With a 10X increase in transmission speeds and a significantly lower cost per bit, Long-term Evolution (LTE) represents a tremendous opportunity for operators given the prospect of converting more than 4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide to 4G or fourth-generation technology. The evolution in wireless communications is driving operators to change the way voice services are delivered.

Voice over LTE is an important topic for providers today. LTE is all about data so trafficking circuit-based voice services onto IP networks is a big issue. There are a number of technical and business challenges associated with Voice over LTE. While there are questions over when Voice over LTE will be deployed, one of the big technical impediments until recently was a unified standard.

A few weeks ago a consortium of service providers, equipment vendors and device manufacturers came together in support of a standard for delivering voice and SMS services on LTE networks, One Voice. The One Voice specification will use components of the existing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) framework (which already defines how to provide data, voice and multimedia content over IP) to route voice calls between circuit switched and IP networks…meaning LTE mobile calls will become VoIP calls.

Prior to One Voice, a competing approach — the VoLGA (Voice over LTE via Generic Access) initiative — was put forth as an interim LTE voice solution using existing circuit-switched networks …instead of IMS. VoLGA supporters claim this would allow operators to get there sooner rather than later. While we understand the problems VoLGA attempted to address, we think they’re greatly exaggerated. Since the One Voice announcement, many in the industry are now questioning the livelihood of VoLGA.

In our opinion, VoLGA’s time has passed. Here’s why…

• T-Mobile is the only operator backing VoLGA. Now compare that to the list of heavy hitters behind One Voice…AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Verizon, and Vodafone.
• The addressable market for VoLGA is minuscule compared to that of One Voice. Handset manufacturers and network equipment vendors follow the lead of service providers. Given the first point, it is obvious where the opportunity is.
• Given VoLGA is a temporary solution, vendors are not likely to invest in it — innovation will occur with One Voice though.
• IMS is MORE mature than what VoLGA proponents pushed. BroadSoft has more than 50 live IMS deployments worldwide and with an inside view of 450+ providers’ network roadmaps, we can validate this is real. Many carriers in the US and most European providers have already deployed IMS.

As providers continue to lose landline assets and look to collapse their networks into one, IMS is critical. Since IMS simultaneously serves broadband wireline and LTE wireless networks, this provides operators with a path to service convergence. Fixed-line providers have been moving in this direction for some, and now converged and mobile operators need to follow suit. This is huge opportunity for them.

BroadSoft believes One Voice is the best approach for delivering voice and SMS services on LTE networks and will help accelerate the process of moving to all-IP. Providers should not be sidetracked with an interim solution that doesn’t address the primary goal.

UPDATE – It’s really dead now – Ericsson leaves VoLGA Forum, from Unsprung: http://bit.ly/4nSnAI

The Russian city of Ulyanovsk was rocked by blasts after a fire triggered multiple explosions at a military depot located on the outskirts of the city. The city is located in the Volga region. At least 2 people are feared killed though an emergency services source confirmed 1 death till now. BBC meanwhile has reported death of two firefighters who were on duty trying to douse the flames.

The Governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Sergey Morozov, said that 3000 residents have been moved to safer locations as depot is very large and houses “several thousand rail cars” of ammunition.

Governor Mozrov also said that the incident seems to be a result of “breach of a technological process during the disposal of ammunition.”

The facility is reported to house “conventional and non-chemical ammunition” only. Russian TV also informed that there is no threat of air or water pollution as a result of the incident.

An official also informed that the fire is mostly under control and the frequency of blasts has also reduced which were initially going off every 30 seconds and could be heard from a distance of 15 kms. (9 Miles) earlier.

Initial reports indicated that around 40 people were missing after the blast but latest reports stated that the missing people have been located and rescued.

A criminal investigation has been launched in the fire though the authorities ruled out any possibility of a deliberate action to trigger the blasts.

NowPublic

D. Maria e suas viagens de sonho – ou será que é porque eu lhe contei que estava a aprender a falar russo? Bom, seja lá qual for a razão…spaceba!!!

Veja também Rios de Angola e Alaska, e deixe o seu comentário!!

Islam is the second largest confession in the Russian Federation, which alongside with Orthodoxy, has deep and early roots. The Orthodox-Muslim synthesis has expressed itself In the traditional mutual influence of the Muslim and Christian nations of contemporary Russia. Many scholars consider it to be the basis of the peculiar, Eurasian character of Russia, showing itself during the main historic periods of this country–that is prerevolutionary, Soviet and PostSoviet.

In the territory of present-day Russia two main seats of Islam’s proliferation took place. The first is the Northern Caucasus, where the Arab-Muslim expansion in the eighth century of the Christian Era used to have a military, economic, and cultural character. The same expansion was simultaneously going on in Transcaucasia (mainly in Azerbaijan) and in Central Asia.

The Turkish world Turki dunya

The Economist provides some background:

Russia has more Muslims than any other European state (bar Turkey); and the Muslim share of the population is rising fast. The 2002 census found that Russia’s Muslims numbered 14.5m, 10% of its total of 145m. In 2005 the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, put the number of Muslims at 20m. Ravil Gaynutdin, head of Russia’s Council of Muftis, talks of 23m, including Azeri and Central Asian migrants.

In Moscow alone, there are an estimated 2.5 million Muslims out of a population of about 10.4 million.

Islam first emerged in what is today Russia as early as the 8th century – before the advent of Christianity in this largely Orthodox country. As the Economist goes on to report:

Aside from the Caucasus [Dagestan, Chechnya, Circassia, and Ingustan], there are now two concentrations of Muslims in Russia. One is in Moscow, swollen by labour migration, where they may number 2m. The other is in the faith’s old bastions: Bashkortostan and, above all, Tatarstan

Russias restless Muslims

The main zone of Islam’s proliferation in the Northern Caucasus has been Daghestan, where this religion spread in the tenth century. On the basis of the traditions brought by the Arab Muslims and the local cultural heritage, an original culture appeared there, which is an interesting variant of the universal Muslim culture. One of the main features of the Daghestani Muslim cultural traditions has been a considerable role of the Arabic elements. It is enough to say, that in polyethnic Daghestan developed a local spiritual and lay literature in the Arabic language and Arabic was the tool of interethnic contacts before the beginning of the Collectivization, or up to the late 1920s.

It was specifically Daghestan, together with the Crimea and to a lesser extent Turkey, that became the source of the Islamic beliefs and religious practices for the other regions of the Northern Caucasus, in the zones inhabited by the Vaynakh and Adigh tribes and peoples. As late as the eve of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 and even during the first years after the Daghestanians who were religiously more educated than their neighbors in the Northern Caucasus, often used to serve as mullas in the auls (villages) of Chechnya, Kabarda, Karachay, Balkiriya, and other areas.

