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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Mar 19, 2021 5:17:26 GMT
Chapter Forty-Five: The Roots of a New Order
“The fraternal bonds between the Ukrainian and Belarusian people have never been stronger than ever before, and that the chance to unite in a single state has now presented itself. Although at one point, we can reunite with our Russian brethren, a premature unification with Russia would only make them the dominant partner in a unified state that involves Russia and one of us. Therefore, it is necessary that we create this new Union State to facilitate the closer integration between Ukraine and Belarus, so that we may reunite with Russia on an equal basis, even if our economy is a bit smaller than that of Russia’s. I hereby announce the official formation of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus.” Mykola Azarov, upon the official announcement of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus.
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GAME OF THRONES SPINOFF TO START FILMING IN YUGOSLAVIA, NEW CAST ANNOUNCED HBO March 30, 2019
Fans of Game of Thrones can rest easy, for there is a spinoff to the series that will take place during Seasons 4 to 6. Titled ‘Game of Thrones: The Stallion’s Throne’, it is focused on Talisa Maegyr’s family who resides in Volantis, or more precisely, the Maegyrfort, in the aftermath of the infamous Red Wedding event, where Talisa herself was killed by the Freys, before her husband Robb Stark was killed. The main characters that will be focused on this show are Lyso, Qavo, and Stallaquo Maegyr, which are casted respectively by Mehmet Gunsur, Serkan Cayoglu, and Halit Ergenc. Out of the three actors, only Gunsur and Cayoglu have international exposure for their performance in the controversial movie, “Last Stand”, about the UN Peacekeeping mission in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Moreover, while some of the actors from the main show will also appear in the spinoff, they would only be minor characters. In addition, several scouting teams have gone to Yugoslavia to locate suitable locations to film the spinoffs and have come down to just two castles within the Yugoslav Republic of Serbia that have been chosen: Kalemegdan Fortress, and Smederevo Fortress. The two villages that noted Yugoslav filmmaker Emir Kusturica had built, Drvengrad in the border between Yugoslavia and Bosnia, and Rekagrad (east of Mokranje, and was also built by Kusturica for his film ‘Zlatna Horda’, a 2002 Serbian medieval film about the Khanate of the Golden Horde’s 1290 invasion of Serbia under Nogai Khan), have also been chosen for the Volantis scenes. In addition, Kusturica also joins Benioff and Weiss as consultant for the show, while choosing Sveti Nikola Island in Montenegro, and the resort town of Budva as the scenes for the ruins of Valyria.
“The filming of the main Game of Thrones episodes in Dubrovnik has resulted in Croatia receiving more tourists than the rest of the Balkans,” comments Kusturica after being asked about the popularity of Croatia as a ‘Game of Thrones Tourist Capital’. “We believe that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would also benefit from becoming the center of the Game of Thrones Tourist craze, and that our own tourism industry would benefit greatly from foreign tourists visiting places like Belgrade, Budva, and even Smederevo.”
The competition for filming locations between Croatia and Yugoslavia have added the twist into the traditional Balkan rivalry, which is notorious for its past and recent ethnic conflicts and given the 1990s conflict between Croatia and Bosnia over the region of Hercegovina, it is also worth noting that Yugoslavia is also planning a collaboration with neighboring Albania on a new film project. Moreover, the film industry in the Balkans had seen a recent increase in its films’ popularity among Western European and Russian audiences, most particularly romance movies, but WWII movies have also become popular as well. The 2017 film “The Last Knight”, a joint Russo-Yugoslav-Croatian war film, tells the story of former 20th SS Cossack Cavalry Corps general Helmuth von Pannwitz, from his humble origins, to his last days before his eventual execution by the Soviet Union. ‘The Last Knight’ was a popular hit in Germany, despite its controversial depiction of the former SS General, as it was initially seen as glorifying Nazism, but after watching additional scenes involving von Pannwitz’s daring criticism of Hitler’s official policy of treating Slavs as subhuman, the audience eventually praised it for its balanced story telling, not sugarcoating anything in the movie.
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Scenes from “Game of Thrones: The Stallion’s Throne” Producers: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Emir Kusturica HBO
Actors playing Characters:
Mehmet Günsür – Lyso Maegyr Halit Ergenç – Stallaquo Maegyr (Lord/Khal of the Maegyrfort) Serkan Çayoğlu – Qavo Maegyr Liam Cunningham – Davos Seaworth Stephen Dillane – Stannis Baratheon Mehmet Kurtuluş – Lord Balaenar Qoheros (Castellan of the Maegyrfort) Nurgül Yeşilçay – Lady Emmati Maegyr (sister of the late Khal Drogo, and Khal Stallaquo’s wife) Emilia Clarke – Daenerys Targaryen Öykü Karayel* – Arianne Martell Alexander Siddig – Doran Martell Ozan Güven – Deziel Martell (distant cousin of Doran Martell) Beren Saat – Jeyne Westerling Nell Tiger Free – Myrcella Baratheon
(Scene moves to the MAEGYRFORT, where BALAENAR stands in front of the castle, waiting for STANNIS and DAVOS to arrive. Fifteen minutes later, STANNIS and DAVOS approach the gates)
STANNIS: Here we are. The Maegyrfort.
