Putin's move surprises everyone
Observers couldn't hide their astonishment. On August 20, the Russian president traveled to Chechnya for an official visit. And when he was presented with the holy book of Islam, he bowed and placed his lips on it.
The scene, which took place in the White Mosque of Shali and has drawn much criticism on social media, was captured in its entirety by Chechnya’s leader (and close ally of Moscow), Ramzan Kadyrov. It shows Vladimir Putin kissing the Koran.
Why so much fuss?
While the Kremlin leader strives to preserve the country’s “harmony” by navigating between Muslim and Orthodox religious identities, the same cannot be said for the Chechen leader. Between 1990 and 2000, Chechnya was torn apart by two particularly bloody wars between Russian forces and separatists, whose movement became highly radicalized, reports La Dépêche. Reconciliation between the two religions is, as a result, extremely delicate.
In Russia, 15% of the population, or nearly 25 million people, practice Sunni Islam, compared to 96% in Chechnya.
(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: - Picture: The Presidential Press and Information Office via Wikicommons under license Creative Commons CC BY 4.0)
