You’re Armenian? You will understand this statement then:
At the moment, the current, sorry state Russian nationalism is like TURKISH nationalism. Hinging on rotten ideologies and a fierce denial of the past in efforts to rewrite their roles in history and gloss over/sugarcoat inconvenient realities. (In Turkey’s case: the Armenian genocide, in Russia’s the crimes and final defeat of the Soviet Union.)
Trump is NOT Putin. What an insult! Trump is way out of Putin’s league in terms of class and honor. And this applies to every American president. Because the US presidency is bigger than any one personality.
Putin can never stand up against the moral weight and dignity of the republic which American leaders represent.
Very few world leaders can hold a candle to the sacred traditions and institutions which bring every American leader to power.
America is not perfect, but what we stand for is golden. Our people are free. And our willingness towards self-reflection and self-criticism are some of the keys to our enduring strength. We confront our history and learn and are ever moving forward through its darkest pages in the spirit of open and transparent debate.
I agree Navalny is no Trump. Far from it.
At the moment, the current, sorry state Russian nationalism is like TURKISH nationalism. Hinging on rotten ideologies and a fierce denial of the past in efforts to rewrite their roles in history and gloss over/sugarcoat inconvenient realities. (In Turkey’s case: the Armenian genocide, in Russia’s the crimes and final defeat of the Soviet Union.)
I'm actually not Armenian myself (my blood is Russian/Ukranian/Polish), but my wife and her family (and by extension, my children) are Armenian. The history of the genocide (and less famous later persecutions, like in Sumgait and Kirovobad) is very near to my heart.
I really don't agree with your comparison of Russia to Turkey...really, its apples and oranges.
No one in modern Russia is denying the crimes of the USSR. Rather, they tend to lament the mistakes made, especially during the collapse, that plunged their country into 20 years of darkness (that was way darker than the previous 20 years of Communism). Let's face it, the Soviet state was driven by the ideology of Communism, and that isn't coming back in Russia, ever. Russia is moving forward, not backward, but digging out of that 80+ year hole created by Communism isn't easy, both from an economic and psychological standpoint.
Turkey, on the other hand, seems to have no trouble rewriting history and looks like they want to return directly to the time of state Islamism (and you would be forgiven if you thought that they seem to want to build a new caliphate). This is a direct regression to an old, failed, toxic ideology. I fail to see the parallel to Russia here.
I know it is not the point you were making, but since you brought up Armenians, it is also worth noting who came to their rescue in Sumgait and Kirovobad (well, in Azerbaijan in general) in the 1980s...the Russians/USSR government. When the **** started to hit the fan in Azerbaijan, the Soviet Army showed up and literally escorted entire cities of Armenians onto RFSFR territory with columns of tanks and trucks. This I know, as my then-2-year-old wife and her parents were part of it.
On this, you couldn't be more correct. I believe strongly in American exceptionalism. Where I think we diverge is that I believe that Putin has the best interests of the Russian state and people at heart, and always has. This, right now, is "good enough" for Russia. I believe that Putin's biggest worry for this final term, is how to best leave Russia on a strong footing, before the next leadership takes over.