DAVOS: I've heard a bit about this place. It's one of the few places in Volantis where Dothraki are free to mix with the Volantene. (looks at the approaching fortress) Although from what I heard, House Maegyr had split because of the decision by a Maegyr noblewoman to marry a Dothraki Khal who became the father of Malaquo the Magnificent, one of the few men who accompanied Aegon the Conqueror.
STANNIS: (looks behind to see soldiers of HOUSE BARATHEON OF DRAGONSTONT make camp on the coast) We are approaching the fort. Stay on guard, Ser Davos.
GUARD #1: (looks with the telescope) My Lord, I see two men approaching from the shore. Should we approach? (turns to BALAENAR)
BALAENAR: (squints at the two figures) I will approach them. Hold your arrows, archers. (goes down from the tower and opens the door as BALAENAR exits and approaches STANNIS and DAVOS as the door closes) Who dares to approach the gates of the Maegyrfort?
STANNIS: (steps forward) I do. (turns to DAVOS) If you shall do the honors, Ser Davos.
DAVOS: (nods) Of course, Your Grace. (turns to BALAENAR) Presenting King Stannis, of House Baratheon of Dragonstone, First of His Name. King of the Andals, the First Men, and the Rhoynar. Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.
BALAENAR: A Westerosi? You're far from Dragonstone, Your Grace. (knocks on the door and turns to STANNIS and DAVOS) Come with me.
(BALAENAR escorts the two men into the halls of the MAEGYRFORT, which was filled with various Dothraki Kos, as well as other nobles sworn to House Maegyr of the Maegyrfort. They then approach STALLAQUO, who sits on a seat decorated with horse motifs)
BALAENAR: (bends the knee and head at the same time) My Khal, I have returned with two guests from Westeros. They arrived at the Maegyrfort, unannounced.
STALLAQUO: Really? Guests who do not warn me of their arrival are usually here for only one purpose. (looks at BALAENAR) Who did you say they were?
BALAENAR: One of those Westerosi kings who’s fighting for that throne made of swords. (points at STANNIS) The man over there is one of those kings.
STANNIS: Normally, it is customary for a lord to bow down before his King. (sees STALLAQUO raise his hand)
STALLAQUO: That only applies if a lord belongs to the same kingdom that he serves the king. As far as I know, you are in Volantis, and that means your kingship is not recognized here. In the Maegyrfort, I am the Khal. The lord of this castle, my sedentary Khalassar. (stares intently at STANNIS)
DAVOS: (steps forward) We are sorry about this, my Lord.
STALLAQUO: Khal. (turns to BALAENAR) Who did you say they were?
BALAENAR: I am presenting to you, my Khal, King Stannis of House Baratheon of Dragonstone, I believe. (points to DAVOS) This is his right-hand man, Ser Davos. I did not know which House he came from.
DAVOS: It is Ser Davos of House Seaworth. I was recently made a knight for my role in the Siege of Storm’s End.
(suddenly, three people show up in the halls as LYSO, QAVO and EMMATI bowed before their father and turned to the guests)
EMMATI: (turns to STALLAQUO as LYSO and QAVO does the same) Have they come to tell us of what happened to Talisa?
STANNIS: (turns to EMMATI) I am sorry, My Lady. Who are you talking about?
LYSO: (turns to STANNIS) My sister, Lady Talisa. I heard rumors, as well as my Khal Father’s Fire Priests and Priestesses that Lady Talisa was killed.
DAVOS: (gasps) That is the first time I heard about this. (turns to STANNIS) Lady Melisandre did place a curse on the false kings, right?
STANNIS: (glares at DAVOS) Now is not the time to discuss such trivial matters.
STALLAQUO: (slams his hand into the side bars of the chair) Trivial matters!? Like the trivial matter of how my daughter fell in love with one of those so-called ‘false kings’ you refer to? (glares at STANNIS) And how he married her after they made love, only for them to die due to treachery at the hands of their allies who have turned their cloaks? I know about this, not just from the servants of the Lord of Light. Merchants who came from as far as the Stepstones, and even King’s Landing have spread the word of this…..Red Wedding……I know that in my wife’s family, there is a saying that a wedding without deaths is a boring affair, but this is no ordinary death we are dealing with here. (stands up) I learned the full details of my daughter's romantic affairs with this 'King Who Lost the North' from one of my spies who was shadowing her while she went on to amputate limbs and stitch wounds together. Do not lie to me about anything else.
DAVOS: All I know about the Red Wedding, as they are calling it, is that one of the Riverlords had broken the sacred tradition of guest rights and killed his guests at the wedding. However, this Riverlord said that Robb Stark broke his word first, by reneging on his promise of marrying one of his daughters.
QAVO: (snorts) Oathbreakers. There are far too many of them these days.
LYSO: (nods) I agree, although you are out of line, Qavo. (turns to DAVOS) There must have been a reason why this Robb Stark broke his oath to the Riverlord.
DAVOS: Your Khal Father already mentioned Lady Talisa, or rather, when she was briefly alive, Queen Talisa, had fallen in love with Robb Stark, from what I heard of one of the Freys who served his father. He soiled your sister’s honor and married her to restore it. The passion arose from the Stark boy who learned of Theon Greyjoy's treachery and his invasion of the North.
STALLAQUO: (groans) Oh, Talisa. Why did you have to leave Volantis? (sighs) It is not surprising for us that she chose to stain her hands with the blood of the people who are on the verge of death, by saving their lives. I am afraid that the other noble families of Volantis, even including our own kin, have looked down on us as tainted, because of our decision to intermarry with the Dothraki khals and their clans and khalassars. (pauses as he turns to DAVOS) Excuse me, but did I hear you just refer to my daughter as Queen?
DAVOS: Yes, since Robb Stark married her when he was King in the North, she became his Queen.
LYSO: That must have gone well with most of the Northmen, having a Volantene-raised Lady as their Queen. On top of that, a Queen that would be looked at as a bastard by most of those snobs.
EMMATI: (looks at LYSO and QAVO) My sons, they still looked down on us long before Aegon the Conqueror had recruited Malaquo the Magnificent for his conquest of Westeros, and they are looking down on us now. (turns to STANNIS) What have you come here for then, Your Grace? Closure? Tell us how we can get our daughter back, or at the very least, take revenge on those who killed her, along with our would-be son-in-law. House Maegyr of the Maegyrfort would have welcomed Robb Stark with open arms, had he survived.
STANNIS: I didn't realize how much your daughter meant to you. We have come here for only one purpose. (drops down on the ground slowly) We humbly request the resources of Volantis and an alliance with House Maegyr in exchange for trade deals between Volantis and the Seven Kingdoms.
STALLAQUO: (sits down) Can your Fire Priests and Priestesses bring my daughter back from the dead? (glares at STANNIS) Volantis does not get involved in the squabbles of Westerosis when it is already involved with the internal crises of Essos. Besides, even if we did get involved, our kin who are sitting in their luxuries will not allow us. The Tigers and the Elephants will riot when news of our involvement with Westerosi wars reaches their ears.
DAVOS: I would have thought that you will jump at the chance of getting revenge on the murderers who killed your daughter.
STALLAQUO: Perhaps I would like to do that, but at the same time, there is one other issue that I wish to bring. (hears footsteps as DAENERYS walks in, followed by two Unsullied guards) Do you know who she is? I believe that if you tried to attack her, you two would be in violation of guest rights, just like the turncoats, for she is under my protection.
STANNIS: (glares at STALLAQUO) What is the meaning of this? My late brother has tried to kill her ever since he found out that she married a Dothraki Khal in exchange for an army. And you freely host this traitor while we are negotiating with you? A Targaryen Princess, right here in this fort.
DAENERYS: (stares at STANNIS) I was just about to retire to my chambers when I heard a commotion. Imagine my surprise at seeing the Usurper’s younger brother, here in the Maegyrfort. Although I must have been hearing things when you say that you are King. Did Robert Baratheon die lately?
STANNIS: (glares at DAENERYS) My brother's death is not your concern, Lady Daenerys. Although if I must tell you, he died hunting a boar while drunk. (turns to STALLAQUO) Your family still has a chance. Join my cause, and I will reward your House the lands that have been forfeited by the traitors who killed your sister.
QAVO: (scoffs) Which one would that be? The ones held by the Riverlords, or ones that are held by Northmen who don't approve of our sister's marriage to Robb Stark?
STANNIS: The Twins, and the Dreadfort. Roose Bolton finished your would-be goodbrother off, so House Maegyr would be happy to reward itself with the lands that I will declare as forfeit once I take the throne.
DAENERYS: Empty promises from another Usurper. (STANNIS growls) I can promise something better to House Maegyr, Lord Stannis. (turns to LYSO and QAVO) You two have been my late husband’s favorite nephews. For his sake, as well as mine and House Targaryen, I can promise one of you some lands in the north, and another a bride.
LYSO: A bride? For me? Your offer of land is similar to the King over there. (gazes at STANNIS) How is your offer any different?
DAENERYS: Possible, although it will depend on which holding you would prefer, Ko Qavo. (turns to STALLAQUO) Khal Stallquo, House Martell must learn that Princess Arianne’s planned marriage to my late brother Viserys is declared null and void, on account of his untimely demise. (looks at DAVOS and STANNIS) What value does another Usurper’s promise have, when House Targaryen’s promises to House Maegyr hold?
