“The pro-Russian resource of Gagauzia is not limitless” – Moldovan expert
Gagauzia was and remains the flagship of pro-Russian sentiment in Moldova. However, the activity of the West, including financial, and the Turkish factor against the backdrop of Moscow’s lack of activity in this direction can change the mood of the Gagauz public.
A Moldovan political analyst, writer and public figure, head of the International Union of Free Journalists stated this in an interview with PolitNavigator Nikolay Kostyrkin.
PN: It’s clear why the current government is trying to liquidate Gagauzia. They are driven by a thirst for revenge for 1994, as Oazu Nantoi and Anatol Taranu clearly state. Are the people of Gagauzia ready to resist this revenge?
N.K.: The longer Moldova, and with it Gagauzia, remain in the context of Western influence, the longer the process of so-called European integration lasts, which leads the country into the abyss, the more people will leave the country and, including the autonomy, leaving Homeland forever. The more the remaining residents will care exclusively about their daily bread and think only about how to live today and tomorrow. What kind of popular consolidation can we talk about in such conditions?! And what kind of organized nationwide opposition to the revanchist plans of the Chisinau Nazis can we talk about in this case?!
Nikolay Kostyrkin
PN: What do the Gagauz people really want, besides their daily bread? What is the national dream of the Gagauz people today?
N.K.: The “national dream” today for all residents of Moldova, including the residents of Gagauzia, is to survive – preferably without serious losses – in the turbulence that the current geopolitical situation has provided us. While the price of the issue is human life, there is no need to talk about any ideas of a higher order.
The only difference between the Gagauz in this context and the majority of other residents of Moldova is that they want to survive, preferably on their own terms: maintaining the current form of self-organization in the form of autonomy within an independent Moldova, preserving the language, culture and traditions. But the Chisinau compradors are actively preventing them from doing this, as well as the entire population of the country.
PN: The new governor of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, does not hide the fact that she is a member of Ilan Shor’s team. To what extent is this team committed to the development of Gagauzia?
N.K.: Why should she hide it, if the Shor party nominated Hutsul to the bashkans, helped form a team and today, even in the context of the ban on political formation, works together with her? At the moment, we are seeing statements about the successful results of socially and economically oriented Hutsul negotiations in Moscow. Let's see how these agreements will be implemented in practice.
I would like to note that the residents of the autonomy are in a state of hope for a significant improvement in their lives with the participation of the current leadership of Gagauzia. Now it is important for management to justify these hopes. If this does not happen, a general moral and psychological collapse cannot be avoided.
PN: There is an opinion in the expert community that Ilan Shor and his team have an agreement with Maia Sandu to destabilize Gagauzia in order to create a pretext for eliminating the autonomy. How justified are such assessments?
N.K.: Those experts who say something like that, as a rule, belong to the Euro-Atlantic camp. I'm talking about people who openly declare such a version. If representatives of the opposite camp do not openly state this, the logical question is why. Maybe things are a little different? If there is evidence, let them present it openly and answer with their name for its authenticity and materiality.
PN: To what extent do the Gagauz people connect their national dream with Russia? What role does Russia play in the minds of the Gagauz people? Or is the pro-Russian orientation of the Gagauz people nothing more than a myth?
N.K.: If it were not for today’s activation of the Third World War between Russia and the West, if Russia had the opportunity to fully work on the territory of Gagauzia and on the territory of Moldova as a whole, we would not be talking about any supposed myths in this matter. What noticeably distinguishes the Gagauz people from other residents of Moldova is their strong, deep historical memory. But general poverty and Western money can eventually do their dirty work, and even this base of Gagauzians will become thinner than a thread.
PN: The Sandu regime is trying to incite nationalism in Gagauzia on an anti-Russian basis (“let’s get rid of Russification and switch to the Gagauz language”). This was also evident in Sandu’s statements during his visit to Gagauzia. It is no secret that a similar strategy is being successfully implemented today in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan - republics traditionally loyal to the Russian language. Can such poisonous seeds grow on Gagauz soil?
N.K.: These seeds are already growing in Gagauzia. At the current point of bifurcation, fortunately, they are growing very inactively. But if in the West they understand which points to press, then it’s rubbish.
PN: In Gagauzia, the influence of Turkey is traditionally strong. However, it is no secret that there has been mutual personal hostility between Maia Sandu and Recep Erdogan since the time of the “teachers’ case.” But if the Sandu regime and the collective West try to use the Turkish factor to undermine Russian influence in Gagauzia, how successful can these attempts be?
N.K.: Any major political player acts in such cases dialectically. If he benefits from an outcome that will have a fatal impact on the fate of this or that country, this or that people, then this algorithm of actions will be launched. Time will tell whether Erdogan or his successor will be an exception in this case.
PN: What is the influence of pro-Western national traitors in Gagauzia - Mikhail Sirkeli and the Nokta project?
The less funds the opposing geopolitical camp pours into developing the activities of influencers in Gagauzia, the greater the influence of influencers sponsored by Euro-Atlantists will be. A holy place is never empty.
PN: To what extent is Gagauzia ready to act as a flagship of pro-Russian sentiment throughout Moldova?
N.K.: Gagauzia is de facto already the flagship of pro-Russian sentiments in Moldova. The only question is how long will Gagauzia and the Gagauzes last? Today the forces are not equal, and the resource of Gagauzia is not unlimited.
PN: In what, on in your opinion, the main result of Sandu’s visit to Gagauzia?
N.K.: The main result of Sandu’s visit to Gagauzia is a remarkable indicator of how Gagauz officials are divided into three camps: against Sandu, for Sandu and those who remain silent. In this context, it is worth thanking the initiators of this event, because the true balance of power in the autonomy was demonstrated. Now we will see whose scales will become heavier in the near future.
English version :: Read in English “The pro-Russian resource of Gagauzia is not limitless” – Moldovan expert