The other seat of Islam’s proliferation in Russia is the region of the Volga river. Specifically here in the tenth century, some time before Russia’s adoption of Christianity, the voluntary adoption of Islam by the king of the Bulghar state took place, the Turkic-speaking inhabitants who were the ancestors of the present-day Kazan (or Volga) Tatars. A century and a half after the Mongolian conquest of the Bulgharian kingdom the Golden Horde, which was embracing a vast area of Eurasia, became a Muslim state. At that time, as well as at the period of the Bulghar kingdom, the Muslim missionaries and merchants (the two positions often combined at that time) spread the Muslim religion among the Bashkirs, who are the Tatars’s closest neighbors, and also among the Turkic-speaking population of Siberia, the future Siberian Tatars. Beginning with the second half of the 18th century the Tatar mullas and merchants, under the protection of the Russian czarist government, penetrated to the Khazakhs and the Kirghiz and came in touch with the sedentary population of Central Asia. Through that they helped the process of the Islamization of the nomads and strengthened the positions of the Russian state in Central Asia. The importance of the influence of the culture of the Volga Tatars for the population of Central Asia, and especially the nomads, is witnessed, for instance, by the fact, that up to the mid-twenties of our century the teaching in Kirkhizian schools was going on in the Tatar language, which is close to the Kirkhizian one, but still different. This can be explained by the fact that the base of the school education in Kirghizia was laid by the Tatar mullas, who were serving as teachers.

As the Economist goes on to report, since the collapse of communism in 1991, Islam has resurged in Tatarstan:

For the first time since Ivan the Terrible conquered the place in 1552, the city’s Kremlin houses a mosque, its minarets vying with nearby Orthodox Christian onion domes. . . Just 25 years ago, says Gusman Iskhakov, the mufti who heads the Muslim Spiritual Board of Tatarstan, the region had some 20 mosques. Now there are around 1,300.

While most people think that Chechnya defines the situation for Muslims in Russia, according to the Tatar mufti, this picture is distorted. He says Russia’s Muslims live better than most Muslims in the Arab world.

Regional president Mintimer Shaimiev, corroborated this view. He reportedly told the Economist that this is because Russia’s Muslims are able to live on equal terms with other people, while most Muslims in the Arab world are not.

Other Russian Muslims, according to at least one contributor to Wikipedia, seem to disagree. As one Wikipedia editor wrote:

Relations between the Russian government and Muslim elements of the population have been marked by mistrust and suspicion. In 1992, for example, Sheikh Rawil Ghaynetdin, the imam of the Moscow mosque, complained that “our country Russia still retains the ideology of the tsarist empire, which believed that the Orthodox faith alone should be a privileged religion, that is, the state religion.”

Moscow, which has an estimated 2.5 million Muslims, only has four mosques. As Wikipedia reports:

Muslim leaders say attempts to build more have been blocked by local officials, who fear angering Moscow’s ethnic Russian majority. Attacks on mosques have been increasing. In September 2006, an Imam in the southern city of Kislovodsk was shot dead outside his home. During days of rioting in August, mobs chased Muslim Chechens and other migrants from the Caucasus region out of the northwestern town of Kondopoga.

Nevertheless, as Wikipedia points out:

Across Russia, Islam is thriving. Experts say the country is undergoing a change and that if current trends continue, nearly one third of Russia’s population will be Muslim by the mid-century.

While much of the growth comes from Central Asian immigrants from former Soviet republics, as Wikipedia writes:

There has been a growing interest in Islam amongst ethnic Russians as there appears to be a rising number of converts to the faith. More recently, author and ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, embraced Islam before passing away from radiation poisoning.

The Muslim Volga area was included in the Russian state through the conquest, carried out under the tzar Ivan the Terrible, under whose reign began the Russian peasant colonization of Siberia. First the tsarist government was trying to Christianize the Volga Muslims, but later, during the second half of the 18th century, and especially under Catharine the Great, the Russian government turned to the direct protection of the loyal Muslims. At that very time the system of the Muslim Spiritual Administrative Boards was introduced. This system still exists, but, of course with natural historic modifications. Under the Emperor Nicholas I special decrees were adopted, which envisaged severe punishments for violations of the rules and institutions of the Muslim religion.

The Northern Caucasus was conquered by the Russian State as a result of long-term and hard efforts, which began in the epoch of Ivan the Terrible and ended in the 1860s, when the bloody Caucasian War ended. But still the traditions of Caucasian separatism were showing themselves long afterwards–during the revolts of the mountaineers against the tsarist power, during the Civil and the Second World wars, as well as in the present-day crisis in Chechnya.

On the Eve of the Bolshevik revolution the Russian Muslim intellectuals were supporting the idea of the cultural autonomy for the Muslims. The Muslim deputies were active in the Russian Parliament (the State Duma). Muslim political parties emerged at that time and a large number of Muslim periodicals was published. During the Civil war some Muslims opposed the Bolsheviks, while others supported them in the hope of obtaining a specific status for the Muslim community within Russia. The Bolsheviks organized national autonomous areas, some of which were inhabited by the Muslim peoples, but beginning with the second half of the 1920s the Bolsheviks began severely prosecuting the Muslim institutions and spiritual leaders, as they did the other religious denominations in the Soviet Union.

Ethnically the following major peoples of Russia are traditionally Muslim: the Volga (Kazan) Tatars (7,000,000), the Bashkirs (1,500,000), the Chechenians (1,000,000), the Avarians, a people living in Dhaghestan (600,000), the Lezginians, also one of the Daghestanian peoples (500,000), the Kabardinians (400,000), the Darginians (400,000), the Kumiks (300,000), the Ingushs (250,000), the Karachais (150,000), the Adigians (150,000), the Balkarians (90,000),the Cherkessians (50,000). Islam is also confessed by a part of the Ossetians, about 30,000 persons.

Muslims of Russia: Ethnically the following major peoples of Russia are traditionally Muslim: the Volga (Kazan) Tatars (7,000,000), the Bashkirs (1,500,000), the Chechenians (1,000,000), the Avarians, a people living in Dhaghestan (600,000), the Lezginians, also one of the Daghestanian peoples (500,000), the Kabardinians (400,000), the Darginians (400,000), the Kumiks (300,000), the Ingushs (250,000), the Karachais (150,000), the Adigians (150,000), the Balkarians (90,000),the Cherkessians (50,000). Islam is also confessed by a part of the Ossetians, about 30,000 persons.

A considerable part of the representatives of these peoples inhabit their political-administrative areas, which are considered to be the parts of the Russian Federation. They are: the Republic of Adigeya, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Daghestan, the Ingushian Republic, the Karatchaevo-Cherkessian Republic, the Republic of Northern Ossetia-Alanim, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Chechnian Republic.

Linguistically the Tatars, the Bashkirs, the Kumiks, the Karatchais, the Balkars, and some other smaller ethnic groups belong to the Turkic linguistic family. The Avarians, the Darginians, and the Lezginians belong to the North-Eastern group of the Caucasian linguistic family; the Chechenians and the Ingushs are united into a special Vainakh group of the Caucasian family of languages, and the Adigians, the Kabordibians and the Cherkessians to the Western (Adigo-Abkhazian) group of the Caucasian linguistic family.

The native Muslim peoples of Russia are still characterized by tribal and clannish divisions, which are more typical of the peoples of the Northern Caucasus, as well as the regional divisions, which are more typical of the Muslims of the Volga area. The traditional social stratification is preserved in part. In the Northern Caucasus the social structure is divided into the descendants of the princes and the nobility, the descendants of the free community members, and the descendants of the patriarchal slaves. In Daghestan, in addition, there is a strata of the hereditary mullas and the commentators of the customary law (the Alims). Among the Muslims of the Volga region there are the Sayyids, the descendants of the Prophet, the Ishans (the hereditary leaders of the Sufi communities), the hereditary mullas and also the descendants of the lay nobility, the Murzas. The descendants of the latter are the active members of the Russian Assembly of the Nobility and are preparing for the celebration in 1996 of the 200 anniversary of Catharine the Great’s Decree, granting the Murzas the rights of the Russian nobility.

