Russia’s constitution for Syria has Chechnya as its model

When the US invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003, as part of the “War on Terror”, Russia was holding a referendum on the constitution it had offered to Chechnya; approval was a foregone conclusion. At that time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the issue of Russia’s territorial integrity — in other words the issue of Chechnya’s independence — was closed after the referendum through which Chechens expressed their choice of peace; that was the official view from Moscow.

Today, Russia is offering a draft constitution for Syria at a time when the US is going back to Iraq as the “War on Terror” intensifies. Moscow was able to achieve its goals in Chechnya while the conservative right-wing was growing in popularity during George W Bush’s time in the White House. Now, still under Putin’s leadership, Russia aims to end its mission in Syria at a time when the populist right-wing is growing in Donald Trump’s America.

The proposed constitution for Syria does not really differ from Moscow’s draft for Chechnya. They both redefine the identity of the state to ensure Russia’s absolute dominance. For Syria, Russia proposes to grant the president the authority to declare a referendum on the supreme interests of the country; to remove expressions that refer to the Arab nature of the “Syrian Arab Republic” and to replace the name with plain “Syrian Republic”; to make changes to the state’s borders possible through a referendum; and to remove anything that refers to the Islamic identity of the state under the pretext of protecting minorities. This proposed constitution comes after signing long-term agreements that ensure Russia’s monopoly over Syria in the context of the “Beneficial Syria” theory advanced by Bashar Al-Assad among others; it also comes after the destruction of Aleppo and its takeover, similar to the destruction of Grozny, as both cities represent symbols of resistance and opposition in Syria and Chechnya respectively.

Putin is exploiting the US “War on Terror”, which has been waged and designed to justify invasions and occupations, with major powers exchanging interests and benefits and even roles, and where terror turns into a subjective matter that can be given numerous interpretations. When the US invaded Iraq, it bartered Iraq with Chechnya, and while in the past America had rejected calling the Chechen opposition terrorists — seeing them as legitimate resistance groups — it later changed its position and listed those Chechen opposition groups seeking independence as “terrorist entities”, opening the way for Russia to harass them.

Russia is trying to reproduce the Chechen solution in Syria, using the “War on Terror”, although there are considerable differences between the two countries. There is also the difficulty of succeeding with the same strategy which aims to demonstrate Russia’s military capabilities for interventions in its distant neighbourhood in the Middle East as well as nearer home in the Caucasus and Central Asia. These interventions help Russia to create the illusion that it is still a world power that is able to impose its agenda through the investment of military and diplomatic resources.

The Russian intervention in Syria began in September 2015 after Obama and Putin met on the sidelines at UN meetings, and after understandings between the two foreign ministers, John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov. Directions and positions changed through mixing military and diplomatic work. President Assad was taken to Moscow in a surprise visit in mid-October and later in the same month Foreign Minister Lavrov met with the US Secretary of State. In addition, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Iran met in Vienna. After that, representatives from 19 countries met in the same city, at the request of Russia, to discuss a political solution for the future of Syria, which was followed by another set of talks on 14 November leading to an ambitious deal that was not completed at the time but is now ready in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

With the Chechnya model in mind, Putin worked in Syria through a number of stages — the most recent of which was the conference in Astana — on the mobilisation of international support for Russia’s strategy which aims to transform the Syrian revolution from a revolutionary crisis to a counterterrorism operation. The agreement of November 2015 was a “peace plan” of eight points distributed by Russia at the UN ahead of the talks, and it involves the drafting of a new constitution, taking into account input from opposition groups, and then organising presidential elections this year, which was presented in Astana on 23 January.

At the conference last month, the Syrian revolution became part of the Russian strategy for the “War on Terror”. This time, participation was not just international, but also revolutionary; the Syrian opposition team was made up of representatives from 14 military groups: Sham Legion; Jaysh Al-Izza or the Army of Glory; Jaysh Al-Islam or Army of Islam; Sham Hawks; Free Idlib Army; Army of Victory or Jaysh Al-Nasr; Martyrs of Islam; 1st Coastal Division, Levantine Front or Sham Front; Fastaqim Kama Umirt Union; Sultan Murad Brigade; Levantine Front; and Southern Front (which is a collection of Free Army groups in southern Syria), in addition to the participation of a political and human rights counsellor. The final statement of Astana confirmed that all participating delegates reaffirm their determination to fight against Daesh and Al-Nusra Front.

The situation from Russia’s perspective mirrors that in Chechnya, with the latter becoming a model for turning a revolution into part of the “War on Terror”. According to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Chechnya represents a unique model in the history of the fight against terrorism. It is a model that has been reproduced in Syria. In Chechnya, it was based on barbaric random bombing that led to the destruction of Grozny, killing thousands of civilians and causing thousands to flee their homes. Later on, Russia began targeting the moderates. This led to Chechnya’s full subservience to Russia. The Kremlin oversaw political transition in Grozny, a new constitution was drafted and the dictator Kadyrov’s family was appointed in power through sham presidential elections. Akhmad Kadyrov, the first leader chosen by Putin, was killed by a bomb in 2004. He was replaced by his son Ramzan Kadyrov, who does not get tired of saying that the president of Chechnya and Chechen soldiers are all ready to sacrifice anything for President Putin, and to defend Russia.

For the Russians, there is no difference between Kadyrov, Bashar (“Basharov”?) or even Alloush (“Aluchov”). What’s important is getting Russian influence in Syria just as it is in Chechnya, through the presence of models appearing as wise men who fight against terror using Russian ways. The President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has called for the application of the Russian model in the Syrian conflict and for following the example of the campaign against terrorism in his country. He advised the Syrian opposition to unite with the army of Bashar Al-Assad in the common fight against terrorism. He has recalled on social media that in the Republic of Chechnya, and in a relatively short space of time, international terrorists from 51 countries have been completely eliminated. “There is no other country, but Russia, that can eliminate hotbeds of terrorism, which threatens the safety of the country,” wrote Kadyrov. “Here, the same thing was happening that is now happening in Syria.”

What was done by Russia in Chechnya is happening before our eyes in Syria, through the creation of an opposition that is pro-regime, after getting rid of the moderates and extremists. Russia has proceeded in Chechnya with a military-security strategy that is based on the assassination of Chechen leaders, such as Dzhokhar Dudayev, Zalmkhan Yandarbiyev and Maskhadov. It also reached the jihadi leaders such as Shamil Basayev, and foreign fighters such as Khattab and Abu-Walid Al-Ghamdi, Jordanian Abu Hafs and others. Right now, it is searching for a Syrian Kadyrov who identifies with the anti-terrorism requirements of Russia which are based on raising the efficiency of security services in the fight against so-called terrorism.

The bottom line is that Russia is working on the application of the Chechen model in Syria to establish itself as a global power capable of imposing military and political influence near and far. It is following a strategy approved twice in the Putin era; a strategy that is related to national security and the fight against terror, relies on the use of military and diplomatic resources to mobilise international support and is based on tactics that aim to mix moderation with extremism in conflicts and resorts to involving ambitious local powers which can switch easily from revolution and resistance to requirements of counterinsurgency and “War on Terror” considerations. In spite of the differences between Chechnya and Syria, the paths of the Syrian conflict and the behaviour of the opposition do not suggest that the results will be any different. Fighting with the regime and the resistance efforts of the occupation have stopped, while battles between the factions continue according to the requirements of the “War on Terror”. Russia appears to be getting its own way.

Translated from Arabi21, 29 January, 2017

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.