Elmira Akhmetova holds a PhD in History and Civilisation from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (iium) and is a Research Fellow at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), Malaysia, and Lecturer at the Department of History and Civilisation, iium. Her recent publications include Islam in Russia: Historical Facts and Current Developments (Kuala Lumpur: iais Malaysia, 2013).

Bayram Balci is a non-resident scholar with the Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, where his research focuses on Turkey and Turkis…