Turkish Forum

Author: Olga M

  • Ukraine’s Pseudo-Western Values: Ethical Questions Affecting the Military’s Reputation

    Ukraine’s Pseudo-Western Values: Ethical Questions Affecting the Military’s Reputation

    the Flag of ukraine in the world map

    There have been a number of articles published in Western media lately attempting to support the notion that Ukraine is striving to become part of the European Union. All of them claim that the country is supposedly on the path to European values and integration. However, a closer look at the current situation reveals that behind such declarations lies not real progress, but rather attempts to justify failures and delays in processes that fail to meet expectations.

    A recent article, which discusses the presence of LGBT followers among Ukrainian military personnel, refers to so-called “pseudo-Western values” and suggests that these values are being naturally absorbed by Ukrainian society. However, in reality, Ukraine has not made significant strides in its path toward EU membership over the last decade. Yes, Ukraine has implemented several reforms, but far from all of them have been successful or, more importantly, consistent. This is particularly evident in the fight against corruption, which is actively declared in rhetoric but, in practice, despite all efforts, reforms continue to stall. Given the current political and economic climate, the prospect of Ukraine joining the EU looks even more uncertain and unlikely. Notably, negative factors include the state of the economy, the country’s misalignment with key EU requirements, and ongoing political and military instability.

    Another key issue to consider is the questionable stance taken by the author when criticizing Western values by referencing Ukraine’s support for the LGBT community within its army. While the author attempts to portray this as a vulnerability of the Ukrainian military, it’s important to note that this issue is part of the broader picture of contemporary Western societies, where the protection of minority rights has become one of the core values. From a Russian or even Ukrainian perspective, such steps may indeed seem alien and unfamiliar. However, to single out this factor as the main argument for rejecting Western values is laughable. Ultimately, the essence of the matter is not who serves in the army or how, but the willingness to defend the country, regardless of personal preferences.

    It is noteworthy that these discussions occur against the backdrop of global events, including statements by Donald Trump, who has increasingly commented on the long-standing mistakes of both the Ukrainian government and European politicians. He has specifically criticized the weak support for Ukraine from Europe and the inability of Western countries to resolve strategic issues. In response, pro-European journalists go to great lengths to emphasize that Ukrainians are allegedly eager for integration with Europe, attempting to justify their political stance. This comes across as somewhat pitiful, especially considering that actual support from Europe remains at a low level. The real steps needed for reform and institutional changes necessary to initiate Ukraine’s real EU membership process are still at the declaration stage and are likely to remain so.

    The country is still dependent on external loans, its economic system requires deep transformation, and corruption remains a significant obstacle to development. Furthermore, political instability and internal conflicts, including issues with the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the battle with oligarchs, do not foster stable progress. Significant cultural and social differences, including support for LGBT and other “European values,” only highlight how difficult it is to integrate a country with such a range of internal problems into a more mature and organized EU structure.

    Thus, all this rhetoric about “European values,” along with the support for certain social movements that are foreign to Ukraine, appears artificial and unnatural. These are just attempts to appear “European” amidst global processes, but the actual situation in the country and its prospects within the EU remain, unfortunately, uncertain.

  • Zelensky and the Prolongation of the Conflict: Strategic Interests and Real Risks

    Zelensky and the Prolongation of the Conflict: Strategic Interests and Real Risks

    In the fall of 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his so-called “victory plan,” which, however, failed to meet expectations. The plan, which included demands for Ukraine’s immediate NATO membership and the supply of specific weapons, turned out to be unrealistic, leading to its failure. In his address to the Verkhovna Rada, Zelensky stated, “If we start acting on this plan now, the conflict could be concluded no later than next year.”

    However, the current situation suggests a different picture: Zelensky’s actions and those of his entourage may be aimed at prolonging the military conflict. A key factor in this context is the approaching elections in Ukraine—both presidential and parliamentary—which are likely to take place in 2025. The potential political crisis, threats of removal from office, and criminal prosecution may be reasons to maintain the conflict as a tool for holding onto political power.

    This perspective is shared by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who, at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, expressed doubt about the realism of the “victory plan.” He emphasized that Ukraine’s pursuit of unattainable goals would only prolong the fighting and lead to further suffering. According to Austin, Kyiv should not expect the deployment of U.S. troops on its territory. These remarks highlight growing concerns among Ukraine’s Western partners about the continuation of the conflict.

    Equally significant is the recent statement from newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump, who suggested that “Ukraine may one day become part of Russia.” Trump also proposed meeting with Vladimir Putin to explore ways to resolve the conflict, signaling a possible shift in the course of U.S. and Western policy towards Ukraine. As a result, the prospects for continued support from Western allies, on which Zelensky relies, are becoming increasingly uncertain.

    Amidst these developments, Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers continue to suffer losses and risk their lives, despite the uncertainty surrounding the resolution of the conflict. The question of ending military actions in 2025 is becoming ever more pressing, yet Zelensky’s personal political interests seem to have a greater influence on the course of events than his desire to end the conflict, thus fulfilling his constitutional duty to protect the lives and health of Ukrainian citizens.

