Kavkaz Center
Encyclopedia
The Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen
which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international
and Islam
ic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures". The stated mission of the site is to report events related to Chechnya and also to "provide international news agencies with news-letters, background information and assistance in making independent journalistic work in Caucasus
according to itself."
Since its inception it has broadcasted views supporting independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
and later the Caucasian Emirate and the mujahideen
worldwide. The website is published in five languages, English
, Arabic, Ukrainian
, Russian
, and Turkish
.
The site often publishes material that can be defined as controversial according to international standards, which is constantly overrated by Russian authorities as extremist and terrorist.
, Chechnya, by the National Center for Strategic Research and Political Technologies, headed by Movladi Udugov
, former Minister of Information
of the Chechnya and then-leader of the "national information service".
state in the Caucasus. The organisation is banned in Russia, and it is on the United States
' List of Most Wanted Terrorist Organizations. Kavkaz Center is controlled by Movladi Udugov
, a skilled propagandist who follows a fundamentalist strain of Islam.
According to Dr Greg Simons from Swedish National Defence College, "not all of the content on Kavkazcenter can be classified as being extremist and dangerous. However, some material that appears on the website clearly is falling into the realm of extremist and terrorist material." Some of the material on the site calls "for the violent overthrow of the current regime and for acts of aggression against the civilian population. As such, according to both Russian and international standards this is extremist and
terrorist material."
, was shut down by Lithuanian authorities (under pressure from Russian secret services) on hate speech
charges, after a letter from the Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev
claiming responsibility for the Beslan school hostage crisis
and a series of photos from the preparations for the attack were published on the site. The website subsequently re-opened on a webserver at the Internet service provider
PRQ
, in Sweden
, and then in April 2008 to an Estonia
n server, supplied by the AS Starman
.
After the October 2005 Nalchik attack
in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
, the Kavkaz Center alleged that it was targeted by the FSB in a campaign to discredit them, which consisted on a massive worldwide distribution of spam mail which supposedly came from the Kavkaz Center website. After receiving several DoS attacks, a message was published on the Kavkaz Center homepage
, stating that they never sent the spam many people received, and that it was a campaign to discredit them because of their points of view. Another spam attack campaign was active again on November 29, 2005, soliciting donations to a bank account in Sweden.
On the other hand, David McDuff
, an editor with Prague Watchdog
, has written that the Kavkaz Center is "thought by some observers to be a disinformation center run with the help of Russia’s special services."
In 2006, Russian journalist and regular KC contributor Boris Stomakhin
was sentenced by a Moscow court to five years in prison for "fueling religious hatred". Another Russian regular contributor, Pavel Lyuzakov, was sentenced to two years in a prison colony for illegally acquiring and possessing a firearm in 2005.
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures". The stated mission of the site is to report events related to Chechnya and also to "provide international news agencies with news-letters, background information and assistance in making independent journalistic work in Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
according to itself."
Since its inception it has broadcasted views supporting independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
and later the Caucasian Emirate and the mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
worldwide. The website is published in five languages, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Arabic, Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
.
The site often publishes material that can be defined as controversial according to international standards, which is constantly overrated by Russian authorities as extremist and terrorist.
Background
The KC was founded in March 1999 in the city of GroznyGrozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
, Chechnya, by the National Center for Strategic Research and Political Technologies, headed by Movladi Udugov
Movladi Udugov
Movladi Saidarbievich Udugov was the First Deputy Prime Minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
, former Minister of Information
Minister of Information
The Ministry of Information , headed by the Minister of Information, was a United Kingdom government department created briefly at the end of World War I and again during World War II...
of the Chechnya and then-leader of the "national information service".
Purpose and structure
Kavkaz Center is the news portal of the Caucasian Emirate, a militant network aiming to establish an IslamistIslamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
state in the Caucasus. The organisation is banned in Russia, and it is on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' List of Most Wanted Terrorist Organizations. Kavkaz Center is controlled by Movladi Udugov
Movladi Udugov
Movladi Saidarbievich Udugov was the First Deputy Prime Minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
, a skilled propagandist who follows a fundamentalist strain of Islam.
According to Dr Greg Simons from Swedish National Defence College, "not all of the content on Kavkazcenter can be classified as being extremist and dangerous. However, some material that appears on the website clearly is falling into the realm of extremist and terrorist material." Some of the material on the site calls "for the violent overthrow of the current regime and for acts of aggression against the civilian population. As such, according to both Russian and international standards this is extremist and
terrorist material."
Controversy
The Kavkaz Center caused a major controversy in September 2004 when the server it was being hosted on, located in LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, was shut down by Lithuanian authorities (under pressure from Russian secret services) on hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
charges, after a letter from the Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
claiming responsibility for the Beslan school hostage crisis
Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
and a series of photos from the preparations for the attack were published on the site. The website subsequently re-opened on a webserver at the Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
PRQ
PRQ
PeRiQuito AB is a Swedish Internet service provider and web hosting company created in 2004.-Ownership:Based in Stockholm, PRQ is owned by Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, two founders of The Pirate Bay.- Business model :...
, in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and then in April 2008 to an Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n server, supplied by the AS Starman
AS Starman
Starman is an Estonian cable television, VOIP telephony, and ISP company founded in 1992 and located in Tallinn. The company has been listed as SMN1T on the Tallinn Stock Exchange since 17 June 2006....
.
After the October 2005 Nalchik attack
October 2005 Nalchik attack
The 2005 Nalchik attack was a raid by a large group of militants on Nalchik , in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic of southern Russia, on 13 October 2005.A number of buildings associated with the Russian security forces were targeted...
in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
, the Kavkaz Center alleged that it was targeted by the FSB in a campaign to discredit them, which consisted on a massive worldwide distribution of spam mail which supposedly came from the Kavkaz Center website. After receiving several DoS attacks, a message was published on the Kavkaz Center homepage
Homepage
A home page or homepage has various related meanings to do with web sites:* It most often refers to the initial or main web page of a web site, sometimes called the front page ....
, stating that they never sent the spam many people received, and that it was a campaign to discredit them because of their points of view. Another spam attack campaign was active again on November 29, 2005, soliciting donations to a bank account in Sweden.
On the other hand, David McDuff
David McDuff
David McDuff is a British translator, editor and literary critic.He attended the University of Edinburgh, where he studied Russian and German...
, an editor with Prague Watchdog
Prague Watchdog
Prague Watchdog was an English, Czech and Russian-language Prague-based on-line service that collected and disseminated information on the crisis in Chechnya and reporting on the conflict in the North Caucasus, focusing on human rights, humanitarian situation, media access and coverage, and the...
, has written that the Kavkaz Center is "thought by some observers to be a disinformation center run with the help of Russia’s special services."
In 2006, Russian journalist and regular KC contributor Boris Stomakhin
Boris Stomakhin
Boris Vladimirovich Stomakhin is a Russian radical political activist, and editor of "Radical politics" periodical. He was convicted to five years in prison on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and making public appeals for extremist activity...
was sentenced by a Moscow court to five years in prison for "fueling religious hatred". Another Russian regular contributor, Pavel Lyuzakov, was sentenced to two years in a prison colony for illegally acquiring and possessing a firearm in 2005.
External links
- Information Agency “Kavkaz Center” official website
- Official “Kavkaz Center” Information Agency Chat
- Mirrors: