ANKARA - Journalist-writer Hüseyin Aykol stated that the war between Ukraine and Russia spawned as a result of the crisis of capitalism and said, "There was a need to start a war in order to make and sell new weapons and to upgrade their models."

 

The military operation launched by Russia against Ukraine continues on its third day. In the war that the world has focused on, the people are made to pay the price for the marketing persue of the imperialist powers. It is not clear how long the Ukraine war will go on which continues under the shadow of Russia and China and USA.

 

We spoke to journalist-writer Hüseyin Aykol about the effects of the war, which has a direct reflection on economy.

 

'CONSEQUENCE OF THE CRISIS OF CAPITALISM'

 

Pointing out that the backstage of Russia's operation in Ukraine was caused by the crisis in capitalism, Aykol said, "Capitalism periodically goes into crisis, produces more than needed, and because of this surplus production, it enters a crisis every 10-15 years. It tries to overcome this primarily by playing with energy prices, by waging wars in the Middle East and Africa, by selling weapons and planes to the parties of that war." Underlining that the First and Second World Wars started like this, Aykol said, “After the First and Second World Wars, there was an Alsace-Lorraine coal basin between Germany and France. The First and Second World Wars arose because they could not share this coalfield. The European Union (EU) was founded on how this coal would be shared before a war broke out. In other words, it was solved by the fact that countries became customers to each other. Nowadays, the deep crisis of capitalism has worsened with the pandemic. Such a great war was waged in Ukraine to overcome this crisis.” 

 

'PURSUE OF INTEREST'

 

Emphasizing that Ukraine is both a large and rich geography, Aykol stated that this war is a result of the crisis capitalism is in. Pointing out that both sides in this war are capitalists, Aykol said, "The war that has USA and EU on one side and China and Russia on the other, is not a war of systems. It is a war of power between capitalists. Who will dominate the market from now on; China and Russia? Or the EU and the USA? This is the main issue.” 

 

'NATO WILL BE KEPT ALIVE'

 

Expressing that the colonial and imperialist states exert their influence on other countries by selling weapons and technology, Aykol stated that calculations are made on how much weapons will be sold to Ukraine or how much Russia can sell its own weapons to the Republics that Russia has accepted. Reminding that NATO is a defense tool - it actually is an attack organisation- against the Soviet Union, Aykol said, "While they should have annulled NATO by now, they didn't, because they are trying to create a perception that China and Russia, as the agressors, do not let them make Ukraine a member to NATO. Therefore they are keeping the NATO alive, which should have been annulled years ago, with this war. What is happening is more like selling weapons and technology to a country instead of protecting it, which is actually exploiting that country. So this is not a war between 'good NATO people' and 'bad Russia people'. We are discussing a crack in capitalism."

 

WAR IS NEEDED FOR NEW WEAPONS'

 

Reminding that the escalating tension between Turkey and Greece is also within this scope, Aykol said: “There are forces that will never allow a war between Turkey and Greece, but they continue to sell arms to both Turkey and Greece. They are selling arms to both sides everywhere they can spark a war. They need a war to make new weapons or to develop upgraded weapons."

 

'COUNTRIES BEING THE CUSTOMERS OF EACH OTHER PREVENTS NUCLEAR WAR'

 

Pointing out that an important issue in this war is nuclear weapons, Aykol said that after the cold war, it turned out that some countries have very powerful nuclear weapons. On the power of nuclear weapons, Aykol said, “There is a great deal of heavy weapons in the world as if it would end the world if it happens to start. The states now in this day, considers each other customers.  When you kill 50-60 million people in Russia, you destroy a market of 50-60 million people for Europe. This is how it works in China too. Germany asks how Russia could declare war and says it could be solved with dialogue. It has trade relations with Russia. Germany buys energy and natural gas from Russia. Germany is an important market for Russia and it doesn't want to lose it. The fact that nations are customers of each other protects them from nuclear war. This is why Russia can challenge Europe. It is a mutual showdown. Although there are a lot of weapons that could be used, they are also customers of each other, which prevents them from using these weapons against each other.

 

USA WANTS EU TO OWE ITS ALLGIANCE TO ITSELF

 

Saying that the capitalist governments also took their share from this war, Aykol said, “For example, the USA is threatening the EU, which is trying to distance itself from the US, and trying to attract it to its side. The EU tried to establish its own army for a while, but couldn't. The EU is trying to protect itself with NATO's military without fighting anywhere. The United Nations is trying to prevent Germany from trading with Russia over natural gas. Thus, it tries to prevent its economic growth. In that sense, this war is actually a multi-layered war. At the moment, USA wants EU to owe its allegiance to itself. It is thought that it will be beneficial if the EU's import and export relations with Russia is cut."

 

 

THE POOR SOLDIERS OF BOTH SIDES WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES

 

Noting that states do not consider the humanitarian dimension of the war, Aykol stated that all capitalist monopolies are trying to profit from the war. Aykol said: "There is a representative election this year and USA President Joe Biden is expected to be defeated. Biden told his constituents that he wanted democracy in Ukraine, and spent money for that, to defend himself. He won't focus on his own failure and go on and on about the democracy in Europe. Erdoğan will be able to postpone the elections in Turkey. Hungary, Germany, France will all be talking about Ukraine instead of the inflation in their own countries. The poor soldiers of both sides will suffer the consequences of this war. People will die, people will become permanently disabled. The suffering of the people will go on from generation to generation. The imperialist states will have a trump card in their hands as long as the emnity between Ukraine and Russia continues.

 

UKRAINE CRISIS WILL HAVE ECONOMIC EFFECTS AND IT WILL EFFECT TURKEY'S POSITION IN SYRIA

 

Expressing that the Ukraine-Russia war will have effects on Turkey both through the economic crisis and its presence in Syria, Aykol continued: “As Turkey is a NATO member, it has to be on the side that defends Ukraine. In addition, Ukraine is a market for Turkey, which it sells weapons to. Turkey is de facto on the side of Ukraine, but that doesn't mean it will send troops there to fight. It can't. It is the same with Germany not being able to stand up to Russia because of its trade agreements, the same goes for Turkey. Turkey has investments in Russia, they are running joint operations in Syria. They are covering territory. Erdoğan has been selling arms to Ukraine until now but he won't be able to stand up against Europe, threatening them that he can do business with Russia."

 

'RUSSIA WILL NOT TOLERATE IN IDLIB'

 

Underlining that the government's statements that the territorial integrity of Ukraine should be protected do not make any sense, Aykol said: "Turkey itself is in a occupying position in Syria. If the war continues, Erdogan's government will be subject to Russian pressure in Syria. It will not only intensify the crisis in Ukraine, it will reproduce other crisis in places where America and Russia intervenes. Russia will not tolerate Turkey to do what it wants in Idlib, if Turkey does something to hurt it. It will force the islamists out of there. While Turkey is currently struggling to integrate the population coming from Syria, the population of 200,000 people coming from Idlib will be a trouble and there are 30-40 thousand Islamist fighters among them, and some of them are also against Turkey. That would mean random explosions everyday. "

 

 

MA / Berivan Altan