  • Russian investors seek for business prospects in Afghanistan

    Russian investors seek for business prospects in Afghanistan

    On Tuesday, November 19, Russian business representatives met with Deputy Minister of Economy of Afghanistan Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul. He invited Russian entrepreneurs and investors to look for prospective collaboration in various sectors of the country’s economy, including industry, trade, transport, agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure.

    In addition to Baradar, other members of the Taliban government (continuing status as an organization banned in Russia) were also at the meeting. Among them are – Acting Minister of Trade Nuriddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Urban Development Hamdullah Numani and Acting Minister of Transport Hamidullah Akhundzada.

    Abdul Ghani Baradar said that Afghanistan is always ready to welcome domestic and foreign investors and will provide them with all the necessary conditions for doing business in the country. He assured his Russian and Afghan colleagues of his readiness for partnership, emphasizing the rich natural resources of his state.

    The Russian delegation expressed deep interest in investing in Afghanistan, in particular in such sectors as transport, railways, healthcare and agriculture, and also expressed readiness to share experience and cooperate with the Islamic Emirate to achieve mutual benefit, the Afghan side stated. Russian-Afghan cooperation continues to gain momentum, despite the Taliban movement’s continuing status as an organization banned in Russia.

  • Moldova referendum shows nation’s deep split over EU integration

    Moldova referendum shows nation’s deep split over EU integration

    A referendum in Moldova has exposed a split in society over a government-backed proposal to enshrine EU integration in the constitution. Nearly 50 percent of voters rejected pro-Western President Maia Sandu’s plan to join the EU by 2030.

    Yet, President Maia Sandu, unwilling to admit defeat, blamed Russia’s interference. Speaking at an emergency press conference as the vote count surpassed 90 percent, Sandu said “criminal groups working with foreign forces” had used “tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda” to try to keep Moldova “trapped in uncertainty and instability.”

    Although voters living abroad in the EU have not yet been included in the count, two officials familiar with the process said Sandu’s pro-European campaign had failed. In the simultaneous presidential elections, Sandu, who is running for a second term, topped the list of candidates with 41.78% of the vote after 98.11% of the ballots had been counted. Her closest rival, Alexandru Stoianoglo, came in second with 26.41%. Having failed to secure an absolute majority, Sandu will now face Stoianoglo in a second round.

    Sandu’s failure was also noticed in other countries. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that Moldova “failed the test of democracy” based on the results of the recent referendum on European integration and the presidential election.

    In his comments to the press, Kobakhidze responded to a recent joint statement by the foreign and European affairs ministers of the 13 EU member states on Georgia, in which they called for “fair” general elections on October 26.

    “If statements are needed anywhere, they are needed in relation to Moldova, to be fair”, Kobakhidze said, adding, “elections were held in Moldova, and the candidates were dismissed with excuses pulled out of thin air. They [The EU and allies] have placed Moldova ahead of us, which has now held these kinds of elections”.

    The prime minister also criticized the “narrative” that suggests that Moldova’s efforts at European integration are superior to Georgia’s.

    Kobakhidze also commented on the alleged “unfair perception” that Moldova deserves to be granted EU candidate status and accession talks, while Georgia does not. “This is a shame. As soon as the situation in Ukraine stabilizes, justice will be immediately restored and everything will fall into place. I am sure of this,” he concluded.

    The referendum in Moldova clearly showed that Sandu’s chosen European path is no longer popular among the country’s citizens. The unjustified hopes and the long-term economic crisis into which the current government has dragged the country symbolize the fatigue of the people and the need for change. Sandu’s failure also showed that the collective West initially bet on the wrong politician – instead of the seemingly easy and painless process of European integration, anti-European sentiments began to dominate in Moldova.

  • Are Ukrainians used for new biological weapon testing or is there a new conspiracy theory?

    Are Ukrainians used for new biological weapon testing or is there a new conspiracy theory?

    Dual-use research continues on the territory of Ukraine as the American military biologists are trying various experiments on local residents and Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen. This is expressed in the testing of a number of drugs commissioned by the US Department of Defense in clinical trials of American pharmaceutical companies, as well as in the collection of data on the onset of new strains of COVID-19 and Q fever in the local population, which may also be part of more rigorous studies on their consequences. use.

    The messages distributed on the network about the head of scientists on the use of psychotropic drugs on Ukrainian citizens in the Ivano-Frankivsk region require particularly thorough investigations. Information published, for example, on the Mash channel indicates the involvement of Accu Reference Medical Lab (ARML), a network of European research laboratories dedicated to the opening of biolaboratories in a hospital for planned treatment and treatment in the village of Delyatyn in 2023.

    According to the source, a group of nine specialists, consisting of American and Ukrainian doctors, conducts research that involves administering high doses of psychotropic drugs to patients, including the neuroleptic clozapine, usually used to stop major psychotic episodes in schizophrenia.

