Weltschau

The last presidential election held in Russia and the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, which Russia unilaterally declared annexed, was the most sham and illegitimate election held in Russia in the V. Putin era. It will go down in history with scenes of police interventions at voting centers accompanied by strange and ridiculous events that we cannot observe in elections held in democratic countries in the 21st century. There was no one among Putin’s -the indispensable candidate of the ruling clique- so-called rivals, except for the puppet candidates chosen to create the appearance of an election. The election turned into a farce when Russian opposition politician B. Nadezhdin, who was pointed out by A. Navalny from the penal colony where he was held, who is the strongest and most charismatic figure that Russia has emerged as an alternative to the regime represented by Putin in the last decade and whose activities have received wide support, was not included in the election due to unconvincing reasons. Nevertheless, upon the call of the widow of Navalny, who recently, just before the election, died suddenly and suspiciously in the prison where he was held captive, thousands of middle-class Russians made a show of power in their own way, forming long queues at noon time in front of many election centers both at home and abroad. Green paint was spilled on some ballot boxes, including Crimea, and things that the regime would not like were written on the ballot papers. Putin announced that he had been elected president for the umpteenth time by receiving the vote share he had accrued from the participation rate he deemed appropriate. Although Western democracies rightly declared from the beginning that they would not recognize the elections and their results, the leaders of the countries governed by autocratic regimes did not see any harm in congratulating Putin once again.

Since elections in Russia have long been just a formality for the sake of appearances, it is pointless to comment on what the consequences will be. The real issue is what will be the outcome of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which will determine whither Russia. It is known that at a time when Russia saw it as the most propitious time, it also ignited the Third World War (the most popular, most polite expression of the struggle of the giants like US or China for world hegemony), which has been chattered away more and more frequently in recent years. Even though it was not the principal actor in this struggle, Russia, which pre-acted with the conviction that it would gain a significant place in the world system if it was aligned and positioned in the right place at the right time, probably deceived also China for getting its approval by promising that it would achieve its goal with lightning speed, and leaving everyone, including itself, unprepared, led to a long-term war in which no one could predict when and how it would end.

If we go down from the findings that imitate the conspiracy theories at the macro level and continue our observations at the micro scale, the picture we encounter is more or less as follows: on the Ukrainian side, hundreds of thousands of people who died and were injured in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, thousands of children uprooted, kidnapped to Russia and subjected to brainwashing, thousands of prisoners of war, hundreds of civilian prisoners, hundreds of thousands of people whose cities, towns, villages and houses were occupied, stolen, plundered properties, confiscated economic facilities and products, destroyed nature, history and animals, ruined memories; on the Russian side, hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded, the coming in sight before the whole world that the poverty and immorality of the average Russian citizen is not as great as the arrogance of Russian power…

The fate of this war in the middle of Europe, which was caused by Russia and aimed at the independence and freedom of Ukraine, will naturally determine the future state of the world in general and Europe in particular. Will Ukraine be able to become a part of Europe in one piece, as it desires? And what will actually happen to Russia? For a possibility of turning today’s Putin’s Russia, based on a blind alley predatory economy into a democratic productive economy with the help of a creative middle class, will Russia, rapidly losing the last remaining free-minded young generation, live forever in a modern eastern despotism? Designing some kind of Marshall Plan for Ukraine is the easy part. Can Russia be forced into peace? Will Russia pay the material and moral price for its actions? Can Russia be de-militarized? Can imperialism, colonialism, chauvinism and war-mongering be eradicated from the Russian brain? It is essential that Russia be utterly defeated in this damned war it has waged in order to be able to come back to the civilized community of nations, and that it will no longer be able to resort to using force over its neighbors at will.

Bülent Tanatar

Turkish citizen of Crimean Tatar origin. He studied economics. Retired from the private sector. One of the editors of Emel magazine.