caucasian states of Georgia and Azerbaijan — countries of the post-soviet space. Georgian and Azerbaijani nationals joined Syrian jihadist armed groups and struggled in Syria and in Ukraine on both sides of the conflicts. The article identifies similarities and diﬀerences between foreign fighters of Georgia and Azerbaijan. The goal of the article is to identify reasons associated with the involvement of Georgian and Azerbaijani citizens in Syrian and Ukrainian conflicts. The article concludes that Georgian and Azerbaijani radicalized nationals are vulnerable to IS propaganda in part due to their own religious cleavages and societal grievances at home which the authorities prove incapable of mitigating. Under the inﬂuence of Chechen refugees it was Salaﬁsm that spread in Georgia. The role of pre-existing networks of terrorists on the territories of Georgia and Azerbaijan is also important. Alienation is a central theme, portraying the position of Muslims in Georgia. Besides, Muslims of both countries consider that their values and identity are at risk. The author makes the eﬀort to highlight factors that distinguish the waves of terrorist-fighters going to the zones of conflicts from each other and addresses the problem of returnees.

Keywords

foreign terrorist fighters, South Caucasus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, ISIS, radicalization, returnees

Received

05.10.2020

Publication date

31.12.2020

Number of characters

45945

Cite

GOST	Novikova O. Foreign Terrorist Fighters from the South Caucasus // ISTORIYA – 2020. – V. 11. – Issue 12 (98). Part II [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840012989-6-1 (circulation date: 25.08.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012989-6
MLA	Novikova, Olga "Foreign Terrorist Fighters from the South Caucasus." ISTORIYA 11.12-2 (97) (2020) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012989-6
APA	Novikova O. (2020). Foreign Terrorist Fighters from the South Caucasus. ISTORIYA 11(12-2 (97)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840012989-6

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