Aza Batayeva was killed in Syria. Relatives reported the death of the Chechen singer Batayeva in Mosul. Relatives reported the death of Chechen singer Bataeva in Mosul
A video has appeared on social networks in which it is reported that the famous Chechen pop singer Aza (Khazan) Batayeva has joined the “Islamic State” and is in the territory controlled by this terrorist organization. Social media users questioned the authenticity of the video.
Aza Bataeva was born on May 13, 1983, performed under the pseudonym Aza, then AZiA. In 2000, she moved to Moscow, in 2003 she graduated from the Yuri Nikolaev Art School "Morning Star" in pop vocal class, and performed in Moscow clubs and entertainment complexes, including Metelitsa and Golden Palace. In 2008, her song “Lonely Rain” was included in the Eurovision shortlist; her biography is given in the “Music of the Caucasus” group on the Odnoklassniki social network.
The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent learned about the emergence of information that Aza Batayeva allegedly joined the Islamic State from a researcher at the International Crisis Group, Varvara Pakhomenko.
The video appeared online on April 17. “Judging by the video, the Chechen pop singer went to ISIS. It’s a shame if that’s the case,” she wrote on her page on the social network Facebook Varvara Pakhomenko.
The video shows how a woman in Muslim clothing completely covering her body and face (except for her eyes) demonstratively tears up documents. The video is accompanied by a photo in which Aza Batayeva stands on stage with a microphone (with the caption “on the path of Iblis”) and a photo in which she is dressed in strict Muslim clothing (with the caption “on the path of Allah”).
In the video, a woman tears up a foreign passport issued in the name of Bataeva in front of the camera.
“Do these circled eyes interfere with her on the path of Allah?... She is promoting herself,” sums up a user of the social network “VKontakte” with the nickname “Samaya Samaya.”
In the comments, users draw attention to the atypical weapons appearing in the frame, as well as to the luxurious furnishings of the apartment in which the filming took place, which does not correspond to the idea of life in war-torn territory.
“Normal apartment in Syria,” writes user Jose Aldo, accompanying his comment with an emoticon crying with laughter.
“This is strange, I didn’t know that ISIS is armed with German SMGs ( submachine guns),” writes user Asvad Kadyrov, also noting that in her address the woman violates the norms of Islam. “It’s not for her to judge who is right or wrong, and it’s not for her to call for war! She is a girl first and foremost! And “if you believe this video,” then she is among the men,” he writes.
“Your place is in the kitchen, not in Syria,” Islam Islamov addresses the singer.
The circulated video also caused a critical reaction from those who declare their adherence to traditional Islamic values.
“What are these scenes for? She wore a niqab, but we all can see how the girl’s face is decorated. And these photos are useless, absolutely useless. We do not understand our religion correctly, not at all correctly. We love beautiful photos and clothes,” writes VKontakte user Amina Islamova.
“Photo shoot... a lot of showing off,” commented Rumisa Titieva on the video.
The "Caucasian Knot" does not have confirmation that it was Aza Batayeva who starred in the video. There are no video frames in which the woman’s face could be fully visible in the video. There has been no confirmation from official representatives of law enforcement agencies about the information that Aza Batayeva joined the militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia.
We note, however, that in January of this year, Aza Nuritovna Bataeva (born May 13, 1983, Gekhi village, Urus-Martan district of the Chechen Republic) was included by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service in the list of individuals in respect of whom there is information about their involvement to extremist activities or terrorism. In this list it appears at number 881.
Various sources, including the Russian FSB, have confirmed information that militants from Russia in Syria are fighting on the side of the “Islamic State” (IS, formerly ISIS, the organization is recognized as terrorist, and its activities are prohibited in Russia, the USA, Turkey and a number of other countries), says the material “Natives from the Caucasus in the ranks of ISIS” published by the “Caucasian Knot” in the “Directory” section.
On the thematic pages “Syria on Fire” and “The Caucasus in the Crosshairs of the Caliphate,” the “Caucasian Knot” publishes materials on the impact of the Middle East war on the situation in the regions of the Caucasus.
27-year-old Amina from Chechnya was tricked into entering Syria and became the wife of a suicide bomber.