Sociological research, as well as ethnological observations witness that the descendants of the traditional privileged estates have comprised the bulk of the modern intellectuals of the Muslim peoples of Russia. However, a situation like this is characteristic of the Muslim world as a whole. The native Muslims of Russia belong to one of the two main branches of Islam, the Sunni. Besides that, especially in the Northern Caucasus, there is a substantial influence of the Sufi communities, which have acquired some specific local features. There are also deep Sufi traditions with the Muslims of the Volga area, but nowadays there is no evidence of any Sufi communities functioning among them.

Almost everywhere among the Muslims of Russia the cult of the so-called holy places is spreading, such as the tombs of outstanding Muslims and natural objects, which are considered to be miraculous. This cult is especially strong in the Caucasus. The cult of the holy places, as well as some other features of the religious and cultic life of the Muslims of Russia testify that the deep pre-Islamic traditions are still alive, being assimilated by genuine Islam in the course of the development of Islamic culture and history.

In Russia there also lives a considerable number of Muslims who are migrants from the other countries of the former Soviet Union. Their number has considerably increased after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. So, according to some sources, in the Russian Federation there lives some 2,500,000 Azerbaijanians. Recently also the number of the Tajiks has greatly increased, now settling mainly in the Pskov and Arkchangelsk regions of Russia, which are situated in the North-West of the country, along with migrants from some other Central Asian states. A considerable part of the native Muslims of Russia live beyond the boundaries of their historic territories, especially in the larger Russian cities. For instance, in Moscow there are vast groups of the Tatars, Bashkirians, Daghestanians, and Chechens. According to different estimates, the number of the Muslim community of Moscow reaches from a million to two million persons.

The traditional form of the administrative organization of the religious life of the Muslims of Russia is the system of the Muslim Spiritual Administrative Boards, which under the Soviet political regime were officially considered to be voluntary organizations, but in reality were working under severe governmental control. The system of the Muslim Boards of Russia, which has been working until the very collapse of the Soviet Union, emerged in the 1940s under Stalin. In the territory of Russia itself there existed the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of the European Part of the USSR and Siberia and the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of the Northern Caucasus. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the process of the dissolution of the two Boards began based on national and territorial units. One of the main factors of this process, alongside with the growth of nationalism, was the emergence of the new Muslim elite, the relatively young mullas who oppose the former Soviet Muslim establishment.

At the same time a large strata of the Muslim intellectuals was involved in Muslim religious life, among them some of the well-known Islamicists, who ethnically belong to some of the Islamic peoples of the former Soviet Union. Specifically the Muslim lay intellectuals became the organizers of numerous Muslim cultural societies and national cultural organizations (the first are considered in this paper, while the latter not, as religion is not the cornerstone in their activities). The other sphere of the activities of the Muslim intellectuals are the Muslim political organizations, which have both a national character (mainly in the Northern Caucasus), as well as a general Muslim one. The first political organization of this kind was the Party of Islamic Rebirth (PIR), the activities of which however have actually come to an end at the beginning of the 1990s. Some of the observers, for instance, the well-known scholar A. Malashenko, think, that on the political scene of Russia the PIR has been to a certain extent replaced by the Union of the Muslims of Russia and the “Nur” Movement. But in these organizations the religious and even fundamentalistic features are to a large scale camouflaged by the tasks of a general cultural and democratic character. So it is not by chance that many of the founders of PIR are collaborating with the new Spiritual Muslim Boards, which mainly unite the Tatars and the Bashkirians.

In general there is ground to believe that in the near future the Muslim political organizations will have little chance of broadening their influence. The specifically religious organizations (Muslim Spiritual Boards and mosques belong to them) have greater opportunities for expanding their influence, and that is also the case with the Muslim cultural religious organizations, both those that are connected with the Boards and the independents. These organizations might prepare the soil for the future new wave of the political Islam in Russia.

The All-Russian Muslim Organizations

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of the European Part of the UIS and Siberia (SBMES), with the center in Ufa, the leader of which is the Mufti, Talqat Tadjuddin. Presently the SBMES lost its importance to a considerable extent due to the emergence of a number of smaller territorial Boards of the Muslims of Russia. The Mufti is being criticized by the spiritual leaders and the ordinary Muslims. Nevertheless SBMES retains a certain importance, for instance during the crisis in Buddyenovsk, Talqat Tadjuddin officially condemned the terroristic action of Bassaev.

The Higher Coordinating Center of the Spiritual Boards of the Muslims of Russia (HCC). The President is the Mufti of Tatarstan, Ghabdulla Ghaliulla. The Chairman of the Executive Committee is the Mufti of Bashkortostan, Nafiqulla Ashirov. The Director is Muhammad Salahiddin. The HCC was created in September 1992 in Moscow. Its aim is to coordinate the activities of the Muslim religious organizations, opposing the SBMES.

The Party of Islamic Rebirth (PIR) was organized in June 1990 at the Founding Congress, in Astrakhan. As the Amir (the President) of the Party became Ahmadqadi Akhtaev, a Daghestani. The other outstanding figures of the Party were Waliahmed Sadur and Muhammad Salahiddin (both are Tatars), an Azerbaijanian, Haydar Diemal, and a Tadjik, Davlat Usmon. The documents of the Party pointed out the necessity of Islam’s restoration among the traditionally Muslin nations of the former Soviet Union in its original form. A system of the Party’s regional structures was introduced in the Muslim regions. Recently the activities of the central apparatus of the Party has ceased functioning; until recently their regional structures existed in Chechnya. There is still an active the regional structure in Daghestan. Based on PIR there emerged in the different countries of the UIS a number of the religio-political organizations, the largest of which was the Party of Islamic Rebirth of Tadjikistan, which was playing a leading role in the civil war in that country in 1991-1993. The PIR published a newspaper, “al-Wahdat” [Unity].

The Union of the Muslims of Russia (Moscow). Secretary-General is Ahmed Khalitov. It emerged in Summer 1995 and has more then 50 branches throughout Russia. In its Program the Union characterizes itself as “an all-Russian political organization capable of generalizing and systematically defending the political, spiritual, economic and social interests of the Muslims.” It supports the principle of Russian unity and calls for the return to “Pure Islam.”

The All-Russian Muslim Voluntary Movement, “Nur” [Light]. The President is Khalit Yaqin. It was created in the Summer 1995 and has 40 branches throughout Russia and mainly propagates the defense of the human rights, the principle of the equality of all confessions, the right of all Muslims to obtain a Muslim education, and the guarantee of the observance of the Muslim traditions and rituals. The Movement is largely supported by the Muslim religious leaders.

The Islamic Cultural Center of Russia ( Moscow). The Director is Abdul-Wahid Niyazov. It was created in 1991 and carries out broad activities in the field of the religious enlightenment and cultural propaganda.

The Popular Academy of Culture and All-Human Values. The President is an Uzbek businessman and social activist Tashpulat Tadjiddinov. A non-governmental organization that was active in the UIS and beyond, the Academy was supporting the respectful relations between the representatives of different confessions and nationalities. It has carried out a number of conferences and other cultural actions. Recently the Academy ceased its activities.

