If there ever was a moment when Muslim and Chechen rebels had the attention of the world, this is it.
Putin's dream of Russia re-evaluting itself in the eyes of the world, by hosting the Sochi Olympics, has now become a nightmare.
Instead of creating the premises for a grandiose scheme, for which Putin has spent upwards of 50 billion dollars, he has created the perfect moment for rebel groups to gain attention in the international arena.
There is almost no measure that Putin will not consider to have his moment in the sun. Just like China, the Olympics in Sochi were the occasion that would have catapulted Russia from its dark, insular past into the present. Sochi would have been Putin's legacy, after 12 years of strife, friction, obscurity and economic reversals. But such a coronation will be impossible.
Dark clouds have been gathering for a while in Russia's Caucasus. It's almost unthinkable that Putin would have chosen such a venue for his winter Olympics, just a stone throw's away from the nest of enemies of the state.
Putin's ambition however, has been matched by that of his staunchest enemy. Whatever adjustments or pr stunts Putin has dreamed up in the past months, in the glory days that precede the Sochi games, they fall woefully short of settling the disputes with the Muslim separationists in Chechnia and the Caucasus.
The leader of the Chechen rebel has seized this opportunity by releasing a statement in which he says that he will target tourists who travel to Sochi for the games.
Doku Umarov, by many considered the Osama Bin Laden of the Russian rebels, is pushing for his own glory day.
As powerful as he is, Umarov's statement is not to be taken lightly. He has a lot of followers who are ready to follow his every order without any reservations as to methods employed or self sacrifice involved.
This is the first time Umarov has called for the outright targeting of civilians, and Russian authorities are worried.
Umarov in fact is the man behind the horrific attacks at the Domodedovo airport and the Russian train. However, he also instituted a truce a short while ago. But such goodwill was lost on Putin, who took it as a sign that Umarov's group was weakening or failing.
Some think that Umarov is responsible for the twin bombings that tore through Volgograd (ex Stalingrad) last week. But there is no certainty, because no one has claimed responsibility. However, the style of attacks and methods employed leave no doubt that if not Umarov, then his followers have carried out the attacks.
Although Umarov's earlier aspirations were of freeing Chechnya, his present goal is to establish a free Caucasus; a Muslim state entirely severed from Russia.
That is why Sochi is the top prize, the unmistakeable occasion to bring Putin to his knees, the one to make the long fight for separation visible to the rest of the world.
Recent articles have spoken of how Putin could have changed all that by allowing a moderate Islamic faith to thrive within Russia, to tolerate it together with the other faiths. To breathe new hope in the Muslim citizens of Russia in a way, by allowing them to identify with a brand of Islam that is free but modern.
But that is not Putin's way. He is not used to making inclusive plans. A rigid technocrat raised and bred in the KGB of old, Putin has not learned how to bring his country into the new millennium, leaving Russia in the vacuum of old hatreds and ideologies. His recent measures against homosexuality and his shameful rapproachment with the Orthodox church show a leader who has not been able to bridge his old ideals with his more recent vision. Time is running out, even for Putin, and Sochi could be just the event that plunges Russia into the obscurity of a failed state.
Op-ED
Source : Deustche Welle/ 1.5.14
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