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Kamil Galeev

Sep 14

As a result of the 1908-1913 revolution and subsequent purges, by the start of the WWI Turkish ruling class was aggressively and outspokenly secular. Jacobin-style secular, I would say. Halil Kut literally ordered to pour the strong alcohol (raki) on his grave

https://twitter.com/ffa0213/status/1570108564345163777

When I say "Jacobin style" I mean it literally rather than figuratively. In the early 20th c Turkey was run by the francophone elite speaking on a language of and with the tropes of the French Revolution. For example, when an army NCO was killed by the dervish-instigated crowd...

Ataturk ordered to proclaim that town where it happened the "ville maudite", evacuate population and destroy it completely, leaving only a monument to its destruction

Anyone with the basic knowledge of French history would get the reference

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Kamil Galeev

@kamilkazani

Sep 14

Paradox of ecumenism. The very idea that Turks and Azeri share the "similar religion" could rise in prominence only after Turkey (moderately) and Azerbaijan (radically) secularised

Secularisation -> Few care about Shia-Sunni differences -> We are one people, actually

https://twitter.com/bk1_168/status/1570006084823453704

Same with Christianity. I'll argue that secularisation made it easier to build pan-Christian movements. Few know or care about filioque, etc., so it is now much easier to work out a pan-Christian agenda than in the age when people actually knew or cared about the Christian creed

Secularization -> Dogma forgotten -> Substantial differences forgotten.

What remains then? Only the vague idea of cultural similarity. Which is more than enough to build a political alliance. Turkish-Azeri alliance is possible largely because these two countries secularised

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Kamil Galeev

@kamilkazani

Sep 11

It's time to update the list of introductory threads

1. By February 27, I concluded that Russia would lose this war. Russian army was overrated, Ukrainian - underrated, while Russian political goals misunderstood. They planned for 1968-style pacification

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1497993363076915204

2. Avocado economy: Why Russia cannot manufacture anything?

An industry's level of complexity negatively correlates with the rank of interest groups controlling it in the Russian hierarchy. The more mafia-like, the more dominant, the simpler the industry

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1501360272442896388

3. Russian military industry completely depends upon technological import from the West, not from China. Whereas Kremlin closed their eyes on importing European equipment and pretending it's Russian, it jailed those who tried to do the same with Chinese

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1539623100144295936

Read 13 tweets

Kamil Galeev

@kamilkazani

Sep 9

I disagree. It's not only about a threat of a criminal prosecution, which you always keep in mind when in Russia. You see, when you are trying to persuade people in whatever, it makes sense to use only those arguments which those you want to persuade (and not you) see as strong

https://twitter.com/alamalbert/status/1568030454921543683

Russian public opinion won't see "we are hurting others" as a strong argument. We hurt others? Well, fuck them. But "we are hurting ourselves"may be a strong argument to stop doing what you do. Therefore, politics-wise it makes sense to point to our losses than to abstract morals

Also, I am somewhat critical about the Moscow oppositional establishment. That's not because they're uniquely horrible people, but because they:

1) strive for the unlimited power over the empire
2) share the imperial ethos

Ergo, it is a shadow Tsar's Court which I won't support

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Kamil Galeev

@kamilkazani

Sep 9

I can neither confirm nor deny that certain regions trained and armed volunteer battalions but didn't send them to war. They make zero PR, so local pro-war community is surprised, interpreting this silence as a PR failure. These regions are Russian btw, not ethnic republics

https://twitter.com/Ohra_aho/status/1568347714085179393

"Russian" in this context means = perceived as Russian, especially outside of Russia

I have no information about the military buildup in the ethnic republics though. That's understandable: they're constantly lowkey suspected in separatism, so are being watched closely by Kremlin. Most probably no "ethnic" region will have anything like its own army anytime soon

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Kamil Galeev

@kamilkazani

Sep 9

I see a fallacy here. Russian soldiers KIA =/= total Russian casualties. Ministry of defence estimates do not count:

1) Private military companies (Wagner, etc.)
2) Donetsk and Luhansk Levy who likely suffered the highest casualties of all the Putin's forces

https://twitter.com/nicholadrummond/status/1568183982222606337

1. Russia launched total mobilisation of males 18-60 in Donetsk and Luhansk
2. Placed them under the command of Russian senior officers
3. Gave them the most obsolete weapon and equipment Russia had
4. Sent them into the frontline assaults on Ukrainian position

Colonial troops

"Only girls and the military remained in Luhansk, no one else. Well, there are boys of like 15-16 years old, but nobody older than that, I guarantee. Only girls here"

Male population of Russian occupied "Donbass" territory is used as the Russian cannon fodder and thus recycled

Read 6 tweets

Kamil Galeev

Damage Control

Jomini of the West

ChrisO

ChrisO

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