Amina met Muhammad on social networks, who exchanged his studies in Turkey for the Syrian trenches. He wrote to the girl that he loved, was waiting and did not know how long he had left to walk on this earth. And three days after meeting, a resident of Chechnya bought a one-way ticket and went to her “warrior”. Amina has a 5-year-old son left at home.
- My parents knew that I was getting married. But they had no idea where I was going. At that time I had no idea what my future husband was doing or where he was. He didn't explain anything to me at all. Only when we met did I understand everything from his appearance. He always wore military uniform and carried weapons. “I didn’t understand then what ISIS and the war in Syria were,” Amina said in an interview with Screened.
As a result, the young woman and her husband ended up in the Syrian city of Manbij. At the time of their acquaintance, Muhammad was a ready suicide bomber, but was not a member of any specific katib. And in the evenings the man told his beloved how many infidels he had killed. Amina was left to deal with everyday issues and inspire her husband to jihad, instilling a fighting spirit, known there as “iman.” They had no children. And in the fall of 2016, Amina’s husband died in Iraq - he was blown up on another mission.
Before this, some men came to him. We had a meeting in our house at which they asked: “Who will be a martyr?” Some raised their hands. When the husband decided to leave, he came home and said that he had been given permission and was going to Mosul. But he didn’t say that he was going to do istishhad (literally, “the desire to become a martyr”). He said goodbye to me, saying that perhaps he would return, and that was all. And seven days later I was informed that it was blown up,” Amina recalls.
After the death of Muhammad, the girl moved into a common house where widows of jihadists lived. There she met similar friends in misfortune from Russia. Most of the girls were from Chechnya, and among her “friends” was even the popular singer Aza Batayeva, who left for the Middle East two years ago.
We often met with Bataeva in the store. Her husband was some kind of high-ranking person. We greeted each other and asked about each other. I don't know whether she wanted to leave there or not. The last time I saw her was a year ago, also in a store. I don’t know what happened to her later,” Amina told Screened.
According to unofficial data, Aza Batayeva died several months ago in Iraq. As Amina said, local residents did not really like the singer from Chechnya. Every time the girl married rich men, drove around the city in expensive cars and bought only branded clothes. And women were completely jealous of her, because all wealthy men always looked only at her.
All this time the girl hid the truth from her parents, otherwise her mother’s heart could not stand it. Every day Amina called home and talked about the “fabulous” life in Turkey.
When the widow of the jihadist realized that she had no more strength, she and her friend escaped from the territory controlled by ISIS to the city of Azaz. But on the way they were captured by the Kurds.
The Kurds kept us for two weeks. They carried out interrogations all the time. There were also cases where they were punished. If you are the emir's wife, they could beat you. There we also learned that children from Russia were being returned to their families. Then it seemed to us that this was impossible. But praise be to the Almighty, we returned home. If it were possible, I would never go there,” says Amina.
Right at the Grozny airport, Amina wrote a confession to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And since she voluntarily returned to her homeland, in accordance with the law, no criminal case will be brought against her.
Today Amina herself understands how she was brainwashed. And, remembering the events that happened three years ago, she feels only shame and fear. But the past is behind us and we need to start a new life in peace and harmony.
Relatives reported the death of Chechen singer Bataeva in Mosul
Together with the Chechen pop singer Aza Bataeva, her husband and sister, who came to Iraq to bring the singer home, died in Mosul in September 2017, Bataeva’s relatives said.
As the “Caucasian Knot” reported, in April 2016, a video appeared on social networks in which it was reported that the famous Chechen pop singer Aza (Khazan) Batayeva had joined the “Islamic State”* and was in the territory controlled by this terrorist organization.
In the video, a woman in clothing completely covering her body and face (except for her eyes) defiantly tears up a Russian passport in the name of Bataeva and calls on her to leave everything that, according to the Koran, is considered forbidden and “take the straight path.” Chechen law enforcement agencies had information that Aza Batayeva might be in Syria at the end of 2015, a representative of the republican law enforcement agencies told the Caucasian Knot.
According to Aza Bataeva’s relatives, about two years ago she and her husband moved to Turkey, and from there they moved to territory controlled by IS*. In the fall of this year, Aza Batayeva died in Iraqi Mosul along with her husband and sister, who came to Iraq to bring her home, the Caucasus, Realities publication reported on December 8, citing information from Batayeva’s relatives.
