Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 16-22, 2021

Victims of shelling attacks at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan; conflict in a Dagestani village over the imam appointment; new flooding in Kuban; verdict against Chechen native Djumaev in a case on participation in a rally for Navalny; echo of Afghanistan in the Caucasus, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of August 16-22, 2021, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Victims of shelling attacks at border between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Last week, Armenia and Azerbaijan continued to regularly exchange accusations of shelling attacks at the border. There were casualties. So, on August 17, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Armenia reported that an Armenian soldier was wounded as a result of a shelling attack from Azerbaijan in the direction of the Sotk community in the Gegarkunik District. On August 16, the Armenian side accused Azerbaijan of shelling attacks on the Gegarkunik and Ararat Districts. Two soldiers were killed as a result of the shelling attacks. Moreover, on August 17, the “GeoProMining Gold” Company announced that it had evacuated workers from the Sotk minefield because of shelling attacks from Azerbaijan. On August 21, military experts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot” noted that shelling attacks on the line of contact between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops have become as regular as before the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in the autumn of 2020, but now the parties to the conflict do not use heavy weapons.

It should be noted that on August 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed the Yerevan’s desire to start demarcating the border with Azerbaijan, the absence of which exacerbated the border conflict between the two countries. Nikol Pashinyan also claimed that the Armenian authorities are ready to resume negotiations with the participation of OSCE representatives, considering them a guarantee of restoring security in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Azerbaijani political analysts, Baku does not exclude the resumption of negotiations with the participation of OSCE representatives, if there are proposed ways of achieving peace on the basis of mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries.

Conflict in Dagestani village over imam appointment

On August 16, a fight broke out between an imam of a local mosque and a resident of the village of Agvali in the Tsumadinsky District of Dagestan. Armed law enforcers arrived in the village, and the police took control over the entrances to the village in order to prevent a mass fight. The villagers independently, without the participation of representatives of the Muftiate of Dagestan, proclaimed Magomedsaigid Kadimagomedov to be their new imam. On August 20, a lot of cars gathered on the outskirts of the village. The people who arrived to the village announced that the Muftiate had agreed on the appointment of a native of another village as imam rather than Magomedsaigid Kadimagomedov. Residents of the Agvali village gathered to fight back the visitors, and dozens of policemen were accumulated in the place. The Friday namaz (prayer), obligatory for Muslims, took place that day in a gym. Magomedsaigid Kadimagomedov withdrew from conducting the Friday namaz and entrusted it the muezzin of the mosque. Hundreds of people gathered for the Friday namaz. In the evening on the same day, the Council of Religious Figures decided to transfer to the Agvali village Yusup Gadjiev, the imam in the village of Verkhneye Gakvari. On August 21, Yusup Gadjiev took up the duties of an imam in the Agvali village. Believers agreed with his candidacy, local residents reported.

New flooding in Kuban

The downpours that accompanied the mesocyclone that hit the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory on the night of August 13 continued for several days. At first, Anapa, the Temryuk and Krymsky Districts suffered the most from the flooding, and on August 20, the heavy rains increased the number of flooded houses of residents in the Slavyansky and Krymsky Districts. On that day, in the Southern rural settlement of the Krymsky District, water rose in a reservoir due to the heavy rains. Rescuers evacuated 12 people because of the threat of flooding. According to the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE), as of August 21, 617 people stayed in temporary accommodation centres (TACs) after the flooding in Kuban, and 115 households in eight settlements remained in the flooding zone. In Novorossiysk and rural districts, evaluation commissions surveyed over 800 households in the flooded zone and decided that residents of 542 households had the right to the compensation payments. Some of the victims have already received one-time compensation for damaged housing and property. Residents of Kuban complained about heavy flood damage.

Verdict against Chechen native Djumaev in case on participation in rally for Navalny

On August 19, the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow found Said-Mukhammad Djumaev, a native of Chechnya, guilty of attacking law enforcers at a rally in support of oppositionist Alexei Navalny and sentenced the defendant to five years of imprisonment. The young man did not admit his guilt. The court unreasonably sentenced Said-Mukhammad Djumaev to almost the maximum punishment by pronouncing the harsh sentence as a warning for other people, advocate Murad Musaev notes. Let us remind you that Said-Mukhammad Djumaev, an ethnic Chechen residing in Moscow, was accused of entering into a confrontation with law enforcers at a protest action on January 23. The Chechen native’s defence requested the court to close the criminal case with a court fine, but the court refused. Earlier, Chechen blogger Musa Lomaev and human rights defender Oyub Titiev have explained the wide public outcry around the story with Said-Mukhammad Djumaev by the fact that the young man became the first Chechen native within many years to take the side of the opposition. By participating in a protest action in Moscow, Said-Mukhammad Djumaev demonstrated the federal authorities that the Ramzan Kadyrov’s ability to control natives of Chechnya was exaggerated, human rights defender Ruslan Kutaev notes.

Echo of Afghanistan in Caucasus

On August 22, the last group of 16 Georgian citizens who left Afghanistan after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban* arrived at the Tbilisi airport. As of August 16, 23 Georgian citizens, who worked under contracts for private companies, remained in Kabul, captured by the Taliban*. Their evacuation was arranged by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The offensive of militants of the terrorist movement Taliban*, banned in Russia, began after the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan. On August 15, militants of the Taliban* entered Kabul, the country’s capital. President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan. The Taliban* announced that the war in Afghanistan was over. The events in Afghanistan may lead to the strengthening of the Turkey’s role in Southern Caucasus and create risks for Armenia, suggest Armenian political journalists interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”. The arrival of the Taliban* to power in Afghanistan did not cause an unequivocal reaction among the Muslims of Northern Caucasus and does not threaten the region with an increase in extremism, say Caucasian researcher Akhmet Yarlykapov and expert Kirill Semyonov. Russia should work to prevent a possible threat by increasing military cooperation with the countries of Central Asia, political analyst Igor Korotchenko suggests.

*The Taliban is recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia by the court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 23, 2021 at 09:23 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.