The Moscow Institute of Islamic Civilization. The Director is Dr. Said Kamilev. It was created in 1991 and primarily was attached to the Popular Academy. Nowadays it works independently. It has organized two scholarly conferences. At the Institute of Islamic Civilization there is the University of Islamic Culture, where Islamic history, the Arabic language, the Qur’an, and the foundations of the Muslim faith are taught.

The Regional Muslim Organizations of Russia

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of the Central-European Region of Russia (the Muftiyyat of Moscow SBMCERR). The Mufti is Rawil Ghaynutdin, the Chief Imam Khatib of the Moscow City Mosque; he is largely supported by the Muslims of Russia and carries out vast international activities.

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Siberia ( the Muftiyyat of Omsk, SBMS). The Mufti is Zulqarnay Shakirzyanov, the Imam Khatib of the Omsk City Mosque; there is an agreement of cooperation between the SBMCERR and the SBMS).

The Religious-Cultural Foundation “Medina” (Nizhni Novgorod). The Director is Faiz Gilmanov; the Center carries out the erection of a large Muslim cultural center near Nizhni Novgorod.

The Voluntary Muslim Center “Druzhba” (“Friendship”), Volgograd. The President is Faruzi Abdrashitova; the Center defends the religious rights od the Muslims, living in the Volgograd region.

In the different regions of Russia there are numerous local courses of the Arabic language, the study of the Qur’an and the Hadith. One of the leading Muslim educational institutions is the Medrese of the Moscow City Mosque (the Rector is a graduate of the Oriental Faculty of the State University of St.Petersburg, Marat Murtazin).

The Regional Muslim Periodicals in Russia

“Islam Minbare” (“The Tribune of Islam”) is a newspaper of the SBMCERR; the Editor in Chief is Professor Talib Saidbaev; circulation is 3000 copies.

“Yana Suz” (“The New Word”) is a newspapaper supported by the Faculty of Journalism of the Moscow State University.

The Muslim Organizations of Tatarstan

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan (SBMRT). The Mufti is Gabdulla Ghaliulla; it was created in August 1992; opposes the SBMCERR.

The Youth Cultural Center “Iman” (“The Faith”) was created in 1990. The President is Winerulla Yaqub; a member or the Council is a journalist of distinction, Almazulla Sabir; at the Center there are courses of the study of the Arabic language, the Qur’an, the Hadith, the Sharia. The Center carries out broad publishing activities, propagates the idea of the return to the original Islam and the restoration of the religious basis of the Tatarian culture. The Center used to support close ties with the PIR.

The group “Saf Islam” (“The Moll of Islam”).

The Islamic University (Kazan). The Arabic language, the Qur’an and the history of Islam are taught.

The Medrese of “Muhammadiyya”(Kazan) has once again begun its activities after an interval of 75 years in 1994; the Arabic language, the Qur’an, the Hadith, the history of Islam, the Sharia are taught. Teachers are prepared for mektebs (primary Muslim schools), medreses, and lay schools.

The Medrese at the Zakabannaya Mosque (Kazan). The Director is Ishaq Lutfullin.

There are numerous courses of the study of the Arabic language and the Qur’an at almost all the mosques in the towns and villages of Tatarstan.

The Muslim Organizations of Bashkortostan

The Spiritual Board of the Republic of Bashkortostan (SBRB). The President is the Mufti Nafiqulla Ashirov. The SBRB was created in August 1992 and it opposes the SBMES. There are 14 regional boards, the mukhtasibats, subordinated to the SBRB. The SBRB publishes a weekly newspaper “Islam and the Society” (in Russian, 10,000 copies).

The Union of the Young Muslims of Bashkortostan propagates the idea of the restoration of the Bashkirian culture on the basis of Islam.

The Muslim Organizations of Chuvashiya

The Union of the Muslims of Chuvashiya propagates Islam among the Chuvashis, a Turkic-language people living in the Volga Basin, which is predominantly Christian with a strong polytheistic background and actively publishes Muslim religious literature in the Chuvashian language.

The Muslim Organizations in Daghestan

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Daghestan (SBMD) was created in January 1990 at the Constituent Congress that took place in Makhachqala, the capital or Daghestan. Presently it is headed by an Avarian Magomed Dargishev, who was elected to this post at a congress which took place in 1994. The SBMD is supported only by the Avarians, partly the Darginians and the Chechens, living in Daghestan.

The Kumikian Spiritual Board (KSB) was organized after 1992. It is headed by the Mufti B. Issaev, who previously was the President of the SMBD. It is supported only by the Kumiks.

The Qaziyat (the town of Izerbash) organized after 1992 is supported only by the Darghenians.

The Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) was created in 1990 by a group of religious-minded Daghestinian intellectuals lead by Abdurashid Saidov. It propagates the idea of building in Daghestan a lay democratic society that would be based on the principles of the Muslim Renaissance. From the religious point of view it is close to the traditionalists and has good relations with the traditional Muslim religious leaders. In 1994 an Emergency Congress of the Party took place, which changed its name into the Islamic Party of Daghestan. The leader of the Party, instead of A. Saidov, became Surakat Asiyatilov.

Gammatul Muslimi (the Society of the Muslims). Officially it is not a political party but a religious society. It was created in 1989-1990 in a large Darghenian village of Gubden (the Lenin district of Daghestan) and used to influence a part of the zone inhibited by the Darghenians. In Gubden the Society insisted upon opening of a number of new mosques and tried to introduce a separate education for girls and boys. Presently the activities of the Society have ceased.

In Daghestan there are active no less than 20 secondary Muslim educational institutions; in the town od Khasavyurt there is a Muslim High School, organized by one of the founders of the IRP, B. Kebedov. At the SBMD there are courses where the imams are taught. The courses of the Arabic language and the basic principles of the Muslim religion are linked to many mosques. The higher Muslim educational institutions of Daghestan are the Islamic Institute (Makhachqala) and the Islamic University (Kizilyurt). In Daghestan there is a number of Muslim periodicals such as “The Islamic News” (in Russian, Chief Editor, Maqsud Ghadiiev), “The Light of Islam,” the monthly supplement to the “Islamic News” ( in Russian), “The Path of Islam”in Russian, Chief Editor is Adallo Ali Muhammed; circulation is 10,000 copies) the organ of the Islamic Party of Daghestan (the former IDP); is printed mounthly.

The Muslim Organizations of the Chechenian Republic

The Muftiyyat of the Chechenian Republic.(The Mufti is Muhammad-Husain Alsabekov). This body was officially recognized by the Dudaev regime.

The Muftiyyat of the Chechenian Republic. The Mufti is Muhammad-Bashir Arsanukaev). This body was opposing the Dudaev regime.

The Islamic Path is an Islamic political party, organized in 1990 and officially self-dissolved in 1991.

Mekh-Khel of the Chechenian Republic (the Council of Elders) is the voluntary organization of the clan chieftains created at the days of the so-called Chechenian revolution of 1991; it was trying to play the role of an arbiter in interclan and interethnic disputes, several times it was proposing to adopt Islam as a state religion in Chechnya.

The Council of the Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad is a voluntary organization, uniting the Chechens, who consider themselves the descendants of the founder of the Islamic religion; in Summer 1995 they condemned the terroristic action in Buddyenovsk.

