Caucasiologists criticize statements voiced by Karachay-Cherkessian Mufti about Yeltsin Centre

The "Boris Yeltsin Presidential Centre" in Yekaterinburg is to be blown up in case of its "subversive activities." This was stated by Mufti Ismail Berdiev, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Karachay-Cherkessia. Journalist Orkhan Djemal and Akhmet Yarlykapov, an expert on the Caucasus, believe the statement voiced by the Mufti is "reckless."

The "Regions.ru" reports that Ismail Berdiev has emphasized he "trusts the statement voiced by film director Mikhalkov." According to him, the museum presents biased interpretation of the history of Russia and thus "destroys the national identity of children."

In his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Orkhan Djemal, a Forbes journalist, has suggested that "the Ismail Berdiev's statement was politically motivated."

"Perhaps, Ismail Berdiev believes that to speak in this manner about the fate of the Yeltsin Centre means to demonstrate loyalty to the current power," said Orkhan Djemal.

Akhmet Yarlykapov, Senior Researcher of the Centre for Ethno-Political Studies of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), has noted that Mufti Ismail Berdiev "should have been more cautious in his statements."

Later, Mufti Ismail Berdiev himself has explained that "his proposal to blow up the Yeltsin Centre was an allegory."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.