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Ras-Putin* and Turkey a la Putinese
Modern history witnessed five empires: The British Empire built on naval power and deceitful foreign policies, the Napoleonic Empire built solely on military power, the Austro-Hungarian Empire built more on diplomacy than military, the Russian Czarist (subsequently the Soviet) and the Ottoman Empires built on military power as well as on a unique type of local autonomy for invaded lands. The French, and Austrian Empires were relatively short lived because of their dependence more on military force or on diplomacy. The British and Ottoman Empires having combined the two elements, more successfully than Russia did, lived longer. They all ultimately succumbed to people power, democracy. The only empire that replaced all the above after a series of two world wars is the USA, built on democracy and business power.
British, French and Austrian empires are gone for good, never to come back. The British because it was rooted in overseas resources, and the hatred it created for its manipulative administration of locals; the French empire was both in overseas and in Europe but never established roots with a strong imperial administration; the Austrian could never reach too far geographically at any rate, and depended only on the balance between other powers because of its geographically central position (like Germany that also tried to play imperialism for a short period). Both Russians and Ottomans rooted their empires on the peripheral lands, therefore could hold a closer grip on the administration of different nations. It has been almost one hundred years since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, and now having been confined to only a core land, and having undergone a substantial transformation to modernity it cannot be expected to come back either. As to the Russian Empire, it has been only a couple of decades since its collapse (in its Soviet form), and its deprivation from its imperial lands is not yet clear cut; it is too early to determine whether it will not be resurrected. Putin seems to be aware of this possibility, and to be trying to give it a chance.
Domestically, Putin brought under his control big money and big businesses (that quickly formed during the chaotic unraveling of the Soviets) by tyrannizing the oil/gas barons and financial businesses. He courted the clergy and obtained their support. Revenues from oil and gas relatively enriched the people, and the liberation of religious practices enriched the peoples’ souls. Thus, he was able to rally enough public support for holding on to power under the cloak of democracy. He could then use the authority entrusted to him by democratic means to crush democratic rights of dissenting journalists, protests and demonstrations.
Internationally, after a hiatus of Yeltsin years, Putin managed to keep Belarus and Kazakhstan close to the center, did not hesitate to use brut force to keep Georgia and Ukraine from spinning further away from the center, used old Russian tactics of exploiting domestic difficulties in Moldova, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kirgizstan in order to keep them unstable thus in need of external support, naturally the support of the old “protector” Russia. He cleverly made sure also that Russia stays on the unstable Middle Eastern stage by keeping a naval base in Syria and a financial base in the Greek Cyprus. Accordingly, Putin maintains Russia’s international power broker or tiebreaker position. He occasionally does not hesitate to refer to Russia’s old greatness, paying special attention to St. Petersburg, the old Czarist capital. All these things put together suggest a Putin aspiration to restore the Russian Empire, albeit in conformity with the prevailing world circumstances. This and the similarity in the name certainly brings to mind the Rasputin autocracy in the house of Romanovs.
We observe a parallel development in Turkey that burgeoned during roughly the same period. The PM of the Islamist government (RTE) that came to power in 2003 also brought big money and businesses under his control by tyrannizing them. In this case, the control came by selling state owned lands or businesses to cronies under the pretext of privatization, by opening business opportunities abroad for cronies, and by appointing cronies to the Boards of several banks. He could not establish a pact with clergy like Putin did, because there is no clergy in Islam. However, he could build even a larger and stronger religious base by exploiting religion within the 99% Muslim population. He blatantly broke away with the constitutional requirement of secularism and tied his political moves to religious beliefs at every step of the way. He was thus able to obtain the support of 35% at first and then gradually up to 50% of the voters. With this democratically obtained mandate, he started to rule the country single handedly. The legislature, judiciary, and academia all came under the fold. He interprets the election results as the public will, and suppresses dissenting journalists, protests and demonstrations for going against the public will. This autocracy is presented as democracy at its best.
In foreign policy, the Turkish PM rekindled relations with the neighboring countries that were Ottoman lands for centuries. These relations had been on ice during the republican reformist administrations after the Ottoman demise, and the founding of several states in its place by the Western powers. The new relations are, of course, based on business opportunities and religious brotherhood. The PM assumed the self designated leadership of Muslim countries in his dealings with the West, and promotes democracy in those Islamic countries to secure the approval of the West. Of course, the West is not aware that the democracy in question here is democracy a la Islam or a la Putinese.
Like Putin, RTE also aspires to a leading role in the ME imbroglio. The difference between them is that while Putin tries to catch the European winds, RTE sails with the US winds. Nevertheless, it is the wind that blows from the west in both cases. RTE takes advantage also of the Western Islamophobia for acting as the leader of Muslim countries in facing the West, and for leading the Western countries to the trap of Interfaith dialogue (which means peacefully invading the West from within by the West’s own terms of freedom and equality).
The Turkish PM also, like Putin does for the Czarist grandeur, does not hesitate to express occasionally his longing for the Ottoman era, the Ottoman greatness. He gradually replaced the celebration of Republican period events with the celebration of Ottoman events, of Sultans or of pre-republic popular figures. He expands Istanbul’s (the old Ottoman capital) already top-heavy richness compared to the rest of the country by investing in the city’s infrastructure and by moving the country’s financial center there. Several construction mega- projects conceived by Sultans are brought back to the drawing board with big fanfare.
At this point one would ask how are the relations between these two countries . They were historical enemies. The Turkish republican period kept a friendly but cautious relation with Russia, because Russia’s desire to dominate Turkey had never faded away. The Turkish Islamists did not establish a military and strategic alliance with Russia, because they need to maintain these ties with the US for their ultimate objectives, but they established strong trade and economic ties with Russia. There are big Turkish construction firms and projects in Russia, and gas supplies from Russia to Turkey, as well as the construction of a nuclear power plant by Russia in Turkey. Relations between the two men are better than either has with many other leaders in the world. It is one of the coincidences in history where democratic circumstances created two autocratic megalomaniacs at the same time. The history will eventually witness how Ras-Putin and Turkey a la putinese will evolve. The West will have a chance to taste (T)urkey a la putinese.
* “Ras” means local leader in Ethiopian. May 31, 2012