There were in Chechnya some Islamic educational institutions:

The Islamic Institute (The rector is Mayrbek-hadil Nusukhanov). It was organized in 1991 to prepare qualified mosque imams; groups of its students were sent to foreign Islamic centers (in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan); there were faculties of the study of the Qur’an and Qur’anic commentaries (tafsirs), of the Arabic language, of the Muslim philosophy. The only religious periodical that used to be published in Chechnya was a magazine called “Islaman zanarsh” (“The Dawn of Islam”); the circulation is about 3,000 copies.

The Muslim Organizations of Ingushetia

The Muftiyyat of the Republic of Ingushetia. The Mufti is Sheikh Muhammed Alboghatchiev; it was organized in 1992.

The Muslim Organizations of Northern Ossetia

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims or Northern Ossetia-Alania was organized in 1990. The Mufti is Dzankhot-haji Hekilaev. In February the congress of the Muslims of North Ossetia was held in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the republic.

The Muslim Organizations of Kabardino-Balkaria

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Kabardino-Balkaria was organized in 1989; the Mufti is Shafiq Pshikhachev.

The Muslim Organizations of Karatchaevo-Cherkesia

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Karatchaevo-Cherkesia was founded in 1990; the Mufti is Ismail Berdiev.

The Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Karatchai was created in 1991; the Mufti is Ahmed Bidji-ulu. This body is opposing the local government.

The Muslim Organizations of Adigea

Because of the fact that Adigea was Islamized only recently, and due to the governmental pressure upon religion under the Soviet regime, there are no specific Muslim organizations in the republic. The Muslim religious leaders are extremely few. The only mosque was erected in one of the largest local villages.

A Selected Bibliography

• Islam in Russia and Central Asia. Moscow, 1993.
• The Muslims in an Alien Religious Surrounding. Moscow, 1995.
• The Post-Soviet Muslim Space: Religion, Politics, Ideology. Moscow, 1994.
• The Contemporary Islam: Culture and Politics. Moscow, 1994.
• (All the above works are in Russian).

MUSLIMS AND THEIR ORGANIZATIONS IN RUSSIA By Dimitry Mikulski

Dimitry Mikulski is a senior researcher in the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

www.LTEA2Z.Com

In another significant developement today The VoLGA Forum announced today it has published the first complete set of approved specifications for delivering mobile voice and SMS messaging services over LTE access networks.
The VoLGA Forum has 21 member companies including Alcatel-Lucent, Deutsche Telekom, Ditech Networks, GENBAND, HTC, Huawei, Kineto Wireless, LG Electronics, Mavenir, Motorola, Nortel, Samsung, Sonus, Starent Networks, Tecore Networks, Ulticom, WiChorus and ZTE.

VoLGA, or Voice over LTE via Generic Access, will enable mobile operators to bring voice and SMS services over LTE radio access networks and femtocells and support new applications over LTE, such as IMS combinational services and the Rich Communications Suite (RCS). It will also help operators navigate a smooth transition to IMS telephony and launch data-only LTE devices (USB dongles, netbooks, etc.) leveraging the existing SMS-based customer care applications such as remote device management, configuration updates and SMS-based service announcements.

“The VoLGA Forum member companies have worked hard to rapidly complete the specifications, accomplishing the work in less than nine months,” said Uwe Janssen, senior vice president, T-Mobile core networks at Deutsche Telekom.

“VoLGA potentially provides LTE operators with a low-cost method of getting voice and SMS—the two highest drivers of mobile revenues—onto LTE,” said Brian Partridge, research director at Yankee Group. “One of the reasons you haven’t seen a lot of operators get behind VoLGA is because they are currently vetting a number of different solutions and gain nothing by publicly backing VoLGA at this stage in LTE’s development. The work of the VoLGA Forum and the support of much of the LTE eco-system and T-Mobile will go a long way to ensure VoLGA gets a shot at providing the bridge that many LTE committed operators will require on the road to IMS.”

I have read an informative article from Infonetics Research named “Where is mobile voice going?” As the new voice solutions arrive in da town and operators try to find alternative ways to generate voice revenues, voice vs SMS vs data usage will be a hot topic in the near future. Let me pass on some of my notes from the research article. According to Infonetics, operators try bundling phone-to-phone VoIP, high speed internet and IPTV against P2P VoIP applications such as Skype. But at the same time, they found out that in mature markets, SMS has already substituted voice. So we can maybe shortly summarize, as the market gets mature, there, the biggest thread against traditional voice revenues, in other words, mobile voice to SMS / free voice.

If we look at the Turkish communications market, with the launch of 3G, operators are still willing to gain further revenues from voice. And there will come some new services/applications to implement VoIP3G. But Infonetics states that so far in mature markets VoIP3G could not make the cut the way VoIP did to revive the fixed-line. Plus, there were several discussions about letting Skype free on iPhone and many of the operators were against this trendy revolution.

Soon or later, consumers will get bored of paying for voice calls. And same like the fixed networks, we will be able to call for free. It´s obvious that 3G is promoted with the “videoconferencing” in Turkey, but just for these early times.

Last, for recent developments in the mobile voice & data industry, check the new Voice over LTE via Generic Access (VoLGA) cooperative initiative.

Resource : Infonetics Research

Niin, sillä viime viikon Lahden reissulla tosiaan oli yhtenä ohjelmanumerona tutustuminen paikalliseen autokalustoon. Ja sieltähän löytyi eräästä tallista Volga! Siitä sitten muutama kuva tuli räpsäistyä. Volgan kanssa tuli hieman käytettyä väriäkin, noin mv:n lisäksi… Filmeinä Fujin Acros 100 ja Kodakin Portra 160 NC.

Volgan galleria: http://mikon.1g.fi/kuvat/2009/lahti/volga/

Kuvia skannatessa ja käsitellessä soi: CoB – Hate Crew Deathroll, Berri Txarrak – Libre ©