Batayeva died in September, but this became known only now, notes IslamNews.
Khazan Bataeva was born in 1983. She is a native of the village of Gekhi, Urus-Martan region of Chechnya. The singer performed under the pseudonym Aza, then AZiA. In 2000, she moved to Moscow, graduated from Yuri Nikolaev’s “Morning Star” art school in 2003, and performed in Moscow clubs and entertainment complexes, including Metelitsa and Golden Palace. In 2008, her song “Lonely Rain” was included in the Eurovision shortlist, according to Bataeva’s biography in the “Music of the Caucasus” group on the Odnoklassniki social network.
Supporters of radical organizations bring their families to Syria and Iraq because they do not intend to return, a former militant who was disillusioned with the ideas of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court told the Caucasian Knot. Little-known information about IS* and the testimony of a person who was in its ranks was presented by the Caucasian Knot in the interview “Journey to the Islamic State* and back.”
News about the impact of the war in the Middle East on the Caucasus regions can be found on special thematic pages of the “Caucasian Knot” “Syria on Fire” and “Caucasus under the Crosshairs of the Caliphate.” In addition, in the “Directory” section of the “Caucasian Knot” a reference document “Natives from the Caucasus in the ranks of ISIS”* was published.
* - “Islamic State” (IS, formerly ISIS) is recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia by a court decision.
Islamic communities in Western countries have long been faced with the fact that even the most successful, creative Muslims are fleeing to Syria to fight for the Islamic State. Fashion models, singers, rappers, DJs, designers. It seems that today this scourge has spread to Russia: the famous Chechen pop singer Aza Batayeva may have joined ISIS.
From a miniskirt... to a niqab
Social networks in the North Caucasus are actively discussing another propaganda video of the Islamic State banned in our country. It appeared on YouTube a week ago: a girl in a niqab (a robe that leaves only her eyes open) is sitting in a room, with a Kalashnikov assault rifle lying next to her on the sofa. A girl in Chechen calls for people to go to war in Syria.
But what’s most curious is that she introduces herself as the name of a famous Chechen pop singer Azy Bataeva. A foreign and Russian passport issued in this name, a girl in a niqab demonstratively vomits in front of a video camera. And also - a certificate of awarding the title “Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia” in 2005.
At the same time, the credits read: “Rewards must be received in the path of Allah.” To top it all off, the frame shows several photographs in which the same girl poses with a black flag of the Islamic State and shoots from a Kalashnikov assault rifle (again, judging by the credits, the photographs were taken in the Iraqi city of Mosul).
It is unknown whether Aza Batayeva is actually captured in the video recordings and photographs. At least so far, there have been no official denials from the singer. It is not known for certain where she is now. At least the Caucasian Knot news agency, citing an unnamed source in the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, writes that Aza Batayeva could indeed have been on the territory of the Islamic State since the end of last year.
The peak of popularity of the 32-year-old pop singer passed a long time ago: in 2008, the whole country started talking about the Grozny girl after she qualified for participation in Eurovision. By that time, the girl had been living and working in Moscow for a long time, although she recorded songs in both Russian and her native Chechen languages. She participated in national concerts in the republics of the North Caucasus, in Moscow and the Stavropol region.
“I am a Chechen girl!”, “Golden Sun” (“Dasho Malkh”), “My Dear” (“Khiomenag”), “Girl’s Tears”. Judging by the names of Aza Bataeva’s main hits, it becomes clear that this is, in general, typical pop music. Is it any wonder that the singer’s stage image did not always correspond to the canons of the Chechen stage: bright makeup, loose hair and, worst of all, miniskirts and tight dresses.
Vasya Oblomov: “Wait a minute, ISIS!”
For bloggers who rushed to discuss Aza Bataeva’s possible departure to Syria, this metamorphosis caused sincere bewilderment: how could she change her miniskirt to a niqab?! By the way, if the information that Aza Bataeva really joined the “Islamic State” is confirmed, she will turn out to be, perhaps, the first show business star among its adherents.
Meanwhile, today the Islamic State, even without Bataeva, uses all possible tools of pop culture to reach young people. Suffice it to say that on English-language Twitter alone today there are more than 50 thousand accounts through which the Islamic State is propagated.