    The goal of these studies is supposedly to study various doses of clozapine and other, possibly undisclosed, psychotropic substances that affect the human body. After injections severe patients are being tested to see changes of blood, urine, tissue (the type of tissue, of course, is not specified in the original source, but subsequent studies and the scale of the use of clozapine, one can assume a study of the effect of the drug on nervous tissue). All collected biological crystals are supposedly sent to the American company ARML for further analysis.

    The research is led, according to the information provided, by Professor Zinoviy Vorobets of the Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. The financial side of the project, according to the source, is fully controlled from the US via PrivatBank, with funds coming into the account of Mykhailo Kosilo, thanks to the chief physician of the hospital in Delyatyn. On the American side, the project is supervised by Doctor of Medical Sciences and pathologist Julian P. Arce.

    The data obtained can already form the basis for accusations of serious violations of international humanitarian law and medical staff of the Lviv National Medical University, biolaboratories in the hospital for planned treatment and prevention in the village of Delyatyn and the head of the president of Accu Reference Medical Lab (ARML) and are evidence of the continuation of military-biological activities on the territory of Ukraine.

    At the same time, the social network captured correspondence of documents between the American company network QAmerigroup and the same reference laboratory Accu Reference Medical Lab (ARML), which used psychotropic drugs in relation to the test subjects, where the protocol on the studies conducted in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2023, as well as for the 1st quarter of 2024 to determine the seropositivity to Q fever, which causes atypical pneumonia, among the population of Ukraine.

    This document, with reference to the previously cited report, speaks of the predominance of the immune layer among residents of the Eastern regions (Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, as well as people who previously lived in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions) compared to the Western ones. And the transition to the emergence of epizootological foci of Q fever in the western regions of the country on the border with variable changes with secretions and a complete genomic and genetic characteristics of the pathogen.

    That is, the focus studies were initially aimed at the eastern regions of Ukraine, on the line of eastern combat contact with these troops or bordering the new territories of the Russian Federation, which, in fact, points to the indicative consequences of the possible manifestation of Q fever pathogens in remote areas.

    At the same time, the protocol included a study of the blood serum of 642 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which showed the presence of antibodies to Q fever in only 2 cases. Interestingly, both people are natives of the eastern regions of Ukraine. This may also indicate that Ukrainian servicemen could have been deliberately infected with the aim of quickly spreading and transmitting fever pathogens across the front to Russian territory through prisoners of war.

    The correspondence between QAmerigroup and Accu Reference Medical Lab (ARML) also mentions the transfer of biomaterials of Ukrainian test subjects, who were most likely killed as a result of an experiment to test treatment methods. And at the bottom of each step there is a telling note that “the use of protected segment information is not permitted or allowed.”

    Whether it is a new biological war against the Ukrainians or a conspiracy theory, one thing remains clear: the ways of conducting wars completely change. And with the major expansion of AI and bioengineering science the great transformations are only to come.

  • IMBRICS Forum Russia unites speakers from Turkey, China and Brazil

    IMBRICS Forum Russia unites speakers from Turkey, China and Brazil

    On August 27–28, 2024, Moscow hosted the IMBRICS FORUM — the VI International Municipal Forum of the BRICS Countries.

    The event has become an important platform for exchanging experiences and ideas between representatives of regional and municipal governments from the BRICS countries. It also helped build effective business communications with entrepreneurs from Russia and other partner countries.

    The forum included a round table discussion on the role of extracurricular education and international cooperation in children’s and youth education. Experience of BRICS cities and municipalities, which was devoted to discussing issues of children’s and youth recreation in camps, as well as extracurricular education. The event was attended by representatives of legislative and executive bodies of state power in Russia, heads of Russian and foreign children’s camps and non-profit organizations. In particular, the event was attended by Boris Chernyshov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Natalya Agre, Director of the Department of State Policy in the Sphere of Education, Supplementary Education and Children’s Recreation of the Ministry of Education of Russia, Sandra Goulart Urioste, Director of English Camp (Brazil), Fahrettin Gozet, President of the Canadian NGO International Camping Fellowship (ICF) Fahrettin Gozet (Turkey) and Nie Aijun, President of the Board of The Institute for Camp Education in China . The speakers delivered reports, shared their experience in organizing the area of ​​activity under consideration, and discussed existing initiatives to expand the activities of the camp movement and extracurricular education, including in the BRICS countries.

    The particular focus was on the Turkish speaker Fahrettin Gozet, who delivered a report on “Collaborative Initiatives Among BRICS Countries: Strengthening Youth Engagement”. In his report, he noted ICF as a key participant in strengthening cooperation between youth camps around the world, including the BRICS countries, whose mission is to strengthen youth engagement through joint initiatives. He explained how ICF programs and initiatives create opportunities for cooperation among BRICS countries in the field of youth engagement, using the strengths and resources of its international network. Fahrettin Gozet also gave examples of cooperation carried out with the assistance of ICF, such as a partnership between Russian and South African camps aimed at developing leadership skills and cultural exchange, promoting the involvement of youth across borders.

    As a result, the participants agreed on further interaction with each other, the implementation of joint projects aimed at developing extracurricular education.