History is a delightful science, and being in Istanbul is even more enjoyable. In history, there are neither true friendships nor enmities. The Soviet Union, referred to as ‘Moscow,’ was Turkey’s greatest enemy. Everything changed after the collapse on December 25, 1991; before that, as Celal Bayar famously said, ‘Russians can come every winter!’ One hundred and forty years ago, Russians had come as far as Yesilköy. In other words, all these fears had been experienced. When we look at Turkish diplomacy and alliances formed worldwide, we see that Turkey has always been caught in the middle, unable to determine a long-term policy due to changing circumstances. One day, we see ourselves on good terms with the United States, and the next day, it’s Russia. The Slavs, or Russians, converted to Christianity in the 9th century. Their relatives extend from Serbia to Ukraine; these are kindred tribes. Just like our relationship with the Uzbeks, they lived together as a nation in the Russian steppes and converted to Christianity in the 9th century. ,

Moscow Prince Vladimir accepted the condition of becoming Christian to win the love. In world politics, Russians did not stand out until the 17th century. From the 1200s, the Mongols invaded all of Europe, established the Golden Horde State, and became Turkic. Tatars emerged from Mongols and Turks. Until Fatih, Russians leaned on the Mongols and rose; many origins of their important families and languages belong to Mongols and Tatars. When the Golden Horde disintegrated, Khanates emerged; the Ottomans supported the Crimea-Moscow line, while there was the Poland-Lithuania front on the other side. ,

Here, there is a Muslim-Christian alliance against a Muslim-Christian alliance. This relationship (with the arrival of the first ambassador) lasted until Kanuni. (Through marriages between Byzantium and Russians, Russians became heirs to Byzantium) Then they took the title of Tsar. In the Kanuni era, Moscow was rising and strengthening. Moscow was swallowing all the beyliks and had started to annex Muslim Khanates to Russian territory. Our relationship worsens with Ottoman intervention. During this period, there was the Don-Volga project, but the conditions of the time were not sufficient. The Crimean Khanate was afraid of losing its semi-autonomy if this project was implemented, but the canal project did not materialize; the Russians did it in 1952. Even though it was considered in the Suez during this period, the conditions of the time did not allow it. Although the Sapanca canal could be built, the people did not want it. During this period, although Ottoman-Russian relations deteriorated, there was no conflict. The Kazakhs emerge in the 1960s, doing various banditry and looting in Istanbul. First, they leaned on the Russians, but then they united with the Ottomans. The Ottomans helped take the Cherkass Fortress, and there they faced the Russians. Then there was the siege of Vienna; the second siege of Vienna ended in failure, leading to a great alliance in Europe, including the Russians. Crazy Peter and Russia stood out during this period. These men carry Eastern societies, they are great leaders. Peter elevated the Russians from an ordinary nation. He struggled for the throne for a long time, an important leader.

The reason civilizations last for a long time is that different nations carry these civilizations. Islam was first carried by the Arabs and then by the Turks; we are a tired nation because there has been no power to carry this civilization after us. In the 15th century, Portugal, in the 16th century, Spain, in the 17th century, France-Netherlands, in the 18th century, England-France, in the 19th century, England-France, and in the 20th-21st century, the United States carries Europe. In the 19th century, maybe Muhammad Ali in Egypt would have taken our burden, but he couldn’t. In the 17th century, Holland was a great maritime power. Peter was curious about this; he went to Europe, worked in shipyards. There is even a statue of him in front of the shipyard where he worked. He built the Russian navy in St. Petersburg and then established the Russian Academy. He set up the printing press before us, published the first newspaper, and printed thousands of books. He continued what he started. In the Prut War, he defeated Charles XII; actually, Sweden had very good steel production before, even though its population was large, it had previously defeated Russia, but he was defeated at Poltava, and Charles sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire. Upon this, Russia said, ‘I can defeat the Ottoman Empire,’ and two armies met at the Prut River. The Ottomans besieged the Russians. Looking at the armies, the Ottoman army was 140,000, and Russia was 60,000. The Russian army was on the verge of being destroyed, but it was not. Why? Catherine I was there, the story is always told. Catherine, the wife of Mehmed Pasha the Axeman, came to his tent. While Peter was about to lose the war and was planning one last attack, Catherine stopped him, gathered all the valuable items in the camp, and sent them to the Ottoman side with seven carts.

