CLAIM
A lengthy message, purportedly an extract from a speech delivered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been circulating on social media.
According to the viral message, Putin addressed the Russian Parliament and spoke about the ‘tensions with minorities in Russia’, saying that the minorities should live like Russians in the country and respect the country's laws.
The message further goes on to claim that Putin said that ‘Muslims will not be given special privileges by Russia’ and that they will not ‘take over the country.’
"The Russian customs and traditions are not compatible with the lack of culture or the primitive ways of Sharia Law and Muslims," the message further reads, adding that Putin received a standing ovation following his fiery speech.
The Quint received this message from a WebQoof reader looking to check the veracity of the claim. Several other posts on this 'speech' have also cropped up on social media since 2013, at regular intervals.
THE TRUTH
This text in the viral message and the claim is false. Putin did not actually deliver such a speech in the Russian Parliament.
Some variants of this message claim that this speech was delivered on 4 February 2013, but no record of it exists in the official Kremlin archives. Neither are there any news reports about Putin delivering such a speech against Muslim minorities in Russia.
A report by fact-checking website Snopes suggested that this supposed speech is very similar to an opinion piece allegedly written in 2001 by Air Force veteran Barry Loudermilk, after the 9/11 attacks on America. The piece was titled, "This is America. Like It or Leave It."
Another blog also attributed the piece to Loudermilk, although we could not independently verify that he had indeed penned the piece.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
While the speech is fake, Putin has made remarks along this tenor in the past, albeit in a less inflammatory manner. This could be a possible reason behind the creation of this fake message.
In a speech delivered by Putin, at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Federal Migration Service on 26 January 2012, the then prime minister had said that, "Russia must not be a country that anyone can enter whenever and however he likes."
Following is an excerpt from the speech which The Quint accessed from the archives of the official site of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation:
"On the whole, the adaptation of guest workers is a separate and comprehensive issue. We must create the conditions for immigrants to normally integrate into our society, learn Russian and, of course, respect our culture and traditions and abide by Russian law. In this regard, I believe that the decision to make learning the Russian language compulsory and administer exams is well grounded.”
Therefore, the message that has been circulated is fake and while Putin may have addressed similar issues in the country, he did not make the inflammatory statements that the message claims he did.
(With inputs from Snopes.)
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