Evkurov's conflict with Muftiate reminds of Kadyrov's interests in Ingushetia

The periods of relation aggravation between Yunus-Bek Evkurov and the Muftiate are related to disagreements between the leaders of Ingushetia and Chechnya, believes Akhmet Yarlykapov, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Caucasus Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (known as MGIMO).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 27, the republic's Muftiate announced Evkurov's renunciation from the Muslim community, stating that he oppressed the employees of the "Spiritual Muslims' Centre of Ingushetia" and local Imams. The renunciation means that Muslims will not participate in his funeral, wedding and other events.

"The Ingush Muftiate creates noise only in the situation when there are disagreements between Yunus-Bek Evkurov and Ramzan Kadyrov ... There is a competition between two politicians in the republic. The Kremlin recommends them not to make the confrontation public, and the conflict manifests itself in the quarrels of the Ingush leader with the Muftiate. The Kremlin hardly needs a person in Ingushetia loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov. Moscow is interested in competition, and Yunus-Bek Evkurov has shown himself to be a firm leader. Meanwhile, the decision to let him stay the Ingush leader or not is to be made by the Kremlin. Moscow is aware that the Muftiate is not an independent opposition," explained Akhmet Yarlykapov to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to him, Yunus-Bek Evkurov has no rivals, but "it is not possible to talk about competition in the absence of direct election."

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