Caucasian Emirate
| Caucasus Emirate | |
|---|---|
|
Imarat Kavkaz / Имарат Кавказ (Chechen) Кавказский Эмират (Russian) Participant in the Insurgency in the North Caucasus and the Syrian civil war |
|
 Flag of the Caucasus Emirate. |
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| Active | 7 October 2007 – 17 August 2016 |
| Ideology | |
| Leaders |
Dokka Umarov † (2007–2013) Aliaskhab Kebekov † (2014–2015) Magomed Suleimanov † (2015) Zalim Shebzukhov † (2015-2016) |
| Headquarters | North Caucasus |
| Area of operations | Russia, Syria, Iraq, Georgia and Azerbaijan |
| Part of |
 Al-Qaeda
|
| Originated as |
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| Allies |
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| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | |
The Caucasus Emirate (IK Chechen: Имарат Кавказ Imarat Kavkaz; Russian: Кавказский Эмират Kavkazskiy Emirat), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, is a militant Jihadist organisation active in southwestern Russia. Its intention is to expel the Russian presence from the North Caucasus and to establish an independent Islamic emirate in the region. Caucasus Emirate also refers to the state that the group seeks to establish. Partially a successor to the secessionist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, it was officially announced on 7 October 2007, by former President of Ichkeria Dokka Umarov, who became its first emir.
By late 2015 the group no longer had a visible presence in the North Caucasus region, as most of its members defected to the local Islamic State affiliate, Vilayat Kavkaz.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Chechen nationalists, led by Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared the secession of Chechnya from Russia as an independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). Following two devastating wars with the Russian Federation in the nineties, the ChRI fought an insurgency against the Russian forces and their Chechen allies from 2000, initially under the leadership of Aslan Maskhadov. Although the ChRI was largely founded by Sufi Muslims motivated by nationalism, over time the literalist Salafist form of Islam became increasingly popular with some Chechens, leading to a schism between nationalists and Salafists. As many of the original nationalist figures were killed by Russian forces, the insurgency took on an increasingly Salafist tone embodied by commanders like Shamil Basayev and the Arab fighter Khattab. Many of the surviving nationalists gave up the fight, and by the time Dokka Umarov was declared President of Ichkeria in June 2006, Islamists held increasing influence in the movement.
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