Unfortunately, today on the Internet, even among young people who are far from Islam, a new aesthetics of radical Islamism is being formed. For example, on the social network VKontakte you can easily find hundreds of audio recordings of nasheeds (Muslim chants) with the catchy and bright title “ISIS.”
Indeed, nasheeds are one of the key elements of Islamic State propaganda. Recruiters try to make them as accessible as possible to young people: they use DJs to make the beat almost danceable. It sounds, admittedly, quite enticing at times. If you don't know the meaning...
Although, it should not be ruled out that nasheeds, actually produced by the Islamic State itself, have nothing in common with it - it is local craftsmen in Russia who find and mix them. This is precisely the question that the “Islamic State” has already developed its own aesthetics, which is sometimes compared to the rebels Che Guevara, then with urban partisans Andreas Baader.
But there is no one who wants to tell young people what the “Islamic State” actually represents - to say it clearly and accessiblely, in youth language. There are no rappers, no rockers, no pop singers. That is probably why, at the end of last year, the sharp-spoken singer Vasya Oblomov came up with the song “ISIS,” in which he ridicules the Russian official counter-propaganda of the “Islamic State.” Ridicules her for her clumsiness and unconvincingness.
Even DJs and fashion models are traveling to Syria
The gradual transformation of the “Islamic State” into a kind of pop fetish is a problem not only of Russia, but also of Western countries. For example, one of the first Dwihadists to leave the UK for Syria was the rapper Abdel Bari(better known by his stage name Lyric Gin), whose songs were even played on BBC radio stations.
Last spring, an Australian (Somali by nationality) was killed in Syria. Sharky Jama. The 25-year-old lived in Australia, was a successful model and DJ, and then joined the Islamic State...
And in Germany, the story of a Berlin rapper recently created a lot of noise Denis Kuspert(pseudonym Deso Dogg), who did not just join the Islamic State. ISIS agigators actively used his cult status: Deso Dogg recorded propaganda videos for him (and they were produced by the Russian-language propaganda group of the “Islamic State” Furat Media, created by immigrants from Dagestan). Naturally, against the backdrop of such stories, it does not seem at all unusual that a Chechen pop singer could appear among the terrorists.
The more yesterday’s models, singers, and designers are in the ranks of the “Islamic State,” the more actively the authorities are trying to introduce the same “pop” (literally) methods of counter-propaganda of radical Islamism. So, in February, the head of the State Department John Kerry held a closed meeting with Hollywood producers to understand how to counter ISIS agitprop.
After this, the Strategic Counter-Terrorism Communications Center (CSCC), operating within the State Department, began creating Twitter accounts in which it posted, in particular, satirical videos ridiculing examples of Islamic State propaganda. However, even among American experts such practices give rise to a contradictory impression.
But he supported such a PR strategy of the State Department singer Bono, leader of the rock band U2, also known for his political activism. He was recently invited to a hearing in the US Senate, where the problems of Middle Eastern refugees were discussed (Bono is the founder of the One Campaign, a charity that fights poverty).
The singer compared the efforts of senators in the fight against the Islamic State to the same as if they sent Hollywood comedians to Iraq and Syria Amy Schumer, Chris Rock And Sacha Baron Cohen. The latter, we recall, starred in the satirical comedy “The Dictator”, creating a collective image of Middle Eastern tyrants like Saddam Hussein And Muammar Gaddafi.
"Do not laugh! I think we can use comedians [in the fight against ISIS]. When you talk about violence, you speak their [the militants'] language. And when you laugh at them as they walk single file down the street, you take away their power,” the rock singer told senators. And many statesmen supported this idea.
Thus, last year, Iraqi state television launched the comedy series “State of Myths,” which takes place in a fictional city allegedly under the control of ISIS. The TV show can easily be watched in territory actually controlled by the Islamic State.
The fanaticism of militants is ridiculed even in Saudi Arabia - in the TV show “Selfie” by a famous Arab comedian Nasser al Qasabi(it is shown on cable channel MBC). The reaction to such satire in a theocratic state was expectedly polar - from warm support to death threats that al-Qasabi received. True, in response to the threats, the comedian said that he would not back down from denouncing the Islamic State, since it was his civic duty. There would be more of these!