En severek okuduğum, kitaplarımdan biriydi, çeşitli yazarlarımızın yazdıkları, çevirdikleri veya derledikleri “ Eğer Öyle Olsaydı” isimli alternatif tarih konulu kitap. Tarihimizdeki çeşitli olaylarla ilgili gerçekleşmiş olay örgülerinin yerine başka bir senaryo getirerek gerçekleşecek durumun nasıl olabileceği ile ilgili ( Sözgelimi Enver Paşa Bab-ı âli baskınında ölseydi ile başlayan… Ve devam eden bir senaryo tahmin çalışması) bir nevi “stratejik tahmin” çalışmaları seçkisidir. Benim için alışkanlık kaynağı olmuş,”alternatif tarih” konusunda ne bulduysam okumamla sonuçlanmış bir yolculuğun başlangıç noktasıdır.
Esasında bugün anlatacaklarım tam da bunun paralelinde, ama biz“ Eğer öyle olsaydı?” sorusunu sorup bırakacağız, eminim herkesin söyleyeceği çok şey olacaktır ama çok miktarda “ Ah’lar… Vah’lar” dökülecektir dudaklardan, buna eminiz
1506 yılında Bosna’nın Sokul (Slav dillerinde ‘şahin’ demektir) kasabasında doğmuştur. Bu nedenle Balkan halkları arasında Mehmet paşa “Sokoloviç” olarak anılır. 1519 yılında devşirme sistemi ile çocuk yaşta Edirne sarayına getirilmiş, Mehmet adı verilerek Türk ve Müslüman kültürü ile yetiştirilmiştir. İstanbul’a Saraya gönderilir . Topkapı Sarayı’nın Enderun bölümünde çeşitli görevlerde bulunur. 1549′da vezirliğe yükselerek Rumeli beylerbeyliğine atanır. Tarihler 1565 i gösterdiğinde ise Sadrazam olmuştur. İşte Osmanlı Ülkesi en güçlü zamanlarını yaşarken ve Bosnalı bir devşirme adım, adım İmparatorluğun en güçlü konumuna doğru ilerlediği sırada İmparatorluğun Kuzeydoğu sınırlarının hemen ötesinde Timur Han’ın, Altın ordu hükümdarı Toktamış Han üzerine yaptığı seferler ve tahribat neticesinde Altın ordu hanlığı düşmüş ve Rusya 1522′de Kazan’ı alarak doğu istikametinde yayılmaya başlamıştır, 1556-57′de Astrahan’ı alarak Hazar Denizi’ne ve Kuzey Kafkasya’ya ulaşmıştır. Aslında Hazar-Azak denizleri arasındaki Nogay Türklerini tehdit eden, Terek nehri ağzından Kafkasya’ya yerleşmeye çalışan Ruslara karşı tedbirler alınmaya başlanmıştır XV. asrın ikinci yarısında Orta Asya ticaretinin önemli limanlarından olan Azak ile Kefe’nin Osmanlılara geçmesi hem siyasî ve hem ticarî alanda çok önemli bir gelişme idi. Kefe gümrüğü devlet hazinesine önemli miktarda varidat getiriyordu; bundan başka Osmanlı kudret ve nüfuzunu Asya içlerine kadar sokmak ve Şiî olan İran’ı, Osmanlılarla Orta Asya Sünnî hanlıkları arasında sıkışık vaziyette bırakmak, İran’ın bazı Avrupa devletleri ve Papa VIII. Gregor ile ittifakına mukabil Orta Asya’daki Sünnî hükümetler ile anlaşmak için öncelikle bunlarla bağlantıyı kurmak icap ediyordu. Bu sayede Osmanlı hükümeti icabında Gürcistan, İran ve Kuzey Kafkasya üzerine yapılacak bir seferde askerin yiyecek ve sair levazımının kolayca nakli için emin ve kestirme bir yol bulmak gerekiyordu
Yukarıdaki sebeplerden başka, Rusların Astrahan’ı alarak Kafkasya ve Orta Asya’ya doğru yayılmaları, Azak denizi vasıtasıyla Karadeniz’e inmek istemeleri gibi evvelden önlenmesi icap eden vaziyetler de vardı. 1556′da Kırım Hanı Devlet Giray’ın Astrahan’a yaptığı sefer başarısız olmuş, Çerkezler de ilk başlarda Osmanlının karşındaki Rusların yanında yer almışlar ve bölgede Rusların güçlenmesine neden olmuşlardı.
1567 ‘de Harezmî hükümdarı Hacı Mehmet Han ‘dan gelen bir namede İranlıların Orta Asya hacılarına yol vermediklerinden şikâyet edilerek Astrahan’ın alınması ile hacılarla tüccarların emniyet içinde gelip gitmeleri istenmekteydi . İşte bu aşamada Sokullu Mehmet Paşa tarafından geliştirilen muhteşem bir fikirle; Osmanlı Don ve Volga nehirlerinin bir kanalla birleştirilerek, Karadeniz’le Hazar Denizi’nin birbirine bağlamayı ve gittikçe güçlenen Rusların güneye doğru inmelerini engellemeyi amaçlamıştır. Ayrıca bu proje ile İpek Yolu ticaretini canlandırma, İran ile yapılan savaşlarda donanmadan yararlanma ve Asya’daki Türkler ile irtibat sağlamaya çalışılmıştır

. Rusya’yı kuzeyde büyük bir tehdit haline dönüşmeden bertaraf etmek için, Don-Volga (Ten-İdil) Kanal projesi 1563 tarihinde ortaya atılmıştı. Ancak, bu proje Kanuni sonrasında 1568-1569′da açılmaya başlanmıştı. Coğrafya’ya bakarsak iki nehir belirli bir noktada dirsek yapıp 50 km. kadar birbirlerine yaklaşıyordu. Kanal tamamlanırsa yaklaşık 950 km.lik Azak-Astırhan nehir yolu açılmış olacaktı. Azak şehri, günümüz Rostov şehrinin banliyösü olan Don nehrinin Karadeniz’e döküldüğü noktada bulunan bir yerleşim yeridir. Astrahan şehri ise Hazar nehrini kuzeyinde, Volga nehrinin denize (göle) döküldüğü delta üzerinde bulunan, Altınorda devleti dağıldıktan sonra Hanlık olarak bir asır kadar Kuzey Kafkasya’da hüküm sürmüş olan Türk-Astırhan Hanlığına başkentlik yapmış olan bir şehirdi. Volga nehrinin Don nehrine yaklaştığı dirseğe en yakın yerleşim yeri olarak eski adı SSCB döneminde ise “Stalingrad” olan günümüz Volgagrad şehri bulunmaktadır.( bkz harita)

Dönemin padişahı 2 Selim bu projeye büyük önem veriyordu. Ancak Sokullu işin başına askerlikle bir ilgisi olmayan maliye müsteşarı Çerkez kasım bey’i getirmişti. Böylelikle beylerbeyliğine terfi ettirilen ve paşalık unvanını alan Kasım paşa, hiç bilmediği bir ülkede anlamadığı bir işle vazifelendirilmiş olarak 4 ağustos 1569′da donanmayla İstanbul’dan hareket etti. Hareketin görünen yüzü 1556′da Ruslar tarafından ele geçirilen hazar denizinin kuzeyindeki Astrahan hanlığının kurtarılması idi. Kanal ve Astrahan’ın fethi için ayrılan asker ve işçi sayısı 100.000′i buluyordu.

Buna rağmen Kasım Bey, Don ve Volga nehirleri arasındaki kanalın en dar yerini mühendislere ölçtürüp bunun deniz mili ile altı mil olduğunu öğrenerek raporunu verdi. Bu rapor üzerine kanal açılmasında çalışacak geri hizmet erbabı ve Rusların muhtemel taarruzlarına karşı asker tedarikine başlandı ve keyfiyet Kırım hanı Devlet Giray’a da bildirildi ise de Devlet Giray, Astrahan alınsa bile tekrar Rusların eline düşeceğini ve boşuna kan dökülüp masraf edilmemesini tavsiye etti. Devlet Giray eğer Osmanlı plânı gerçekleşecek olursa Kırım hanlığı mevcut yarı istiklâlini de kaybedeceği gibi yanlış bir düşünceyle kanal açılmasına ve Astrahan’ın alınmasına karşıydı; durumu Rus Çarına da bildirdiği gibi Kırım’daki Rus elçisi de vaziyeti Çara bildirmişti.

