Articles by Engin Kurtay and IIRSS
A true academic work is a besetting output. It mustn’t gratify anyone. This peskiness of the academic work is what distinguishes it from what it is scholastic. By the same respect, a Real artwork too, it is analogous to the academic: a true art satirizes the status quo order and it’s beneficiaries while the scholastic presentment pleases them.
——————💪—————— Continue reading “The Finesse in Design by Nadezhda Kopylova: How to read a book cover — Engin Kurtay”
So far the Russian media failed to specify the logic behind the cancellation of the permission to use the Bulgarian airspace by the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s plane.
Continue reading “Mariya against Maria: the female grudgery as the principal trigger for Russophobia — Engin Kurtay”
Jan Hus was killed on 6th of July 1415. Paradoxically, Jan Hus was the translator and a defender of an English theology professor: John Wycliffe. As a surprising fact of Historical dialectics, the 15th century Britain was more advanced than the Continent.
Jan Hus and similar heroic personages opened the way to modern philosophy, critical thinking, freedom of speech, to form the distinct political and legal norms of our contemporary civilization.
You, the Judges compounding the “Supreme” Court of the UK, you are supposed to be the products of this six-century-long philosophical and societal evolution.
You are not free to deny the legacy of this six hundred years. Your “judiciary independence” is the product of this legacy.
J’accuse! You did wrong.
But you will have a second chance to decide whether you are “Supreme” or the tiny pathetic puppets of the transatlantic imperialist cooperation. Julian Assange will re-appeal.
If you do the wrong thing, your injustice will match the logic of the inquisition of the dark ages.
The monument of Julian Assange will be erected in any case. This is unavoidable and will not be related to any decision of yours.
The only difference if you will do the wrong is that it will be erected over your infamy.
And a few words to your Queen (the throne throng are not my compeer, therefore it’s you who shall forward my words to her):
Despite her age she looks still lucid enough to remember the words of De Gaulle for Sartre:
“On ne met pas Voltaire à Bastille, sinon le peuple le détruiront sur nos têtes“.
I wish you all doing a good job.
Engin Kurtay
Prof Slavoj Zizek
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
The mass gathering scene of the political action film by James McTeigue, V for Vendetta (2005) reminds us the October (1928) of Sergei Eisenstein! However, there is a slight but crucial difference: the crowd in the film heads towards the Parliament.
Not to the Buckingham Palace! …
And, neither any audience nor any cocky film analyst have so far questioned what could have been going on in the Buckingham Palace during those moments of blowing the Parliament up. The film never shows anything related to the Royal Order. It successfully makes the audiences to forget the fact that there actually exists a kind of centralized power in Britain. Continue reading “Inessa Armand versus Alexey Shmakov – Engin Kurtay, Ali Polat”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
The people of Russia, except few rickety events, remained indifferent to the centenary of the 1917 Revolution and spent the November 7th 2017 like a normal day. According to a survey commissioned by the Communist Party, 58% of the Russian population was unaware of the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution (1).
Whereas Nov. 7th was a holiday celebrated by big ceremonies, during the Soviet era.
The editor of the independent Russian TV channel, documentary filmmaker Mikhail Viktorovich Zygor proclaimed that he was very surprised by the fact that the Russian press remained indifferent to the centenary of October Revolution (2).
The Russian President V. Putin, four days prior to Nov. 7th (in November 3, 2017), said that the October Revolution was a complicated episode of their own history and that these course of events should be treated with respect in an unbiased way (3).
Continue reading “The fantasy universe of Sergei Eisenstein’s ‘October’ – Ali Polat, Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
Rusya halkı, sağda solda düzenlenen birkaç cılız etkinlik dışında 7 Kasım 2017’yi normal bir gün gibi geçirdi. Komünist partinin yaptırdığı bir ankete göre Rusya halkının %58’i Ekim Devrimi’nin 100. yıldönümünden habersizdi (1).
Oysa Sovyet döneminde 7 Kasım, büyük törenlerin yapıldığı bir tatil günüydü.
Bağımsız Rus Tv kanalının editörü, belgesel film yapımcısı Mikhail Viktorovich Zygar, Rus basınının Ekim Devrimi’ne kayıtsız kalmasına çok şaşırdığını söylemişti (2).
Rusya Devlet Başkanı V. Putin, 7 Kasım’dan dört gün önce (3 Kasım 2017) Ekim Devrimi’nin kendi tarihlerinin karışık bir parçası olduğunu ve bu tarihe tarafsız ve saygılı davranılması gerektiğini söyledi (3). Continue reading “October filminin fantezi evreni – Ali Polat, Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
The interview in the video above was made in the winter of 2017 with Yelena Lugovaya, Professor of History, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev, the last survivor of Babi Yar. Her granddaughter, our Kiev representative and Arsenal Art Gallery curator Alisa Lozhkina made the simultaneous translation of the speech.
The testimony of Prof Lugovaya is to be compared with that of a Karaite Judaist lady living at the same period of time in Istanbul. Kiev versus Istanbul !
This part tells about the History of Jews in Kiev and the pre-War period to give our audiences a general knowledge prior to Babi Yar massacre. The aim of this study is to contrast the city lifes in Kiev and in Istanbul during the Second World War then to judge the neutrality policy of the Turkish government.
