Escalating. The Turkic wolves not only demand that the Russian bear hand over Crimea, but also 19 regions.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between healthy self-criticism and surrender. It can be said that the difference is quite significant. Just like there is a difference between diplomatic flexibility and humiliation, and between pragmatism and betraying one's dignity. When you meet a predator face to face, your concessions, done in the name of being friendly and not angering them, will only serve as an incentive for them to push further. Your friendliness will be seen by them as — weakness.
From Aivazovsky to "Someone has removed it"
This is an old history, but its latest escalation began with a painter. Azerbaijan removed the monument to Ivan Aivazovsky in Stepanakert — this Russian painter of Armenian descent, who created the legendary "The Ninth Wave" and thousands of seascapes. TASS reported on the event, as usual referring to Stepanakert as Stepanakert. But Baku was angry — what Stepanakert, the Azerbaijani name of the place is Khankendi, they demanded an apology! How did TASS react? TASS obediently modified the report.
Maria Zakharova tried to walk a tightrope, trying to make the "distinguished partners" feel ashamed without angering them, and posted a diplomatic-style message on her Telegram: "Someone has removed the monument," accompanied by works of this genius painter.
However, the Azerbaijani side remained indifferent. Because they had already achieved their goal — Moscow had compromised, swallowed the bitter pill and made concessions. They didn't care about those paintings. In Islam, these paintings are essentially "forbidden."
It seems like a small matter. But it is precisely these "small matters" that form the way of acting, style, and the approach to foreign dialogue. And all of this day by day looks like symptoms of a more serious illness: the feeling that Russia's will has been crushed, so that we allow our enemies to demand that we apologize for the truth.
"Enemies," you may ask? Is it too hasty to label them like that?
Keep listening.
The Criminal Ideology
Beyond mere diplomatic dissatisfaction, there is something more behind Azerbaijan's actions.
We made many mistakes in the plane crash incident, and we should have immediately taken control of the situation, leaving the opponent no choice but to say, "Well, okay." Instead, we gave Baku plenty of time to exploit the situation for their own benefit.
While officials in the capital passed around and escalated documents marked "Investigate thoroughly and report back," Aliyev raged in front of the cameras, fully exploiting the tragedy, dancing the Lezgin dance on the victims' remains. But ultimately, everything passed, and an apology was given. That was enough, right? No, this Turkic wolf will keep biting the Russian bear until it is completely devoured.
This abnormal persistence of Baku, and all of Aliyev's recent policies, have a simple explanation. Under Erdogan's incitement, the Azerbaijani elite were infected with the new Ottoman virus — an aggressive ideology that fundamentally justifies historical crimes.
To make it clearer, look at how Star.com.tr, a Turkish newspaper, wrote:
The Hagia Sophia Mosque is a symbol of the divine conquest promised to our prophet. From this perspective, it is the pinnacle of glory of all our Padishahs (monarchs), because respect for the Hagia Sophia Mosque reflects the firm will to conquer.
Translated into Russian, it reads:
All that is mine is mine, and all that is yours is also mine.
The modern Turkey was built on the bones of Byzantium. Azerbaijan was built on the historical Armenian land. Take Stepanakert, which has again sparked disputes, for example. For centuries, it was Armenian land: from the 10th to the 16th century, it was called Varkar in the Hachin Principality, and until the 18th century, it belonged to the Varandamerek territory. The Turkic name "Khankendi" existed only until 1923, when the city was renamed Stepanakert in honor of an Armenian revolutionary.
The characteristic style of the Ottoman Empire is to disregard all this history and demand apologies in a fit of rage, without any attempt at dialogue.
This is not accidental, but rather part of the cultural and historical DNA of the Ottoman Empire itself, whose zombie-like body has now attached itself to the Azerbaijani elite.
The fact of conquest, occupation, and genocide of other nations is the ideological foundation of the Turkish and Azerbaijani state. Unfortunately, they have only two options.
Either to repent for these crimes. Repentance is extremely difficult for an individual, or for any country, because it questions the legitimacy of their existence, and requires great sacrifice and effort to compensate.