. 1569 Ağustosunda işe başlanarak üç ay sürdü. Amele çalışırken askerin de Astrahan kalesinin alınması uygun görüldü. Bu faaliyet neticesinde iki nehir arasındaki mesafenin üçte biri kazıldı. Bu faaliyetten memnun olmayan Kırım hanı, kışın şiddetinden ve dokuz ay sürdüğünden bahis ile el altından propaganda yaptırması sebebiyle amele ve asker arasında hoşnutsuzluklar başgösterdi. Bununla beraber yönetimdeki basiretsizliklerden, Kırım hanı’nın kanal projesi gerçekleştiğinde kendi öneminin kalmayacağını düşünmesi ve işleri yavaş tutmasından dolayı proje tamamlanamadı. Geç başlanan kazı çalışmaları soğuklara denk gelmiş ve işçilerden büyük kayıplar olmuştu. Aynı zamanda Yemen meselesi birinci dereceden önem kazanmaya başlamıştı. Nihayet üçte biri gerçekleştirilen kazı durduruldu, ardından Kıbrıs’ın fethi ve akabinde Avrupayla olan savaşlar bu projeye tekrar devam etmeyi olanaksız kıldı. Toparlarsak eğer bu proje gerçekleşebilseydi

1- Akdeniz’deki Osmanlı donanmasını Hazar Gölü’ne geçirmek
2- Donanma sayesinde İran’ı kuzeyden de sıkıştırmak
3- İpek Yolu’na tekrar işlerlik kazandırmak
4- Orta Asya Türkleriyle bağlantı kurmak, böylelikle İran’ı Doğu’dan da kontrol altında tutmak
5- Rusların güneye inmesini engellemek mümkün olacaktı şimdi soralım, düşününüz lütfen “ Eğer Öyle Olsaydı ?”
Şimdi “ ahlar vahlar” arasında sizi bir kez daha tarihimizin belki de en karanlık sayfalarına götüreceğiz ve görecekseniz ki belki de aşağıda anlatacağımız olaylar dizisi “eğer öyle olmasaydı” , bugün büyük acıları anlatan o sayfalar belki muhteşem bir zaferi anlatacaktı
“ Nisan 1877 ilkbahar rüzgârları yerine savaş rüzgârlarını getirmişti coğrafyamıza. Kuzeyde Moskova’da 24 Nisan gününde Çan sesleri, ilahiler, gösteriler eşliğinde, Sarayı’nın balkonunda halkı selamlayan Çar 2.Aleksander az önce aldığı kararla “Osmanlı”ya savaş ilan etmişti. İstanbul o günlerde bir yandan Anadolu’nun dört bir köşesinden topladığı henüz silah tutmayı bile bilmeyen gençlerini Batum üzerinden Kafkasya cephesine, Erdel üzerinden Tuna cephesine doğru yolluyor, bir yandan da ilk kez o yıl toplanmış “Mebusan Meclisi “ nin Padişah 2.Abdülhamit tarafından çok uzun bir zaman için sürdürülecek tatilini izliyordu
İşte bu günlerde yavaş yavaş İstanbul’u terk etmeye başlayan Avrupalı diplomatlardan Avusturya askeri ateşesi Rabb kendisini uğurlayan zamanın Gn.Kurm.Bşk ‘nı Abdülkerim Nadir Paşa ya tam da trene binmek üzere iken üstüne basa basa ve bilmem kaçıncı defa gerekli hatırlatmayı yapmıştı “Paşam BARBOSİ köprüsünü unutmayın!”
BARBOSİ köprüsü bugün Moldova ve Romanya sınırında (Galati) Karpatların kuzeyinden gelen ve güneyde Tuna nehri ile birleşen Sava nehrinin üzerinde 240 metrelik bir demiryolu köprüsü idi. Rusya’dan Balkanlara tek ve en stratejik geçiş noktası idi (Bkz foto)

Nitekim Osmanlı donanmasında danışman olarak çalışan İngiliz Hobart Paşa Barbosi’nin tahrip edilmesi emrini vermiş fakat Tuna daki 4 gemilik Osmanlı filo komutanı bunun bir aldatmaca veya casusluk oyunu olduğuna dair şüphelerini ancak tepesinde patlayan Rus topları yüzünden gemileri batarken ve 150 askerimizi şehit verirken giderebilmiş fakat iş işten çoktan geçmiştir.
Rus kuvvetleri en az 2 ay zaman kaybettirecek ve sonrasında çok yüksek ihtimalle bizim açımızdan çok büyük bir zaferle sonuçlanabilecek ( Bu savaşın hemen öncesinde Osmanlı ordusu yeniden yapılanmanın ilk meyvelerini almaya başlamış Sırbistan ve Karadağ ordularını perişan etmiştir) bir savaş, yönetsel beceriksizlikler ve kişisel hırslar yüzünden korkunç bir felaketle sonuçlanmıştır.

Gazi Osman Paşa’nın destansı “Plevne savunması”nın hatırası bugün bile o felaketin yaralarına merhem olamadı Şimdi yine soralım mı? “Eğer öyle olsaydı ?” Ahhhhhh , “ Eğer öyle olsaydı?”

Ersan Bengisu

(From Chapters 4, 8, 10, 11 and 21 “Mein Krampf” by S.I. Fishgal, http://stores.lulu.com/fishgal)

   “…Cossacks fought for tsars and lost to the Red Army during the civil war. During the Second World War, many Cossacks defected from the Red Army to the Germans who formed two Cossack divisions and a cavalry corps. At the end, in Austria the Cossacks surrendered to the Brits who sent them to Russia to be killed or die in Siberia labor camps. Didn’t you study the dictatorship of the proletariat? Our bosses had one or two, not more than four million Cossacks liquidated as a class. Your parents might fled from all that.”

   “They said nothing.”

   “They keep their little doll in her dollhouse in the fool paradise. Blinders aren’t just for horses. Even best detectives find out nothing from one who knows nothing. Do you believe in Christ, by the way?”

   “The Fundamentals of Atheism is a university compulsory subject, Rommy.”

   “Then, as an atheist, you’re no real Cossack. Cossacks originate from our serfs who fled to the South and East ages ago and at first accepted any Christian. Thus, Jews weren’t their favorites. Cossacks fought for Jesus and killed his fellow-tribesman in the name of that Jew who never heard word Christian and had no idea of the agony his people would suffer in his name. If he were a god and wanted to die, then how could any mortal, Roman or Jewish, resist his will? How could the god befriend Judas? Thus, Cossacks’ horses outsmarted their riders. But you’re the great exception.”

   “Why?”

   “Because you’re fond of me. All have a bogeyman, a convenient culprit to blame for the inexplicable. Communists and capitalists, Catholics and Protestants, Sunnis and Shiites, or others get no wink of sleep until they kill each other. As my late uncle said, people have to beat someone. Most folks have Jews for that, the rest appoint somebody else as Jews. Turks did Armenians, South Easterners – Chinese, and so on. As to your Cossacks, they blamed Jews for the loss to the Red Army. Never mind we comprised only 2% of the population. So, if two Abrashas told ninety-eight Ivans to kill each other and the Ivans did, don’t blame only Abrashas (Ivan and Abrasha are generic names for Russians and Jews there).”

   “…The excellent news is you’ve got Sten’ka Razin’s genes.”

   “The rebel against the tsar?”

   “With a due respect, dear university-educated bride, your history and folklore knowledge is in an embryo yet like our first baby. Before the rebellion, he led the Don Cossacks twice on Volga River to Turkey and Persia.”

…“If I were in your stylish shoes, I wouldn’t jump from the joy yet. Until the eighteen century, Cossacks were single males with the free life-style and mockery of love and marriage. The name originates from Turkic qazaq meaning ‘adventurer’ or ‘free man’. Centuries before Russian women migrated to, most wives were captive Tartars and Turks. Cossacks divorced and sold them just by declaring that the love is kaput. After the night with his Persian princess bride on his lead-ship, Razin’s crew grumbled that he forsook them for the dame and turned himself into a woman. The chieftain’s blood rushed to his drunken eyes and he cast his striking wife overboard:

    ‘Not to have all that dissension

   Among men that brave and free,

   Volga, Volga, Mother Volga,

   Take this charm – a gift from me.’

