North Caucasus jihadis have proposed using either Arabic or a Turkic language as an official language for their affairs. The Earlier this month, Doku Umarov suggested that a "state" language be formed for the so-called Caucasus Emirate. This proposal came from "the growing discussion among the mujahideen Muslims of the Caucasus Emirate in regard to its state institutions ... and other important aspects of state building," according to one website.
"It may be that this is part of someone's campaign to foster greater knowledge of Arabic among the Caucasus Emirate mujahideen," says terrorism expert Gordon Hahn said in a study to be released by the Monterey Institute for International Studies.
Last week a member of the Caucasus Emirate, Abu Zaid, posted a long harangue in favor of Arabic as the official language, calling it "the international language of jihad."