Georgia and Islamic threat

The threat of Islamic terrorism is being discussed in Georgia. A map released on the Internet, presumably by the Islamic State (IS), formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, illustrates Georgia and the South Caucasus within the borders of a United Islamist Emirate. Some analysts are skeptical over the issue and the map’s authenticity, while others detect some risks in such statements, even if not true. The terrorist group in Iraq has claimed the creation of a “caliphate”, or an Islamic state, based on Sharia rules. The map that was released on the Internet includes Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, the entire Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, North Africa, a large portion of Asia, part of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Crimea, Spain and Portugal. Al Qaida had also suggested such a strategic plan.

IS is behind almost all terrorist attacks occurring in Iraq lately. According to unofficial data, the group has accumulated 15,000 well-trained and equipped fighters. It is speculated that some of the Persian Gulf countries are financially assisting them; Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are mainly suspected.

Some of the analysts make out the current developments with regard to the terrorists as an international threat. Some Islamist leaders think that it is not necessary to create a real caliphate; it is enough simply to reinforce the Muslims’ positions in the above-mentioned countries reflected on the map.

Touching upon the issue, some Georgian analysts have suggested that such statements made by terrorists give the chance for Russian political leaders to further activate its special forces and carry out aggressive steps against its neighbors and later claim that the Federation was fighting against terrorists.

Military analyst Giorgi Tavdgiridze believes that there is a certain balance that is keeping an equilibrium in the world and its is unlikely serious activities will be launched in this regard.

The only possible development, according to Tavdgiridze, is the emergence and establishment of a new state - an independent Kurdistan, where Kurds from Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey will unite.

However, analyst Vakhtan Maisaia challenges such an approach, stating that Georgia is under an Islamic threat as it has several territories populated by Muslim citizens and therefore a certain threat cannot be completely excluded. Such regions are: Adjara, Abkhazia, Pankisi Gorge and Kvemo Kartli.

Maisaia predicts that Islamists might take steps to destabilize the situation in various countries, Georgia among them. He admits that confronting entities like the United States, Russia and Iran are united against the threat. An analyst on Caucasus issues, Mamuka Areshidze, thinks that the threat from Islamist terrorists is quite realistic.