STANNIS: No more than your own. (turns to STALLAQUO) I will speak to Prince Doran about this myself.
STALLAQUO: Lord Balaenar. (BALAENAR turns to him)
BALAENAR: (slams his fist into his chest) I am yours to command, My Khal.
STALLAQUO: (gestures to DAVOS and STANNIS) Have our guests fed, watered, and rested. Take them to the guest rooms that we have.
BALAENAR: (bows to STALLAQUO) As you command, My Khal. (walks off with STANNIS and DAVOS following him)
LYSO: My Khal Father, we could stake our fortunes in Westeros if our snobbish kinsmen don't want us here anymore. Perhaps we should take the offer.
STALLAQUO: (gazes at LYSO and QAVO) And then what? Who will then tend to our fort here? We have to be smart about this.
(scene switches to DORNE, where ARIANNE is feasting with DORAN and DEZIEL)
DEZIEL: (eats a piece of grape) The Lannisters have grown bolder since the Starks have been massacred like pigs in a wedding. I fear that they will turn their attention to us as well.
DORAN: If we have Myrcella, they will not do anything to us.
ARIANNE: That is, if the Lannisters remember that basic fact. (sees a falcon arrive) We normally use ravens to communicate within Westeros, correct?
DORAN: Yes, Arianne. (looks at the falcon that had landed) That falcon…..(grabs a parchment attached to its leg) I do not know whose house employs falcons. (gives it to DEZIEL, who starts reading the note)
DEZIEL: (gasps) ‘I, Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen....(snorts) too many titles to announce, (resumes reading)....hereby declare that the engagement between Princess Arianne of House Martell and Prince Viserys of House Targaryen, have been declared null and void due to the latter’s demise. As I write this, Stannis Baratheon showed up at the Maegyrfort, requesting Khal Stallaquo for his assistance in his quest for the crown. There is also fell news as well. Khal Stallaquo is thinking of joining the Usurper’s brother in the war for Westeros because his daughter was murdered by turncloaks within House Stark and would like to get involved in a quest for revenge.’
DORAN: Ah yes, the Red Wedding has even reached Volantis. (turns to ARIANNE) It looks like our plan to restore the Targaryens have reached a problem.
ARIANNE: (glares at DORAN) As I have said, do you really want me to end up like Aunt Elia? Wedded to another Mad King? (turns to DEZIEL) Continue reading, my Lord Uncle.
DEZIEL: (bows) As you wish, my Lady Niece. (turns back to the parchment) ‘Lord Stannis promised Khal Stallaquo the lands of the Twins and the Dreadfort as payment to House Maegyr in exchange for their involvement in his wars. I offered House Maegyr something better: lands within the Crownlands or the North for Lyso, of his own choosing, and a bride for Qavo, plus lands of his own. Since the North now has marriage ties to House Maegyr, it is only appropriate for Lyso to secure for himself some Northern lands, as mentioned just now.'
DORAN: A marriage match to the Maegyrs might not be as satisfying as plugging a Martell on the Iron Throne, but if Daenerys Targaryen is staking her claim on the Iron Throne, then we have to shore up our support for her. If this means a marriage match with a Maegyr, then so be it.
ARIANNE: Which Maegyr, Father? Both Lyso and Qavo Maegyr are unwed, but they won't attract any attention from the other Southerners here in Westeros, unless they wed Dornishwomen. (ARIANNE spots JEYNE WESTERLING arrive, with MYRCELLA BARATHEON accompanying her) Speaking of, looks like our guests have arrived.
JEYNE: My Princess. (MYRCELLA bows down as well)
ARIANNE: My Ladies. (beckons for them to sit down) My uncles are having a delightful discussion.
MYRCELLA: Is there something wrong? My Uncle Tyrion told me about what happened at the Twins from his raven. I am scared that something terrible will happen because guest rights were broken.
ARIANNE: You are right, something terrible will happen. (smirks) Maybe it might be time to convince my brother Trystane to set you aside, Myrcella.
JEYNE: (gasps) Princess! That is not something you would bluntly say to a guest.
ARIANNE: (glares at JEYNE) A guest who has ties to House Lannister, Lady Westerling. (points her fingers at JEYNE) Do not forget that you too, have ties to the Lannisters, being from the Westerlands as well.
JEYNE: (turns to MYRCELLA) I am sorry about this, My Lady.
MYRCELLA: That is fine. (looks at ARIANNE) Why is my Uncle Stannis all the way in Volantis?
ARIANNE: (scoffs) Maybe your dear uncle is there to enlist the help of a family whose sister was butchered at the Red Wedding. Not to mention, Daenerys Targaryen is a guest of Khal Stallaquo as well.
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Portions from the Sky News Interview with Former Russian President Gennady Burbulis Sky News Australia Interview, May 13, 2008
Discussing the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus, Post-Civil War Russia
Interviewer: Mr. Burbulis, the last time we spoke was just a half hour ago, and we discussed the aftermath of the Battle of Chernobyl, and the endgame of the Second Russian Civil War. For the rebels, the liberation of Moscow from Soviet rule was something that most ordinary Russians celebrated. Yet, not all Russians were happy that the National Redemption Army had taken the capital, and in fact they blamed the Russian Provisional Government for the events that led to Operation: Batyr, the infamous expulsion of ethnic Russians from Central Asia.
Burbulis: Was that the official version of what happened in Soviet Central Asia?
Interviewer: That is what we are told.
Burbulis: Allow me to fill you in. As you well know, the existence of the Pritobolye, Priuralye and Priirtyshye Free States in Northern Kazakhstan became strongholds of the Russian minority in Kazakhstan, and while there were other minorities that felt threatened by the assertion of the Kazakh nationalist sentiment, it took several incidents where even Ukrainians and Belarusians who resided in Kazakhstan became targets of the Kazakhs, seeing them as collaborators in Russian colonial expansionism in Central Asia. The fact that the Cossacks had also participated in the Central Asian theater of the Second Russian Civil War also infuriated all Central Asian Turkic peoples, since they saw the Cossacks as the vanguard of Russian colonialism.
Interviewer: There were even a few people who said that the expulsion of the European minorities, as the Central Asians called the non-Turkic minorities there, was as justified as the South African expulsion of the white minority there, many of whom were Boers. Do you disagree with the statement?
Burbulis: Yes, and in fact I would lecture whoever said that, because the expulsions of the Boers from South Africa had resulted in the exodus of the well-educated whites who had to keep the country running. Without the white minority there, the black majority there did not know the basics of running the country. I do not mean to offend the African viewers who are watching here, but South Africa in the early 2000s began to resemble Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe had taken over, and more recently, we are also seeing the devastating effects of Operation: Batyr on Uzbekistan right now, as the Islamo-Maoist government there, the Revolutionary Brotherhood Party, had presided over one of the worst stagflation crises to ever occur in Central Asia.
Interviewer: Do you also condemn the Russian extremists who basically carved out a state of their own out of Kazakhstan?
Burbulis: Yes, but after the events of Operation: Batyr, we had no choice but to admit them into the Russian Federation. Many of the Soviet loyalist leftovers who found themselves expelled along with the other Russians throughout Central Asia blamed me for the mess they were in. In fact, I faced three coup attempts against my administration, but they were foiled, mainly with the help of newly appointed FSB Director Sergei M. Smirnov, and Alexander Lebed, who took over as Defense Minister.
Interviewer: As I recall, those coups were mainly led by officers with pro-Soviet leanings, but there was one coup and incident that I recall back in 1998, that was not led by pro-Soviet loyalist remnants, but rather by the forerunners of the extremist movement, the Slavic National Assembly. How was that coup different from the other coups?
Burbulis: Because the coup occurred in 1998 was mainly a Russian version of the March on Rome event, where we almost had a Mussolini figure take power. No, it was not Vladimir Zhirinovsky who led the march, but rather by the triumvirate of Aleksander Barkashov, Dmitry Dyomushkin, and a former National Redemption Army officer named Vladislav Achalov. Achalov was a curiosity, because of his background as an NRA officer.
Interviewer: The infamous March on Moscow, as international news outlets called it, was basically the pet project of General Achalov, correct?
Burbulis: That is correct. Luckily for us, the far-right in Russia was split, with a rival movement called the People’s Party of Russia, led by Aleksandr Ivanov-Sukharevsky, emerging as a challenger for Barkashov, who felt threatened by the successes of Ivanov-Sukharevsky. Let us remember that this is the same guy who eventually merged his movement with the Belarusian group ‘Belaya Rus’ and two Ukrainian pan-Slavist groups, ‘Derzhava’ and ‘One Rus’.
Interviewer: All right. Let us turn to another topic at hand. (gazes at the paper) What was Russia’s relations with the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus like?
Burbulis: To be honest, initially we got off on the wrong foot, myself, and my eventual successor Mykola Azarov. Azarov was more interested in consolidating power within his Union State, while I was more focused on reconstruction. The original idea for the reunification of the three East Slavic states came from the Belarusian side, although it was more of the pet project of disgraced former Belarusian Soviet loyalist politician Aleksander Lukashenko, shortly before the purges targeting former communist officials by Azarov had kicked off in 1997, inside the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus.
Interviewer: In November 22 of 1995, Alexander Lebed gave his famous ‘Orenburg Speech’, in which the Russian government came clean and exposed the crimes of its Soviet predecessor. The Russian public was flabbergasted at the details of the crimes that General Lebed had exposed. Across Eastern Europe, everyone paid attention to Lebed’s speech, but the one thing that attracted attention in Warsaw and other Polish cities was the details on the Katyn Massacre. How did you react when Lebed publicly admitted the Soviet Union’s role in the Katyn Massacre?
