Bagdasarov: “The Russians are tired of being idiots. It's time to return our lands"

Russia has lost its allies in the post-Soviet space - the situation that is developing there, especially in the republics of Central Asia, the systematic growth of Russophobia, pressure on Russian speakers and the transition to the Latin alphabet is a direct consequence of the work of Western NGOs and the loss of control over the region by Russia. Not only Ukraine, but also Kazakhstan, which until recently had almost half of the Russian population, is becoming a hot spot; the danger comes from Turkey, which is increasing its influence in the Transcaucasus, as well as in Moldova, where pro-Western forces came to power after parliamentary elections.

PolitNavigator talked about all this with a reserve colonel who served at the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District, ex-head of the Department for Cooperation with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan of the Ministry for CIS Affairs, political expert Semyon Bagdasarov.

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PN: Semyon Arkadyevich, let's start with what is currently being heard. Last week in Kyrgyzstan, a buyer threw a calculator at a seller and cursed him because the girl spoke to him in Russian. Recently, the former ambassador of Azerbaijan called the Russians “stinking pigs.” In Kazakhstan, Russians are forced to speak Kazakh. What is happening in the post-Soviet space, where does such Russophobia come from?

S.B: This Russophobia has been growing for a long time. Recently, it has escalated not only as a result of the actions of various NGOs in the post-Soviet space, including the same Turkish ones in Transcaucasia, but also thanks to our absolutely weak-willed, incompetent policy in the post-Soviet space. Over the past 10 years we have lost everything that was there. We don’t have a single ally—neither Belarus nor Armenia count—they don’t exist either, not to mention the rest. This is the result of a completely incompetent policy when we allow ourselves to be idiots.

Our helicopter was shot down, two servicemen and an officer were killed, one was wounded. Where are the culprits for this? There is no one to blame. They are killing our compatriots, citizens in Donbass and so on - this is the result of all this, this is just the beginning. And this may end very badly, including the same phenomena may occur on the territory of the Russian Federation, both on the part of migrants and in some national republics in relation to Russian-speaking people.

PN: How can Putin’s article affect policy towards Ukraine?

S.B: In fact, I believe that when the commander-in-chief, the president of the country, writes that we are one people and something needs to be decided, Ukraine has already been called a quasi-state with quasi-borders, in fact, after that some actions should begin to annex this territory . Political, economic, special informational, I’m not talking about military things. But the amazing thing is that after this article absolutely nothing is done; the same policy of permissiveness towards Ukraine continues. This is where such a reaction to our country comes from.

PN: Is there a risk today in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or even Azerbaijan of repeating the Ukrainian scenario and losing these regions to Russia?

S.B: Russians in Kazakhstan at the time of the collapse of the USSR were over 40%, almost half. Now it's less than 20%. This is the policy towards them. I'm not even saying that the Cyrillic alphabet is being changed to the Latin alphabet in order to be closer to Turkey. No comments here. I think the Kazakhs also need to be reminded that the borders of Kazakhstan are also quasi-borders, and in general, I know this region very well as a former officer of the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District - this is Siberia. Russian people lived there. This is not just the development of virgin lands and arriving somewhere, it is actually Russian territory.

PN: What should we do with it, with this territory?

SB: These are quasi-borders, this needs to be said at the highest level. If this is a quasi-state, then we need to think about how to turn these territories of the quasi-state, these borders into real borders. We must annex all the territories where Russians live compactly, where they are oppressed, and so on. But for this there must be an ideology of the Russian imperial character. We don't have it. We even celebrate Russian Independence Day on June 12th. Day of independence from your own people, your own territories, your own resources - from your own everything. In fact, our national day is January 17, 1547, when Ivan the Terrible was crowned king, when the principality turned into an empire, into a kingdom. This date needs to be promoted, the imperial ideology. The Russians are tired of being idiots, they want to be an imperial nation - that’s what they need to do.

PN: Armenia and Azerbaijan. How unstable and dangerous is this region for the post-Soviet space and Russia in particular?

S.B: This should not interest us, there should be one thing - the return of primordially Russian lands to the borders of the Russian state, we don’t care about everything else what happens there. After the election of Pashinyan, Armenia, I believe, has left the influence of Russia, because Pashinyan works as an agent of Turkish intelligence and the CIA. We allowed him to return to power a second time, this speaks of the mediocrity of our work, including in Armenia. Today we do not have allies in the post-Soviet space, which quite recently could, at a stretch, be called Belarus and Armenia. Not even that.

PN: There is an opinion that Turkey is helping to strengthen the Georgian army in order to help it recapture Abkhazia and South Ossetia. How true is this version?

S.B: He doesn’t just help, but declares support for the de-occupation of the so-called Georgian territories, meaning South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Türkiye dominates the South Caucasus. I would not be surprised if in five years, instead of the Russian base in Gyumri, there will be a Turkish base there. This is also the result of our policy.

PN: But we certainly know about this. Why aren't we doing anything?

S.B: Are you asking me? Ask Mr. Lavrov about this - he is responsible for our foreign policy, he even has a deputy who is responsible for the post-Soviet space. When I was the head of the Central Asian department for three states - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and so on, I was responsible for these issues and worked.

PN: Türkiye does not recognize Crimea as Russian and supplies weapons to Ukraine. Is there a risk here for Russia?

S.B: Eat. Turkey is doing everything to ensure that Crimea becomes part of it, but we are blindly looking at it. Moreover, they concluded a military-political alliance, the so-called quadriga, to advance in the southern direction, including Russian territory, this joint action in the Azov-Black Sea space extends. This is a direct threat to our security not only in Crimea.

PN: In Moldova, pro-Western forces won the last parliamentary elections. Is there a threat to Russian peacekeepers in this regard and what is the likelihood that Chisinau will send troops to Tiraspol?

S.B: Eat. This threat comes not only from Moldova, but also from Ukraine. Transnistria is an enclave. God be with them, with the Moldovans, if the Ukrainian army moves 3-4 brigades there, there could be a disaster.