    Then they sang and danced at her repast to let her soul rest in peace.”

…”As your Don Cossacks say, if a bitch doesn’t want, a male dog doesn’t jump upon.”

… A Cossack has an inherent habit to slash straight from the shoulder.

…“The violence is probably in your genes. Since Cossacks were mostly away on military duties, their wives took care of the land. Wealthy Cossacks descended from the first settlers and held the have-nots, especially non-Cossacks, in contempt. Wealthy wives rented their land, hired the temporary help, and were brutal employers.”

   “Killing Jews is in my Cossack genes too,” Nadya squeezed Roma’s neck.

… Jews in Ukrainian, Moldavian or Polish towns could rest in peace and remain in one piece only during the Soviet power, except when Marshal Budennyi’s Red Cossacks passed through.

 The Jama Masjid of Russia’s Volga region of Astrakhan has been fined for ‘noise pollution’ and ‘disturbing tranquillity’, according to reports.

The charge was imposed on Imam of Mahmud Afendi Mosque in Astrakhan for using loudspeakers for Azan at 0400 hrs in the morning and 2300 hrs in the night, Russia’s Interfax agency reported.

Astrakhan is a city with a mixture of Christian and Muslim population.

The action was taken after the expertise local consumer protection agency specialists established “noise level of Azan over loudspeakers was above the permitted limit”.

In big Russian cities, there is a ban on use of audio amplifiers from 11pm to 6am and police often fine ordinary citizens for loud music at the complaint of neighbours.

(From Chapter 19, “Kosher Hooks” by S.I. Fishgal, http://stores.lulu.com/fishgal)

“I (Ukrainian) have a murky origin like you (Jew). Many barbarian tribes migrated across the steppe before the founding the first Russian state: Indo European Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians.”
“You don’t look like an oriental nomad, Paul Danilovich.”
“That’s perhaps because Germanic Goths migrated to the steppe from the west in 150 AD. Then Huns did from Mongolia and called their nation Great Bulgaria. Khazars threw the Bulgars out. Some of them went across the Danube and mixed with local Slavs. They populate today’s Bulgaria. The rest moved up Volga River and converted to Islam.
“In 552, China drove Avars from Mongolia up to Hungary. Franks destroyed them in 796. In 737, Magyars related to Finns, came out of the northern forests to Ukraine, raided Western Europe, and turned to Hungarians.
“Turkish Pechenegs migrated from Central Asia to Ukraine in 860 and lived in her south till 1122. Then you should know the rest.”
“I do.”
“In the late fifth century AD, the dissolution of the Hun kingdom and the Western Roman Empire left an uncivilized vacuum in Europe. The Slavs expanded east, west and south, harassed the Byzantine Empire and settled partially in Greece.”
Slavs broke down over great distances into three smaller groups: the Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks), Southern (‘Yugo’) Slavs (Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians and Bulgarians), and Eastern Slavs (Russians and later Ukrainians and Byelorussians).
In the eighth century, Vikings, or Varangians – barbarians related to Swedes, Angles, and Northmen – went to the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Eager to get Byzantine’s and Arabs’ fabulous treasures, they traveled down and settled along the rivers coming from inland, and conquered peaceful, disorganized Slavs. The Varangians completely assimilated into their Slavic subjects and probably had common Indo Germanic origin anyway, whatever Herr Hitler’s opinion was on that subject.
Around 950, the Slavs of the Novgorod (‘New City’) city threw out the Varangians, but failed to govern themselves and invited them back. Novgorod became Russia’s infant city and state called Rus. Later Duke Oleg brought other Varangian city states under his authority and chose Kiev as the new capital as it was closer to Byzantine. Greeks, however, were not crazy to trade with him. Oleg sent 2,000 ships with 80,000 Vikings to Constantinople to change their minds. Most of the Byzantine forces then were out of town, fighting Arabs, Bulgars and Pechenegs.
The Greeks drew a chain across the harbor to keep the hostile ships out. Oleg beached his ships a few miles away and mounted wheels on the boats. A good tailwind rolled them to Constantinople’s suburbs. From the terrified Greeks, Oleg got the nice trade agreement and ransom.
Then the religion divided Slavs further. Slovenes, Croats, and all Western Slavs chose Catholicism and the Latin alphabet. The rest did Orthodoxy and the Cyrillic alphabet invented, as you know, by Missionaries St. Cyril and St. Methodius. They combined Latin, Greek and invented a few new letters.
“If the closest neighbors were Catholics, Muslims and Khazar Jews, then why did our Slavs choose the Greek Orthodox religion?” Roma asked. “Cruel and lecherous Duke Vladimir had seven wives and eight hundred concubines. Yet, he converted his state to Christianity?”
“Russia was well behind other nations then. He asked the Jewish Khazars why the Jews didn’t live in their native land. ‘Angry for our sins, God scattered us and gave our land to the Christians.’ Naturally, the Jewish god that made Wandering Jews out of his people couldn’t be Vladimir’s choice.”
“The Jews gave the wrong answer,” Roma said. “They could say God didn’t want to keep all his eggs in one basket and dispersed them around the world for safety. Germany is the best example.”
“You’re very inventive, Rommy.”
“Oh, it’s obvious. What did the Muslims offer?”
“Volga Bulgar Muslims promised that in the next world, Mohammed would give each man 70 fair women.”
“What would he give to each woman?” Roma interrupted. “Seventy athletic men?”
“Let professors of atheism explain that. As to Vladimir, he did not like the fact that Muslims were teetotalers. ‘Drinking is the joy of the Rus,’ he said. ‘We cannot exist without that pleasure.’”
“I see,” Roma said. “Drinking is Slavs’ inherent habit.”
“For millenniums. But Vladimir turned Catholics away too. They scared him with fasting. Our fathers accepted no such principle, he said. That’s why he got the Orthodox faith from Greeks. Like Khazars, Vladimir wanted neither the pope’s, nor the caliph’s domination. Besides, the Byzantine emperor offered his daughter if Vladimir baptized. When the emperor did not fulfill the promise, Vladimir took over the Byzantine city of Kherson in the Crimea and got his bride.”

Ilya Repin, Barge Haulers on the Volga. 1873

I

Compañeros de lucha: este canto a vuestra fuerza sindical lo principio
convocando desde lo más rojo intenso de mi sangre a la muerte,
porque jamás seréis los constructores obreros de la vida
si ignoráis cómo trabajan los profundos mecanismos de la muerte.

Así comienzo este canto a vuestra fuerza sindical: desde abajo
cual si enterrase los oscuros cimientos de una casa,
para inducirla después con lentitud hacia la altura de hermosos cuerpos
cargados como todas las densas formas, de potencias eléctricas.

Otros hombres más universales dirían este canto
con el nombre del sol como insignia en sus bocas, del sol inagotable
que satura intensamente gusanos cosmogónicos
y enardece la rebelión de las panteras.

Mas yo, inmenso y brutal conocedor de sombras demoníacas,
afiánzome al hosco polvo con tenacidad de nervios
y lanzo este himno como ardiente flor de pólvora
que desde el piso asciende al vértigo de tempestades térmicas.

Germán Pardo García
Las 2001 Noches Nº 46