Hazal Lean
Commenting on Turkey-Russia relations in Vzglyad, Gevorg Mirzayan wrote on the importance of Turkey for Russia. Mirzayan is an associate professor of political science at the Russian University of Finance. The university is directly affiliated with the government; therefore, it is one of the direct staff resources of the government, and in this sense, Mirzayan’s views are also important.
In Kommersant’s article on illegal money inflows and outflows in Russia, Turkey is referred to as the country with the most illegal money outflows. This should be attributed to the fact that the declassed middle bourgeoisie could not go to the UAE and had to prefer Turkey.
Vestnik Kavkaza writes on developments in Armenia. In these days when preparations for a new “diplomatic opening” between Turkey and Armenia are underway, the relations between Armenia and Russia should also be followed carefully; The article is, therefore, worth noting.
Andrey Isayev’s article on the recent clashes in the Gaza strip and the Israeli operation in Mejdunarodnaya Zhizn draws attention with its anti-Islamic Jihad stance. The journal is published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Although only official opinions are not found, at least it is clear that it does not contradict the official opinion. The main role in this is the fact that Islamic Jihad is a banned organization on the list of “terrorist and extremist organizations” in Russia.
‘What is Turkey for Russia?’
The recent Russia-Turkey summit in Sochi, where concrete tasks in various fields of bilateral cooperation were determined, revived one of the most controversial questions of Russian foreign policy: What is Turkey for Russia?
Some argue that Turkey is a friend and partner. A potential participant in Russia’s Eurasian projects and, like Russia, a sovereign state that does not accept the collective West’s dictation of everything. …
This is exactly why Turkey is ready to carry out a military operation against the Syrian Kurds (American allies) despite the US opinion, and also to buy weapons from Russia. That is why Turkey, which enjoyed participating in the US crackdown against Russia in the 1990s (especially … it supported and equipped Chechen terrorists), today not only refuses to participate in sanctions against Russia, but is also ready to help Russia get around Western sanctions. . … Moreover, Erdogan is trying to take advantage of Western sanctions to improve political-economic cooperation with Moscow. …
But there are other specialists in Russia. Enemies who say Turkey is a competitor and potential enemy. Paradoxically, they are right on one point, as Ankara and Moscow’s positions in a number of regions are at odds. For example, Turkey supports the terrorists in Idlib in Syria, Russia (along with Iran) is on the side of the legitimate government and cannot clear the terrorists in the Idlib region because they are under Turkey’s wing. Moreover, Turkey supports its ally Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus, while Russia’s military-logistical (CSTO) and economic (Eurasian Union) ally, Armenia.
Despite its pompous neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, Ankara supplies Bayraktar and various weapons to Kiev, which the Zelensky regime uses in its terrorist activities. In addition, Turkey also claims influence in a number of Russian territories, according to some experts. …
This list only includes the region of Siberia and the Volga, where Turkey actively fed Islamist terrorists until 2014 and sponsored by the terrorist group “Assembly” after 2014.
How does it turn out that Turkey can be both a friend and an enemy for Russia? If we realize that we have entered a new era in international relations, it is very simple. …
During this period, the status of “companion” becomes current; this means countries whose interests overlap at a certain concrete time and in a certain concrete direction. Russia and Turkey are also becoming such “travelers”. Both know that their paths do not cross with the collective West. They are aware that the West is discrediting the elites of these countries as rivals that should not be negotiated and overthrown. Both realize that they need each other to balance Western pressure. Finally, both states have taken the path of technological dominance and can successfully assist each other in establishing and defending their economic and political dominance. … (G. Mirzayan / Vzglyad, 15 August)
‘Turkey ranks first in illegal money outflow’
From February 24 to August 10, attempts to enter and exit illegally money from Russia increased by 21 percent. During this period, the Federal Customs Service opened about 5,000 criminal and administrative investigations. The total amount of illegal money outflow subject to criminal investigations is 104.2 billion rubles; The amount subject to administrative investigations is 610.4 billion rubles.
The number of criminal cases brought under article 200.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (smuggling of cash and monetary vehicles) is 443. Those accused of this article face up to 4 years in prison. The number of cases filed in the same period of 2021 is only 40. The number of administrative cases filed pursuant to Article 16.4 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (undeclared or misdeclared money and monetary instrument) is 4874. This number was 4028 last year.
The Federal Customs Service notes that the total amount subject to illegal outflows in 2021 and 2022 is almost unchanged: 714.6 billion rubles in 2022 and 709 billion rubles in 2021. Most of the violations are in rubles; this accounts for 30 percent of the total. It is followed by the US dollar and the euro. The most money from Russia goes to Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Israel and Germany, respectively. The origin of money entering Russia illegally is USA, Italy, Tajikistan, Germany, Turkey and UAE, respectively.
