Russia’s scepter, Kant’s peace

An extraordinary meeting took place at Istanbul Kent University. A large delegation from Russia was in Turkey as part of an intercontinental cultural marathon.

Putting aside the negative connotations created by the West on the concept of dialogue between civilizations, Russia and China use this concept and attach great importance to it.

Russia and China have long been pushing the thesis that different civilizational codes can coexist on the basis of “moral” values, respect for the internal affairs of countries, mutual trust and dialogue against the Western paradigm of democracy.

Western-style democracy is about bringing into compliance countries that step out of line, wearing down states that resist and are too big to be occupied through sanctions or encircling them with military and political pacts.

Russia says it objects to all this.

So, what kind of a world do the actors of the new world, now indisputably stronger, propose? How does Russia envision the future of the world?

What will BRICS and SCO look like in the future? Is a new NATO and a much larger European Union on the way? In short, the question is whether the new powers will follow the path of the old hegemons?

In terms of understanding these questions, the “Eurasian International Intercultural Dialogue” meeting held on July 6 at the Kağıthane Campus of Kent University was a very productive event.

Eurasian International Intercultural Dialogue Meeting, Kent University Kağıthane Campus, 6 July 2023

The Ural fragment in the scepter

Andrey Klimov, Russian Senator, Deputy Chairman of the International Committee of the Russian Federation Council, has been organizing the cultural marathon for 10 years.

In his opening speech, Klimov picks up a scepter and explains: “Our mission is an intercontinental cultural marathon. Our event is held on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This staff is the symbol of the marathon. Last time it was in Brazil. He traveled 100 thousand kilometers. It was produced by Roscosmos with a special technology using wood from all continents. There is a small capsule under the staff. Inside it is a piece of wood. Tens of millions of years ago, in very early geological times, when the continents of Asia and Europe had not yet formed, there were the Ural Mountains. This capsule contains a piece of a tree from millions of years ago that grew in the Ural Mountains.”

Andrey Klimov is delivering Russia’s message through the symbol of the scepter. Klimov symbolically gave this scepter to Prof. Dr. Ilber Ortaylı, one of the speakers of the round table meeting at the university. Recalling the well-known saying about the majesty of Russia, “Russia cannot be grasped by the mind, it cannot be measured by the common mile, her status is unique, she has her own development, Russia can only be believed in”, Ortaylı said that he received the specter on behalf of the Ethiopian grandfather, Abraham Petrovich Hannibal, of Pushkin, considered the founder of Russian literature.

Historian Prof. Dr. Ilber Ortayli

“We must look at history differently”

Discussing the concept of intercultural dialogue, Ortaylı says that for dialogue “we have to look at history in a different way, and this is only possible with perception and spirit (geist)”. Delivering his speech in Russian, Ortaylı emphasized that “Eurasia is a reality” even though some people do not want to take it seriously and drew attention to a shortcoming. The veteran historian points out that Turkey, Russia and Iran do not have comparative studies of these ancient civilizations.

Russian officials at the roundtable frequently referred to German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s Essay on Eternal Peace. In this respect, we understand from the meeting, which was organized outside the current political debates, that Russia is trying to build a philosophy and an idea for the future.

Reminding that Kant was a citizen of the Russian Tsardom, Kaliningrad Senator Shenderyuk Zhidkov Alexander Vladimirovich said that next year they will celebrate the philosopher’s 300th birthday with a big event and will focus on the theme of eternal peace. According to the Kaliningrad Senator, Kant’s theme of eternal peace and friendship can be built on the relationship between Turks and Russians. Stating that the basic principle should be “non-interference in internal affairs”, the senator believes that Turkish-Russian relations are an example for the world.

The debate on values, which was brought up to date in the presentations of the Russian delegation, was also widely covered. Emphasizing that each civilization has the right to develop its own value system was one of the views repeated throughout the meeting.

According to Russian speakers, values lie at the heart of intercultural cooperation. Andrey Klimov said that burning Bibles and Korans is the road to hell.

Prof. Dr. Hasret Çomak, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Kent University, emphasized the importance of institutionalization for dialogue. Çomak argues that Turkish-Russian universities should be opened rapidly in both countries.

Eurasian International Intercultural Dialogue participants, 6 July 2023, Kent University Kağıthane Campus / Istanbul

On July 7, a meeting of the Friends of Russia Club was held at the Russian Consulate in Istanbul as part of the Intercontinental Cultural Marathon. Here we asked Russian Senator Andrey Klimov a few questions in limited time.

You have been sending messages of dialog during the two days of events. How is Russia different from the US in this respect? The concept of dialogue between civilizations is not welcomed in Turkey and the Middle East because of the actions of the US administration.

The US is engaged in a monologue, not a dialog. The US administration never takes into account the demands of the other side. Not only the US but also its Western allies behave in the same way. The US says we are special, we are privileged. Joseph Borell says that Europe is a garden and other countries are a wild jungle. This is absolutely untrue and a disgraceful statement. They present themselves as representatives of Christianity, but in Christianity there is no such arrogance that belittles others and this is a great sin. After the collapse of the USSR, the United States became an incredible power. Now humanity is in a civilizational deadlock. Westerners have created a theory and are trying to make the whole world conform to it.

In Greek, the word democracy means the power of the people. There are less than one billion people living in Western countries. Seven billion people live in the rest of the world. Why should a minority of one billion rule the world? This is not right and it is absolutely dangerous.

Russia’s foreign policy is based on taking care of everyone’s interests. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. From our point of view, countries with different political systems can live together. These principles can build a prosperous world and ensure sustainable development of humanity.

Kant’s message of peace was often mentioned during this event. Considering the current situation in Russia and the world, isn’t peace a bit romantic? There are also comments that we are close to the collapse of civilization.

The collapse of civilization could be brought about by a third world war. Our goal is to follow the principles so that the world does not collapse. If you look at Russia’s foreign policy concept, all of our principles, all of our principles are in line with Kant’s approach. Either we all follow these principles or civilization will collapse. I think you are right in one place. There is no perfect world and I think there never will be. But we are striving to achieve it, and the effort is worthwhile. We are trying.

In the West we have strong institutions like the EU and NATO. They were built with the logic of the Cold War era. Russia and China have built institutions, but they are weak in comparison. What kind of vision do you have for the future?

NATO is not really an institution. It is completely dependent on Washington. Its allies should be able to sacrifice their lives if necessary for Washington’s interests. NATO has a famous Article 5, but I think very few people have read it. The real meaning of this article is very different. Everyone must defend the United States with all their might. And the US makes its own decisions, decides where to enter and where not to enter. Actually, what is written in the fifth article: If one NATO member is attacked, how will the others help that country? All NATO countries should save their own money and buy US weapons. There is a similar approach in the EU. There is a bureaucracy, and it is not democratically elected. This bureaucracy dictates to the other countries of the EU what to do. The real ruler of the EU is the US. Someone blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. The EU closed its eyes and ears and said we don’t know who did it. This meant the end of the competitiveness of all European industrialists against the US.

The basis of BRICS and SCO is different. We take care of everyone’s national interests and value their sovereignty. There is no master-slave relationship in BRICS and SCO. This is the difference.

As for Russia-Turkey relations, we have mutual channels of communication. We have very important joint projects. These projects will continue even after a hundred years. The Gas Hub project can turn Turkey into a major energy hub. Another project is the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which will provide sustainable energy for Turkish industry. Neither the US nor the EU has presented these projects to Turkey.