Burbulis: I think that the exposure of the Katyn Massacre was something that Lebed felt that he had to do, seeing as he personally saw the valiant efforts of the Polish volunteers when they fought the Soviet loyalists in Moscow. He saw a potential ally in General Debicki and gave the Poles a large carrot by admitting the Soviet role in the Katyn Massacre.
Interviewer: Would not that have been counterproductive for General Lebed in terms of trying to mend relations between Russia and Eastern Europe? Given the historic anti-Russian sentiment.
Burbulis: Yes, and I do not think it will go away anytime soon. By far the most shocking move made by Lebed, though I had played a vital part in this, was the Russian recognition of the Holodomor as genocide, and negotiated with President Azarov on the agreeable amount of funds needed to be set aside for compensating victims of Soviet terror. Do not forget that the economic ambitions of President Azarov and myself also played a key role in the eventual merger between Russia and the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus. Thus, that is exactly how the East Slavic Federation came into being.
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AZAROV ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL POLICY OF DE-COMMUNIZATION OF UNION STATE OF UKRAINE AND BELARUS, COMMUNIST-ERA NAMES TO BE REPLACED Kyiv Post May 29, 1996
Chernobyl, CHERNOBYL OBLAST – The President of the Union State of Ukraine and Belarus, Mykola Azarov, had announced a new policy regarding the replacement of communist-era names with their pre-Bolshevik counterparts. The measure, which was launched on the initiative of the citizens of Ukraine and Belarus, was seen by the Azarov government as a necessary step in the political and ideological cleansing of the two entities to prepare itself for a possible integration into the greater European political arena. The decommunization policies proposed by President Azarov went beyond mere replacement of communist era names, as he also advocated the criminalization of holding pro-communist opinions, before members of his own government advised against such a thing, calling it a ‘violation of freedom of expression’. Moreover, statues of Vladimir Lenin are to be taken down throughout all of Ukraine and Belarus.
“In conjunction with President Burbulis of Russia, who is also pursuing his own policy of decommunization, we are aiming at the destruction of all statues of communist butchers in our territory,” says Azarov in front of an applauding audience. “In addition to the elimination of communist era statues, we will oversee the educational curriculum that will highlight the human rights abuses of the Soviet regime, so that future generations will learn more about what happened to their family members during such a dark period.”
Azarov’s decommunization policies would also target former communist officials who sided with the Soviet loyalist government for lustration, or their permanent ban from participating in politics while carefully rehabilitating much of the anti-communist movements that existed during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine during WWII. In addition, the opening of former gulags built on Ukrainian and Belarusian soil as museums dedicating to the victims of communist terror have been discussed, and is most likely to happen, given Lithuania’s similar proposal for a theme park dedicated to educating Lithuania’s population on the horrors of Soviet totalitarianism. However, the policy would also extend to the new intelligence services of the Union State, excluding former KGB agents who worked for the Soviet government. However, the extended lustration to include former KGB agents and their informants faced opposition from a few politicians, who feared that the new Security Service Bureau (or SBB) would suffer from a lack of experienced officers who are needed to train their replacements. As such, Azarov has approached the United States for an offer to train its new agents in intelligence service-related courses. However, this proposal has been met with resistance, surprisingly enough, from US President Jesse Jackson.
“The last thing I want to see is the Ukrainians and Belarusians creating their own Cowboys and Corsairs who would run around the world, creating chaos for their own amusement,” says President Jackson when asked about his Ukrainian-Belarusian counterpart’s request for the CIA to train the new SBB agents. “Moreover, the last thing we need in Europe is a Ukrainian Tadiar to emerge as a source of vicious anti-communist opposition when the civil war in the former Soviet Union has already accomplished the goal of overthrowing communism in the first place.”
