Hello and welcome to Regions Calling, your guide to developments beyond the Russian capital from The Moscow Times.
This week, we invited Zarema Gasanova, an Indigenous Avar activist from the republic of Dagestan, to write a guest column about the push to develop tourism in her home republic. She argues that this tourism boom is yet another expression of Moscow’s colonialist mindset — and one that brings few material benefits for Dagestanis themselves.
But first, here’s what else you missed from the regions:
A delegation from the Taliban arrived in Kazan, the capital of the republic of Tatarstan, on Wednesday for the Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum to discuss trade and agricultural partnerships with Russia. Delegations from 27 countries are expected to take part in the forum.
Several republics in Russia’s North Caucasus have announced multimillion-ruble government contracts aimed at promoting what the Kremlin calls “traditional values,” including religious lectures in schools and conferences on patriotism and morality.
