We have written several times about the fact that in view of the imminent establishment of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the reaction to it is becoming one of the main foreign policy problems of the Kremlin. Admittedly, the master of the Kremlin does not forget to write articles about Ukraine and talk about the «lands of historic Russia» that were given to the allied republics by the Bolsheviks. But this is a completely neglected history, and we will not discuss it now.
So it is understandable when the Russian imperialists, who are excited by the Taliban offensive, call for a repetition of the «success of the campaign in Afghanistan» (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=39937). But it is unclear why their conclusions are actually supported by those rare figures admitted to the Russian media space who many Muslims perceive as their representatives in Russian politics.
For example, Ruslan Kurbanov, speaking recently on Channel 1, practically called for taking the border of the independent states of Central Asia under Russian military control and using the Taliban offensive to impose integration on them on Russia’s terms. https://youtu.be/z8CLxWdMdf4 If an ordinary Russian imperialist had made such a proposal, there would be no point in discussing it — as the Russians say, «Let it snow, Emelya, your blizzard». But the question arises, why does Ruslan Kurbanov do this? At least for us, it arises because despite all the criticism of Kurbanov’s position in recent years, we still assume that Islamic motivation should not be alien to him, and that he should try in his own way to justify his actions with Islamic arguments, no matter how we may relate to them.
If we assume such a justification, then logically there is only one possibility left — Kurbanov wants Central Asia to come under greater influence of Russia, so that Russia in turn would become more dependent on Central Asia with its tens of millions of Muslims, and thus the importance of the Muslim factor within Russia would increase.
Unfortunately or fortunately, these hopes are as old as they are unsustainable. And one need not look far for an example. How many times has the number of Muslims in Moscow increased in recent decades, especially due to immigrants from Central Asia? How many new mosques have been built in Moscow during this time (preferably compared to churches or synagogues)? How many Islamic-oriented representatives from Central Asia have appeared in Russian politics or media during this time?
The answers to these rhetorical questions are well known and quite discouraging for Muslims who persistently advocate the expansion of Russia’s imperial influence in the hope that this will lead to its Islamization. Absolutely unfounded, because Russian, like Chinese, influence in Central Asia, on the contrary, brings de-Islamization. The same thing is happening in Russia itself with migrants from Central Asia — although it is sometimes easier for many of them to practice Islam there, the green light is given only to those who have nothing to do with Islam or who promote directly opposing «trends», such as the singer Manizha (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=39601).
Therefore, let us not deceive others or ourselves — there will be no benefit for Muslims in Central Asia or Russia from increasing Russia’s role there. Moreover, Turkey can now offer its services to most of the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia, and it can do so with the support of the West. And its influence on local Muslims will indeed be beneficial, as it already is in Uzbekistan. Similarly, cooperation with historical Turkestan will have a positive impact on Turkey itself by strengthening its Turkic-Islamic component.
Moreover, it would be worthwhile for Russian politicians and patriots like Kurbanov to understand that such developments pose no threat to Russia itself. After all, no matter how much he and similar nationalist loyalists try to convince themselves otherwise, Russia is first and foremost made up of Russians, and the majority of them are tired of «fulfilling international duty» and would prefer someone else to do it for them.
These sentiments should be promoted by Russian politicians and patriots who think about how to benefit Islam and Muslims. Instead of trying to be more hawkish than the Russians themselves, they convince themselves that this will benefit Muslims. It will benefit no one. *- Prohibited in the Russian Federation.