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List of Russian Names Changed as a Result of Decommunization Policies Set Forth by the “Russian De-Communization Act of 1997”:
- Lev Tolstoy, Lipetsk Oblast – Astapovo
- Kalininsk, Saratov Oblast – Balanda
- Kuybyshev, Novosibirsk Oblast – Kainsk
- Kirovgrad, Sverdlovsk Oblast – Kalataysk (Sverdlovsk Oblast changed to Pugachevo Oblast)
- Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Kemerovo Oblast – Kolchugino
- Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast – Kozlov
- Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast – Krolevetsk (Kaliningrad Oblast changed to Krolevetsk Oblast)
- Krasnoslobodsk, Volgograd Oblast – Bukatinsk
- Krasnoarmeysk, Moscow Oblast – Muromtsevo
- Krasnozamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast – Dubyninsk
- Serov, Sverdlovsk Oblast – Kakvagorod
- Kirovsk, Leningrad Oblast – Tosnensk, Petrograd Oblast (Leningrad Oblast changed to Petrograd)
- Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Oblast – Vrangelovo
- Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Krai – Permskoyevsk
- Kirov, Kaluga Oblast – Pesochnysk
- Engels, Saratov Oblast – Privolzhsk
- Leninsk, Volgograd Oblast – Prishib
- Shimanovsk, Amur Oblast – Pyorevsk
- Furmanov, Ivanovo Oblast – Sereda
- Togliatti, Samara Oblast – Tatishchevsk
- Partizansk, Primorsky Krai – Zelenoklinsk
- Pervomaysk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast – Tashino
- Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Krai – Prikumsk
- Buynaksk, Autonomous Republic of Dagestan – Shuriysk/Temirkhanoshuriysk
- Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast – Tilsit (reverted to its German name in honor of the Treaty of Tilsit, or Napoleon’s humiliation of the Kingdom of Prussia)
- Tomari, Sakhalin Oblast – Rudanovsk (named after Russian explorer Nikolay Rudanovsky, who mapped and charted Sakhalin Island)
- Chapayevsk, Samara Oblast – Ivashchenkovo
- Krasnoturyinsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast – Turyinsk
- Krasnouralsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast – Uralmedstroysk
- Proletarsk, Rostov Oblast – Knyazhesk
- Ipatovo, Stavropol Krai – Chemrek
- Krasnovishersk, Perm Krai – Vishersk
- Sverdlovsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast – Isetgrad
- Marks, Saratov Oblast – Boyarsk
- Skovordino, Amur Oblast – Rukhlovo
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Excerpts from the Turkish Radio Television Interview with Former Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation Reporter Oliver Kidlat TRT Network, March 31, 2018
Discussing Tadiar’s Control of the Philippine Media
Interviewer: Almost twenty-five years ago to this day, the infamous military dictator of the Philippines, Artemio Tadiar, had given orders for his troops, mainly the Philippine Marines, to seize control of all media outlets throughout the country. The result of the seizure was the declining value of press freedom in the country, although one of the few rare moments of the Tadiar regime was to allow journalists to travel to the disputed Karabakh region fought between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I am here with Oliver Kidlat, the former journalist who covered the fall of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, to Tadiar’s rise to power. How are you today, Oliver?
Kidlat: I’m good, sir.
Interviewer: Can you tell me your reaction to when Tadiar’s Marines had entered the building of the former Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation?
Kidlat: Certainly. I was going to resign from my job as a journalist because of the Tadiar dictatorship, along with my colleague Vilma Pascual. In fact, we were the lucky ones whose resignation was accepted by the former CEO of Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation before Tadiar’s order to seize the media outlets was issued. It was only after GMA was seized did Tadiar also give an order for GMA to be abolished, and its journalists to sign a pledge that would make it illegal for all news outlets to criticize the regime. Suddenly, we felt fearful of the return to the Marcos era, only far worse.
Interviewer: Under Tadiar, the Philippines eventually overtook Iraq as the most dangerous nation in the world for journalists, as an average of 15 journalists are killed per year. Yet at the same time, your reporters also came under fire from Armenian militias when covering the fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and because of that, Armenia came close to overtaking Iraq as the second most dangerous nation in the world for journalists. How did you and your fellow reporters survive the ordeal?
Kidlat: My colleague Vilma Pascual suffered a minor injury when a shrapnel landed on her foot, forcing us to send her to a nearby UN field hospital, where the medics there took care of her wound. However, she decided to travel to the Spanish Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, to announce her defection from the Tadiar regime, after she recovered from her wound. As for myself, I announced my defection when I arrived at the British Embassy in Ankara. Vilma and I eventually parted ways, and I have not heard from her ever since.
Interviewer: That is rather fortunate that Ms. Pascual had survived her ordeal. (pauses) Let’s talk about the newspapers then. What was the percentage of all Philippine newspaper outlets that are under Tadiar’s control?
Kidlat: Almost 100%, although it could be as high as 87%, since the remaining 13% have been founded by Filipinos who have already fled into exile and are prominent sources of news. Keep in mind that real news coming from the Philippines would have involved undercover reporters who had to keep themselves hidden, or masquerade as puppet journalists touting whatever Tadiar tells them to.
Interviewer: Would the official line that Tadiar made include the fact that during the Chinese bombing of the Philippines, there was an attempted revolt in Mindanao against his rule?
Kidlat: Yes, and one of our rookie reporters wanted to cover it, but I told him that it was too dangerous to cover the story. However, before he died, he gave me crucial information on what is going in the Philippines at that time.
Interviewer: What was it?
Kidlat: The Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front began to fight each other, since the latter had accused Nur Misuari of selling out to Tadiar, but the MILF forgot that it was Misuari who persuaded Tadiar with the federalization project that gave more autonomy to Bangsamoro than even they could dream of.