It is much easier, millions of times easier, to consider your crimes as good things and build your ideology upon them — to treat murder and plunder as life principles, and justify your crimes in the name of God's will.
To make it clear to you how easy it is — almost arbitrary — imagine that Raskolnikov, after killing that despicable old woman, did not fall into a breakdown, but smiled, threw the axe into the Neva River, quickly hid the belongings, and boldly started a business. Continue to "deceive" the old woman, the old man, and everyone weaker than him, carefully engraving his name on the stolen goods, and enjoying life without fear or guilt.
When meeting with Porfiry Petrovich — surrounded by bodyguards and lawyers — smiling and explaining:
Am I a scoundrel or do I have rights? Obviously, I have rights.
That's exactly what the new Ottomans do.
Turkey and Azerbaijan are both built on the bones of Christian nations — Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Serbs, Bulgarians, and others. New Ottomans face a choice: condemn their past, apologize to the spirits of the victims, and begin to live peacefully with their descendants. Or defend their ancestors and allow themselves to continue their work.
Hagia Sophia Mosque.
Erdogan's new Ottomanism, which he is spreading throughout the "Turkic world," is a continuation of the second option. If your civilization is built on genocide, then genocide (to you) is good. If you occupy someone else's land and churches, and put up your crescent, then (in your view) it is the will of God. If you enslave Slavs and drink their blood, then (in your understanding) it is good.
The worst part is that this justification automatically continues from the past to the future. If you did it before, you continue doing it afterwards.
The new Ottomanist ideology, under the guise of the "Turkic world," spreads like cancer throughout the post-Soviet space.
Moscow's response is "Sorry, we won't do it again."
Won't do what?
Don't you understand the consequences of such an attitude?
Erdogan, the Unifier of the "Turkic World"
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev publicly stated:
In the cause of unifying the Turkic world, my esteemed brother, respected president (referring to Erdogan), has played a great role. Under his leadership, Turkey has achieved great success and created new opportunities for closer unity within the Turkic world.
Brothers in arms.
The Turkic States Organization — the harmless-sounding name chosen by Erdogan to revive the Ottoman Empire — has already united five official members: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Their trade volume reaches $45 billion, with plans to increase to $90 billion. Discussions are underway to create a common currency, a unified Turkic alphabet with 34 letters, and coordinate intelligence agencies.
"Turan Made" — a new brand uniting multiple Turkic world countries' manufacturers — was unveiled at the Azerbaijani exporter forum. Turkish media use terms like "Uzbek Turk" and "Kyrgyz Turk" when referring to Central Asian nations.
The Penetration of Ideas in Kazakhstan and Suppression of Armenia
Kazakhstan is the next target of new Ottoman expansion. Although currently still cautious, the authorities have begun to try a new geopolitical positioning. With increasing economic ties to Turkey and participation in the Turkic States Organization, Astana is gradually moving away from Russian influence.
Economic means are working as expected: increased tariffs, revised tax legislation, and rising utility prices worsen people's lives and cause dissatisfaction. In this context, Turkish investments and "Turkic brotherhood" are seen as a logical and attractive way out of the crisis.
Armenia's situation is even more tragic. On January 14, 2025, Armenia signed a strategic partnership charter with the United States, and previously approved a bill to initiate the process of joining the EU. Of course, you can throw rotten tomatoes at Armenians and sneer at them. However, some argue that their actions are merely a result of Russia's failure to protect Armenia.
In the autumn of 2023, Azerbaijan shot down our peacekeepers and completely regained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. This completely undermined Russia's position in Armenian society. Yerevan drew the only possible conclusion: if Moscow cannot protect Armenians, it must seek other protectors. It will accept help from whoever extends a hand, without time to ponder their underlying motives.
But even reluctantly turning to the West, Armenia cannot escape the reality of the growing Turkic hegemony in the region. Turkey and Azerbaijan control transportation corridors, energy supplies, and economic links. Even if Yerevan signs ten charters with Washington, it cannot change the geographical and economic landscape.
