Two Turkish Video Bloggers who Filmed Turkic Groups East of the Urals Face Expulsion

 Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 18 – In another sign of Moscow’s nervousness about pan-Turkism in Russia today, a Russian court in Khakassia has detained and fined two Turkish video bloggers and now threatens to deport them. Earlier, the two visited other Turkic areas including Sakha, the Altai, and Tofalaria as well as Buddhist Buryatia.

            This apparently minor matter which was reported by one of the two, Nazgul Kenzhetay, a native of Kazakhstan who now lives in Turkey, is in fact anything but because it is clearly intended to send a message from Moscow against Turkish interest in Turkic peoples within the current borders of the Russian Federation (sibreal.org/a/v-hakasii-blogerov-iz-turtsii-zaderzhali-sotrudniki-otdela-e/31616062.html).

            Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been ambiguous about whether he sees his Turkic world as a union of Turkic nations or a union of Turkic countries (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/01/ankara-wants-union-of-turkic-peoples.html). Moscow is less opposed to the latter than to the former.

            The Kremlin had clearly hoped that with the formation of the Council of Turkic States earlier this year, Ankara had plumped for the latter. But by taking this action against the video bloggers, the Kremlin is sending a clear message that it won’t tolerate any activities that appear to promote the latter form of Turkic unity, at least when it touches Russia.

            This action comes on the heels of an article denouncing all Turkish attempts to include Turkic peoples inside Russia within its orbit or even to continue to suggest that Russia, which has so many Turks among its people, should join the Council of Turkic States (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/01/russia-should-join-organization-of.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/01/greater-turan-will-never-include.html).