Interviewer: Some say that Misuari’s role in the federalization project also inspired Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia to approach a few factions of the East Timorese independence movement, to see if they are willing to settle for autonomy while trying their best to de-escalate from the fighting. In fact, President Subianto had formed an unusual partnership with a former pro-independence fighter turned pro-Indonesian figure by the name of Eurico Guterres back in 1994. Subianto saw in Guterres the same role that Tadiar saw in Misuari. Would you agree with the statement?
Kidlat: Yes, and one of my other colleagues, Clarence Alvarez, covered the summit between Subianto and Guterres in Jakarta, in April of 1996. He was impressed with the amount of diplomacy that was shown between the two sides that Subianto offered to host a summit between the MNLF, MILF and the Tadiar regime the next year. Of course, the coverage is on Tadiar and Misuari in the Philippines, while the international community was more focused in Taiwan. In fact, it was the Chinese attempt to seize the islands of Quemoy and Matsu that finally forced President Jackson to bring in the 7th Fleet, although he did it half-heartedly, not wanting to be a reckless aggressor. That, I believe, is what ultimately killed his presidency, because Jack Kemp is hammering his foreign policy naivety to the max, and in fact, on his political campaign promise, Kemp would keep China out of the WTO, and pursue a more aggressive containment policy against China. At the same time, some of Kemp’s own supporters even wanted him to convince SE Asia to ditch their nuclear free zone status, just so he could start moving American nuclear missiles to any country of his own choosing. That was something that Tadiar was desperate for, but to be honest, the idea of the Tadiar regime acquiring the capability to build a nuclear bomb, even if it was a small dirty bomb, was something that the entire world is not willing to tolerate.
--- *The actress known for playing the role of Dilruba Sultan in Muhtesem Yuzyil: Kosem IOTL.
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Post by TheRomanSlayer on Mar 20, 2021 1:58:30 GMT
- How stable is India, considering that they - along with Venezuela - would take the brunt of that neoliberal outsourcing that American corporations had found rather unprofitable (by their standards) in China? They are a bit stable at the moment, although with India, expect to see a much bigger social conflict between the various classes. The lower classes would definitely bear the brunt of the neo-liberal reforms that would have destroyed much of their livelihoods, increasing their appeal for extreme solutions. At this time period, we had the Naxalite insurgency as well. Venezuela on the other hand, I would probably say yes, to a certain extent, but Venezuela under Ramon Rodriguez Chacin would be more distrustful of the US. There is a reason why he's basically the Saddam or the Assad of Latin America at this moment, and a Social Nationalist. - Would Japan further exploit South East Asia's Japanophilia, and what countries would reject such sentiments? Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and probably Vietnam might be more Japanophilic, as well as Burma. Vietnam and Indonesia had ex-IJA soldiers volunteer in the decolonization wars against the returning European colonial powers, while Burma's military leadership was practically trained by the Japanese. - Would white supremacists make a crisis out of the migrating Mexicans? We might expect an earlier standoff at the border between the US and Mexico, although we could also see neo-Nazi vigilantes also arming themselves and acquiring speed boats to stop the Mexican refugees, or 'escorting' them to Cuban territorial waters. - Would the rogue CIA elements outright play with the American government? How would the popular conception of the "deep state" be ITTL, considering the greater amount of muck they did that were exposed, and an even greater amount they orchestrated that contributed to such a shitty situation in East Asia and Mexico? Also, Filipino Diaspora would only bolster the unpopularity of the organisation, along with Alex Jones being sane enough to direct his energy through coherent literature and legislation. We will get back to Alex Jones in the next update, as well as his TTL best bud Issac Feldman, but all I can say is that the concept of the Deep State will be far different from OTL. - Lyndon LaRouche is also one hell of a chaotic headcase that also dabbled in conspiracy theories. I dunno why he even had a conversation with a Filipino journalist in a totally-not-revisionist-and-neutral Filipiniana I've read about the gold that the Marcoses had supposedly transported away with armoured trucks during the revolution. Him being relevant in the 90's would only make him a more chaotic 2000's and a potential target by the CIA, especially when he's so well-connected with his contemporaries IOTL. We could also see Lyndon LaRouche getting in the crossfires with the CIA as well, and then there is also James Traficant as well, who IOTL died from a tractor accident in 2014. TTL, he would still be alive, well into TTL's 2021. My God, this is one clusterfuck of a world, and a really divergent one at that. It's so interesting in the Chinese sense for the world to never get that "end of history" feeling - that with Clinton and his petulant opponent Newt Gingrich and all - and instead of Wall and K Streets, it was the CIA interventionists themselves - with the help of, and later on, the rabid anti-subversive far-right actors themselves - that spearheaded in weaseling around the world's political cracks to advantage themselves. My inspiration for such a dystopic timeline that is also Philippines-centric was from a famous alternate history TL made about a different fall of the Soviet Union, titled "Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire". Essentially, if "Rogue Generals" had a TV Trope Page, it would start like this:
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