The final draft of the new cabinet was finalized yesterday in Russia, appointing a Muslim to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the first time ever.
The appointee, Rashid Nurgaliyev, is of Tatar origin and comes to the ministry from intelligence services. Born in 1956, Nurgaliyev graduated from Petrzavodsk University and was been promoted to Deputy Director of Domestic Intelligence Agency. Nurgaliyev, is married with two children.
About 20 million Muslim citizens are included in Russia's population of nearly 144.5 million. Although Russia is denoted as a secular state in the Constitution, the public mostly belongs to the Orthodox sect of Christianity. The state none-the-less attempts to treat all religions equally in Russia.
Also included in Mihail Pradkov's cabinet are Sergey Ivanov, known with his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has stayed with the Ministry of Defense and United Nations (UN) representative to Russia, Sergei Lavrov, who has been appointed to the Foreign Ministry.