The Axeman used to be the woodcutter in the palace; they cut wood. That’s how the Enderun graduates are raised. They become the bootmakers and woodcutters of the sultan; they are close to the sultan. Later, he rose and became grand vizier, but he had a problem; after the unsuccessful siege of Vienna, he developed the Karlowitz syndrome. Although he could easily destroy the Russian army, he either thought he couldn’t do it because of this obsession or feared that the state could not bear another defeat and accepted the ceasefire. What they should have done was to prolong the siege and wait for the Russians to surrender due to hunger. He attacked several times, and in these attacks, they suffered many losses. After Catherine’s gifts, an agreement was reached; despite many erotic stories told in the 20th century, these are the realities. Looking at it today, it is clear that a great mistake was made, and the future of Russia could not be foreseen. At that time, the Ottoman had numerical superiority. In the following period, Russia surpassed us both in population and in the military field. The population of the Russians increased due to the regions they occupied and the decrease in child mortality. They improved their military. After the 1936-39 war, after the Ottoman-Austria-Russia war, the Ottoman entered a period of complacency. In the 29 years of peace, as if we would never go to war again, we weakened. Our military became weaker; we regressed. But we must be dynamic. In the period of Catherine II (1768-74), the Ottoman-Russian war began. When the state structure grows, the state becomes lax. This has been seen in every period. The peculiarity of Russian policy is that they promise but do not fulfill. For many years, Koca Ragıp Pasha in Laleli prevented the Ottomans from going to war with the Russians. III. Mustafa always wanted to put the state into war. He has a complex because he has a grandfather like Fatih and a grandfather like Kanuni. He always wanted to go to war with Europe, but Ragıp Pasha prevented it. He emphasized financial problems. III. Mustafa did not go to war. After Ragıp Pasha, those who came after were state officials who feared losing their seats; they did not oppose the sultan and led the state to war. They thought the war would last for six months, but it lasted for six years. The Ottomans were successful in previous wars with cleanliness and logistics; epidemics did not affect the army. But in this war, for the first time, the Ottoman army lost land against Russia. The Ottomans fought with Russia mainly because of Poland. Because the ultimate goal of both states is to divide and erase Poland from history for a long time. The Ottomans always saw Poland as a buffer zone. They always fought against other nations because of Poland, against Russia and Austria. The goal is always the division of Poland by Germany and Russia and the erasure of Poland from history for a long time. The Ottomans have a tradition; when ambassadors come to the sultan’s presence, an empty chair is placed, and they say the Polish ambassador is on the way. When Poland joined the European Union, the Polish president said in his speech, ‘The Polish ambassador has arrived.’ They were going to realize it in the War of Independence, but it did not happen. The reason for their desires was that a different religion and a different culture had penetrated into the depths of Europe, and this was never digestible.

Years later, in 1853, the relations between the Ottomans and the Russians were again strained. The Crimean War broke out, and with the significant efforts of Ali and Fuat Pashas, they defeated the Russians allied with France and England. The Paris Treaty was signed. The most important article is that the Ottoman Empire is a European state, and its territorial boundaries are under our guarantee, they say, but they do not implement it. Afterward, the greatest defeat in Turkish history, the ’93 War,’ comes; when we come to the 1877-78 war, we see the same war as in 1768. A conflict with the Russians arises, and at that time, the population of the Russians is four times that of the Ottomans. The war was entered without calculation. Russian armies came as far as Yesilköy and were stopped by European states to prevent the balance from shifting to the Russians. The ’93 War is the war in which the backbone of the Ottomans is broken, and the city structure of Istanbul is disrupted, distorting the entire historical texture.

According to İlber Ortaylı’s interpretation, Russian foreign policy does not emerge at the beginning, does not engage in the laundrywoman’s fight, does not wear itself out, and the Russians join the boatman’s fight when they add water to the cooked food.a