See the red circle on the lit map of Europe? That’s where Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula is located but you can’t see it because it’s been dark for days. The Crimea has no electricity, and things are getting bad.
The whole thing is beyond bizarre. Russia occupied the Crimea 1,5 years ago but has done nothing since then to integrate the peninsula into the Russian Federation. It’s as if Russians themselves didn’t take the occupation very seriously. There’s been a lot of hype in the Russian media about the importance of taking the Crimea from Ukraine but, in practical terms, the peninsula is still dependent on Ukraine for food, drinking water, and electricity.
The only set of measures Russia has taken to integrate the Crimea has to do with the persecution of the Crimean Tatars, the peninsula’s indigenous Muslim population. The Tatars are deeply pro-Ukrainian because they know from tragic historical experience that nothing good awaits them in Russia. The Russian authorities have treated the Tatars with increasing brutality since the annexation.
After a particularly egregious set of oppressive strategies aimed at victimizing the Tatar community even further, the Crimean Tatars finally had enough and blew up the Ukrainian pylons that bring electricity from Ukraine to the Crimea.
Russia, however, is still not doing anything to help the Crimea. The poor Crimeans gather outside to stare at a TV screen that runs on an emergency generator, hoping that Putin will finally mention them. But he never does.
Clarissa's Blog 
I was under the impression that there is a power line that was already under construction from Russia to Crimea that will be finished in December and will alleviate some of the problem. But that is a very long time to go without electricity. I don’t see the Ukrainians being allowed to rebuild the transmission line in the North at all they cannot possibly stop a repeat happening so the 1.2M people in the Crimea are likely to suffer for quite some time through no fault of their own.
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Well. Funds were allocated in Russia to build a power line, create a water supply, transport food, provide the Crimeans with Russian papers, etc. But where is that money? Most of it has been stolen, just as expected.
Many people say that the point of this whole annexation was, aside from the propaganda value, to have an opportunity to embezzle a huge amount of state funds.
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Is it true that this is part of the reason why Turkey shot down the Russian plane?
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Erdogan is very friendly with the Crimean Tatars, that’s true. And Putin was already getting on his nerves in many ways, one of which is this. So it might have been part of why Erdogan has soured on Putin but just a part.
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Erdogan is quickly backing off from his tough guy stance with Russia, and is now publicly saying that Turkey “deeply regrets” shooting down the Russian aircraft.
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He can’t go much farther than the NATO allows him. Erdogan had some leeway but it’s not unlimited.
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Erdogan is rocking on his heels from the sudden harsh Russian sanctions.
Language like “deeply regret” is code for “I know I have to apologize, but hope I don’t have to totally humiliate myself by directly saying so.”
It’s similar to the Asian expression that one is engaging in “profound self-reflection” about an issue.
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Oh, come on. What Russians sanctions? The Saudis and Qatar already said they will buy all the goods Russia doesn’t take and give them to the poor.
Besides, this is not something that Russians can really carry through. They manufacture nothing of their own, and giving up on one more importer will be disastrous.
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Believe me, Turkey is taking Putin’s sanctions very seriously. I know that you think Putin’s a clown, but other people are quite afraid of his teeth.
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Not even in Russia can anybody take the words “Russian sanctions” seriously. This is an economy that produces nothing at all and is extremely dependent on imports.
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You mentioned “The poor Crimeans,” but haven’t mentioned people in Ukraine being very happy about this state of affairs. Every person on occupided territories of Donbass and probably Crimea is seen as a traitor. Reminds somewhat of Soviet approach to Soviet people who were under occupation. Since I myself used to live in Donbass, I took reading such on Ukrainians’ blogs personally.
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There are people in the Crimea who are happy about it, too. The Ukrainian resistance in the Crimea is using the few minutes of electricity they get to post reports about what is going on and begging people on the mainland to stay strong and not restore the pylons.
And it’s the same in the Donbass. An enormous number of people just wants the Russians to go away.
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Caught about a half-an-hour of RT yesterday and nothing about Crimea, it was all evil, evil, evil EVIL TURKEY!!!! Russia has always been at war with Turkey.
It must be very confusing for anyone who notices patterns or has a memory (fewer and fewer people in a smartphone addled world) to notice how yesterday’s official enemy simply disappears over night to replaced by the new scapegoat de jour.
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Oh yes. This is totally 1984. And the poor Russians never even question anything. They hate each new enemy in turn with great ease. It’s like a collective delusion of scary proportions.
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Oh, this is fun.
http://www.awdnews.com/top-news/turkish-intelligence-chief-putin-s-intervention-in-syria-is-against-islam-and-international-law,-isis-is-a-reality-and-we-are-optimistic-about-the-future
Ankara— Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, known by the MİT acronym, has drawn a lot of attention and criticism for his controversial comments about ISIS.
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“ISIS is a reality and we have to accept that we cannot eradicate a well-organized and popular establishment such as the Islamic State; therefore I urge my western colleagues to revise their mindset about Islamic political currents, put aside their cynical mentalité and thwart Vladimir Putin’s plans to crush Syrian Islamist revolutionaries,” Anadolu News Agency quoted Mr. Fidan as saying on Sunday.
Fidan further added that in order to deal with the vast number of foreign Jihadists craving to travel to Syria, it is imperative that ISIS must set up a consulate or at least a political office in Istanbul. ”
What the fuck.
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What a weird clown.
Russian media, in the meanwhile, are busily debating whether it makes sense to nuke Istanbul.
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I am wondering if this current strategy by the Crimean Tatars is brilliant or risky?
http://jpohl.blogspot.com/2015/11/free-crimea.html
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I think it’s a bit of both. There aren’t many other venues left for them to explore.
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