According to the Federal Customs Service, the increase in illegal money in and out is due to the fact that Russia’s monetary transactions with a number of countries are blocked. (O. Pavlenko / Kommersant, August 19)
‘Preparation for anti-Putin rally in Yerevan’
A rally against Putin and Russia’s special operation in Ukraine is scheduled for August 24 in Yerevan. The participants of the rally will demand the resignation of the President of Russia. They plan to gather in front of the opera house in Hürriyet Square and walk from there to Republic Square and then to Russia Square, and they will finish the show in front of the Russian Embassy. The organizers of the rally were not Armenians, but Russian citizens who had fled here. … These are business people, informatics and dissident people.
One of them is Yuri Alexandrov. … His foreign agent, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, set aside money for Yuriy and other escapees like him through the Kovcheg (“Noah’s Ark”) organization. Alexandrov thinks that he can find strong support against Putin in Armenia because there is an anti-Russian mood there. In this context, the emphasis is on Putin, not Ukraine, because in the Karabakh conflict, Kyiv supported Azerbaijan, not Armenia. Despite this conflict, in the Yerevan governorate, to be more precise, in Pashinyan’s cabinet, Alexandrov was granted a visa for the demonstration.
Why are the Armenian authorities taking such a step against the Kremlin? … Why does Pashinyan turn a blind eye to moves against Putin? At least two reasons may be at play here: either the planned rally is so marginal that the Kremlin will ignore it, or the Armenian prime minister is sending a signal to Russia.
If we look at the first point, probably a few hundred people, mostly Russians, will attend the show. It is also possible for local activists to take part, though. After the explosion that took place in the shopping mall in Yerevan in the past days, in which 16 people lost their lives, the nationalists of “Sasna Tsrer” began to look for traces of Russia. So at least they can participate. On the whole, the anti-Russian mood in Armenia is quite strong. A part of the society thinks that they lost the Karabakh war because of Russia’s silence.
Pashinyan himself does not hide his displeasure. … The Armenian authorities obviously think that the Russian peacekeepers will engage in a conflict with the Azerbaijani soldiers, but this is definitely not possible, since Russia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Baku is an ally of Moscow.
I do not exclude the possibility of the USA putting pressure on Armenia. The US Treasury Department has included Armenia and Georgia on the list of countries helping Russia to circumvent sanctions, and may exert economic pressure on them if necessary. Let’s not forget that Pashinyan, as a political figure, is based on western NGOs, France and the USA. So he is compelled to allow Russian dissidents to demonstrate in Yerevan, at least out of respect for his western curators. One of them, CIA Director William Burns, recently visited Yerevan on a secret mission. … (K. Gasanov / Vestik Kavkaza, 19 August)
‘Israel’s operation in Gaza’
Israel’s “Dawn” operation marked some changes in the political climate of the region. The justification was the arrest of Basema al-Sadi, one of the leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (FIC, banned in Russia). Let’s remember: this movement sets itself the goal of destroying the state of Israel and establishing an independent Islamic State of Palestine; This is the second most powerful movement in the Gaza strip, after Hamas, in terms of number of activists and influence.
The Israeli administration did not wait for retaliatory actions. … The conflict, which turned into a missile and artillery duel, lasted 55 hours, but during this time, armistice talks were held between the parties under the mediation of Egypt.
One of the FIC’s terms of a ceasefire was the release of its two leaders from Israeli prisons. …
The international community as a whole simply condemned the violence and called for restraint on the parties to the conflict. The sanctions war and the events in Ukraine today push all the remaining problems into the background.
The reaction of the Muslim world to this re-escalation of tensions in the Middle East was also lethargic. Arab countries and Turkey, which position themselves as the Palestinians’ top lawyers, and even Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, have confined themselves to condemning Israel’s actions. … The thing is that the FIC is hostile to most Arab countries because they continue to have relations with the West, and they do not receive much sympathy from the elites of Muslim countries. …
Hamas’s exclusion from military action … is explainable.
First, Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, bears responsibility for the safety and quality of life and quality of life of the people in “its” region, and has agreed with Egypt for the large-scale restructuring of the region’s civil infrastructure. …
Second (perhaps most importantly) the FIC is Hamas’ main rival in its struggle to win the minds and hearts of the Palestinians. …
Negotiations for the establishment of an Arab-Israeli “Middle East NATO” are also being restarted slowly. It is necessary to remind the Palestinians that they are obligated to make declarations with anti-Zionist statements, as this process progresses between the regional players and Israel, which angers the radicals.
On the other hand, Israel will hold its fifth general election in three and a half years in November, and it was clear that the current administration also needed a small victorious battle to the electorate. (A. Isayev / Mejdunarodnaya Zhizn, August 15)