“Nobody Departed to Iraq and Syria from Here”. How Villages of Tajikistan Counteract Extremism
“Nobody Departed to Iraq and Syria from Here”. How Villages of Tajikistan Counteract Extremism In mid-February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, said that the country had begun the work on returning its citizens from Syria and Iraq. In recent years, nearly two thousand people departed for there. However, the situation in the country is uneven: in some districts, a large number of people join the ranks of extremists, and in other districts, there is not a single person who has departed. Subscribe to our Telegram channel! In the city of Isfara in the north of Tajikistan, there are 12 jamoats: Vorukh, Kulkand, Lakkon, Navgilem, Nefteobod, Nurafshon, Surkh, Khonaobod, Chilgazi, Chorkuh, Shahrak and Shurab. Most of the locals are religious people. Last fall, Mansurjon Umarov, the deputy head of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, reported in Parliament that during the last years, 1 899 Tajik people left for the war in Iraq and Syria. These figures include 111 Isfara residents. According to Sururiddin Ziyovaddinzoda, head of Isfara hukumat, 70% of Isfara residents who joined the IS (terrorist and extremist organization banned in the Republic of Tajikistan – ed.) are residents of the Shahrak village jamoat, and 30% are from Navgilem and Nefteobod. Some believe that the lack of both religious and secular education is the reason for such statistics. According to Nodira Avezova, one of the leaders of Chorkuh jamoat, those who do not know Islam and Sharia become extremists: – They [who left for Iraq and Syria] cannot even read books and namaz; therefore, other people influence Nodira Avezova.
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