The Kurdish Issue in Adygea

Book Review: Sokolova A.N., Shadzh A.Yu., Zhade Z.A. (eds.) (2015) Kurdy Adygee: monografiya [Kurds of Adygea: Monograph], Maykop: Kachestvo.

Abstract

Nodar Mossaki – PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: 12, Rozhdestvenka St., Moscow, 107031, Russian Federation. E-mail: nodarmossaki@gmail.com

Citation: Mossaki N. (2018) The Kurdish Issue in Adygea. Mir Rossii, vol. 27, no 2, pp. 189–202 (in Russian). DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2018-27-2-189-202

Kurds came to inhabit the territories of the Russian Federation (Former RSFSR) only in the last two or three decades and in this regard any study pertaining to the subject is welcome. This review discusses the latest monograph entitled “Kurds of Adygea” produced by a number of prominent scholars of Adygean State University. In particular, the review contests the monograph’s main and highly consequential conclusion, according to which Kurds, given their large and growing numbers, present a potential threat to the
ethno-demographic and socio-political situation in the Republic of Adygea. However, while no academic work can be entirely criticism-proof, the monograph in question can hardly be praised for its academic rigor. The reviewer argues that the central research question is in fact devoid of a scholarly approach and the monograph’s arguments are based upon highly questionable and speculative assertions.