As a reminder, President İnönü was accused by the opponent party members in “killing the manhood of Turkish People” by not taking part in the War.
Our application is only available for devices with android operating system. If you use an iPhone, you must first discard your phone, then buy and android OS device and then install our application.
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
Bu makale daha önce yayımladığımız “Sergei Eisenstein’ı anlamak” başlıklı ana makaleye ikinci ektir. Ana makalenin Türkçe versiyonunu teknik bir arıza nedeniyle sunamıyoruz, İngilizce’siyle idare edin.
Eisenstein’ın 1933’te depresyon tedavisi için akıl hastanesine kapatıldığını ifade eden Marie Seton, bu depresyonun nedenini Meksika projesini tamamlayamamış olmanın üzüntüsüne yorarken yine gerçeğin sadece bir kısmını – yarattığı Eisenstein efsanesiyle uyumlu, kitlelere yedirip yutturabileceği kısmını – dile getirmektedir. Biz ise Eisenstein’ın Meksika’dayken eşcinselliğinin ifşa olması nedeniyle hastaneye kapatıldığını düşünüyoruz, çünkü Stalin dönemi devlet bakışı eşcinselliği hastalık olarak görmektedir. Upton Sinclair‘ın projeyi durdurması ve Eisenstein’ı kovmasının nedeni ise, aylar boyu yaptığı çekimlerde 61 km negatif yakmasına rağmen izlenebilir bir ürün çıkaramaması, üstüne üstlük rehberiyle ilişkisinin ifşa olması ve Sinclair’den hortumladıkları parayla ekibin böyle bohem bir hayat sürmesinin Upton’ın eşi Marie Craig Sinclair‘in sabrını taşırmasıdır. Continue reading “Eisenstein’a Amerika’dan gönderilen “yoldaş” – Ali Polat, Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
2nd Appendix to our article “Understanding the prodigy of Sergei Eisenstein”
Marie Seton relates the depression of Eisenstein to not being able to complete Sinclair’s project in Mexico. Marie Seton’s evaluation, however, expresses only some part of the truth – the part that is compatible with the Eisenstein myth she created, making it convenient to be told to the masses. The reason why Upton Sinclair stopped the project and fired Eisenstein was the exposure of Eisenstein’s relationship with his guide. This disclosure was the last drop. Upton’s wife, Marie Craig Sinclair got off at half-cock seeing Eisenstein’s bohemian life without being able to produce any piece of viewable film having spent months for burning thousands of meters of negatives. Continue reading “The “comrade” sent to Eisenstein from USA – Ali Polat, Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
Note: This study is being elaborated by revisions and appendixes. The Log of revisions is located at then end of the article.
Known for his leftist identity, Ken Livingston’s victory in London municipal elections in 2000 created excitement in the left circles in the UK as well as around the world. One detail that escaped from the eyes was that Ken Livingston participated the municipal elections as an independent candidate from the party, even though he was a member of the Labor Party. Simple tactical explanations were invented to explain this strangeness. We can, however, try to better understand this tactical choice through Eisenstein’s story we present below, within the framework of deep decomposition on the left, whose roots go back to 1908 and 1916.
Continue reading “Understanding the prodigy of Sergei Eisenstein – Ali Polat, Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
Rostov-on-Don’da Pushkinskaya Caddesi’nde yürüyüş yapmak başlıbaşına bir keyif. Burası, araç trafiğine kapalı, ağaç ve çiçekleriyle ve her köşebaşında kahve satan kulübeleriyle, park kıvamında, kent sakinlerinin bisiklet, paten, kaykaylarla gezdikleri popüler bir cadde. Kentin rekreasyon alanlarıyla ilgili olarak burada özellikle vurgulamaya değer ayrıntılar şöyle: Continue reading “Rusya’dan Notlar -2 – Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
– “Yarın akşam baleye gidelim mi?”
– “Harika, gidelim tabii ki!” dedim.
– “Nasıl yani, bale seviyor musun? Sıkılmanı istemem.”
– “Niye sevmeyeyim ki?”
– “Türkler bale sevmez diye bilirim”
– “Haberin yok galiba, Türk konservatuarları ve İstanbul Devlet Opera Balesi Avrupa’da başa yarışır.” Continue reading “Rusya’dan Notlar -1 – Engin Kurtay”
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
“Bill Browder, the false crusader for justice and human rights and the self-styled No. 1 enemy of Vladimir Putin has perpetrated a brazen and dangerous deception upon the Western world. This book traces the anatomy of this deception, unmasking the powerful forces that are pushing the Western world toward yet another great war with Russia.“
Istanbul Institute of
Russian and Sovietic Studies
At Right: Peter the Third, who was betrayed and dethroned by his wife, an “etatist”
What is the real stake behind the over-romanticising of October Revolution by The New York Times? It is also noticeable that Putin’s regime overlooks Lenin and the October Revolution. Is a new propanganda warfare on re-writing history between American establishment and Russian regime coming out? Could we link this warfare to Trump’s election and his neo-keynesian economy-politics aiming to overcome the current (2008) “great depression”? And the rise of Russia as the new global power undertaking huge infrastructures namely the New Silk Road, Yamal Project, Shanghai Five, rebuilding the Eurasia-centered World system as the new global converging market? Continue reading “The new ideological warfare between etatism and globalism”