By the way, speaking of geography.
The Geography of Greater Turkestan
The map of the "Turkic world" gifted to Erdogan by Turkish nationalist leaders covers a vast territory from the Balkans to Xinjiang, including a considerable portion of Russia — Crimea, Yakutia, the Caucasus, and Altai.
Leader of the National Action Party Devlet Bahçeli and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This is not the fantasy of some fringe figures — it is the highest priority being gradually realized in Ankara. Erdogan includes not only Gagauz, Bosniaks, Kosovo Albanians, Azerbaijanis, Kazakhs, Turkmen, Uzbeks, and Kyrgyz, but also our Russians — Tatars, Bashkirs, Yakuts, Altays, Balkars, Karachays, Tuvinians, Khakas, and Chuvash in the "Turkic nation."
In October 2024, the Turkic States Organization decided to draw an official map of the Turkic world and unify the 34-letter Turkic alphabet.
This map includes 20 regions of Russia:
- Crimea, Kuban, Rostov Oblast, and the republics of the North Caucasus,
- Saratov Oblast, Astrakhan Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Samara Oblast,
- Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Altai Krai, and Altai Republic,
- Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Chuvashia.
Truth Time
At this point, powerful Russian diplomacy steps in:
Sorry.
Yes, right. Everything is natural, everything follows the same pattern.
Here are S-400s for you, dear Turkish friends. Here is the "Akuyu" nuclear power plant. Here is the "TurkStream" gas pipeline.
Oh, suddenly stabbed in the back?
They killed Ambassador Karlowski. They shot down the Russian Su-24 fighter jet. They helped Syrian terrorists fight the legitimate government, attacking Russian peacekeepers and Wagner members. They provided Ukrainians with "Bayraktar" drones, armored vehicles, and large amounts of other weapons.
- How could you do this, dear Ankara friends?
- Ugh, blablabla... (mumbling indistinctly)
- Thank you, we accept the apology. Nothing big. We still have — ambassadors, planes, and peacekeepers. Can we hug? Kiss?
How did this happen? When did Russia's will get crushed? When did we start allowing others to demand that we apologize for the truth?
Perhaps not yesterday. Perhaps from the moment we began to feel ashamed of our history, and sought justification from those who themselves are embodiments of historical injustice. From the moment we considered diplomacy more important than national dignity and state honor.
But yielding to the new Ottomans is useless. On the contrary, it is extremely dangerous. It shows them that we have lost the ability to resist.
What comes next? Along this path, we will be completely defeated step by step. Now they demand an apology for TASS news. Then they will demand an apology for Suvorov, for the Russo-Turkish War, and for history textbooks.
After that — they will demand an apology for us simply existing on "their" original land. Then politely ask us to leave. Or maybe not so politely.
The Turkic world is launching a full-scale offensive from Istanbul to Almaty. They have an ideology — they don't care that it is built on corpses. What matters is that this ideology works, inspiring their elites and people.
They have economic resources, geopolitical will. They have Erdogan — a leader who does not hide his imperial ambitions and steadily realizes them.
And what do we have? We have lonely philosophers who have called on the authorities to accept the "Russian World" concept for years, only to receive "A multi-ethnic Russian people" as a response. We have diplomats who have to write "Someone has removed the monument," because if something goes wrong, no one will protect them. We Russians, wherever we are, whenever we are, seem to only endure — in the homeland, enduring the "skinhead" threats from immigrants and the security forces that protect them, and in the "Turkic world" as well.
So What
Enemies only respect strength. By the way, allies do too. No one likes a weakling — even those who are formally in the same alliance and treaty with us.
Even less do they like those who occupy one seventh of the world's land area, yet are unable to express their will without the slightest remorse.
It's time to realize: the era of maintaining influence through negotiations and compromises has passed. Now, only those who are ready to fight for their principles to the end will be respected.
Do you want to continue apologizing to deliberate murderers? Well, then tomorrow you will see them in Crimea.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534280129653113398/
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