
Sunday Profile Transcript (excerpts)
Click here to listen to the interview in Windows
Media format or Real
Media
April 3, 2005
- I think we have very steady records of President Putin, who inherited the
country with democratic values, with independent parliament, with independent
media with elections of the government and other officials, and now all press
is under his control, parliament is just another branch of executive office
and direct elections of the governments is already cancelled.

-
Putin can’t afford to leave the office because he will be in real
danger of being prosecuted for things he and his people did during their
stay in power. So I think that it’s no longer a question about election
or running or having campaign, it’s building mechanisms that will
allow them to stay in power as long as they want... There are many indications,
there are many facts showing that Putin’s people enriched themselves
by using power mechanisms so that’s why for them losing power means
losing their fortunes.
-
I’m not so naïve to ignore any potential threat to my well-being
but at the same time if you make a decision to fight for future of your
own country you have to consider all the consequences. It’s very
clear that Putin and his people they well probably use any means to stay
in power, but I don’t want to think about the worst scenario but
I’m taking all the necessary precautions, as much as I can do under
these circumstances. I have some security that could protect me against
provocations but of course there are more terrible actions that could not
be stopped by any security.
-
I think it will be more difficult to deal with me as Putin deals with
Khordokovsky. It would more difficult to invent tales about my participation
in a number of crimes that are being now allegedly thrown at Khordokovsky.
-
The stories about me in the Kremlin controlled press] are all negative.
So far it’s just more of talking about my background and saying that
I’m not prepared for that and they’re trying to ridicule my
decision but at the end of the day I could expect other stories because
the Kremlin controlled press never stops short of inventing stories about
Putin’s political opponents.
-
I was born in Baku, and I am half Armenian half Jewish. But my native
tongue is Russian, my culture is Russian, my education is Russian. At the
end of the day Soviet Union was the success of Russian Empire which was
multinational multi-confessional state, and as long as w live in the same
state I’m part of this state as much as President Putin.
-
I think that my presence could make some difference, and that’s
what I always believed in my life. I have some strategical vision, I could
calculate some, few moves ahead, and I have an intellect that is badly
missed in the country which is run by generals and colonels. Also I hope
that my presence will help people to get united. It’s more of fighting
for restoration of democracy rather than campaigning for any high office.
-
I think it’s probably premature to judge the form of democracy needed
in Russia. I would rather to say it should look like French democracy in
a presidential republic with a really strong parliament rather than British
or German type. But Russians are dreaming about better living, and the
fact that country’s getting richer with these high oil prices the
living standards are deteriorating across our land. Those issues are far
more important for ordinary man than the structure of the political system.

-
Ukraine had quite serious impact on the many Russians. They could see
that ordinary people didn’t want to tolerate anymore the power abuse
by Ukrainian officials, and they not only protested but they were successful.
I think people in Russia are slowly recognising the power of protest, the
power of street manifestations, the power of unity and they also recognise
that at a certain point the government could crack under this pressure.
-
I think Russian people are learning that democracy is not an alien thing;
it’s not a western invention. It’s probably the most affordable
mechanism to solve problems inside the country, inside the society because
Putin proved to all of us that the alternative is security forces and police
and power abuse. That’s why I think eventually the people of Russia
will embrace democracy as the least costly institution to help them to
solve their daily problems.
-
Now with the 60th anniversary of D-Day Putin’s government is trying
to restore the positive image of Stalin, and they’re trying to play
with this nostalgia of the time when the Soviet Union was one of the two
superpowers and the country looked very very strong. Unfortunately many
people they tend to believe that there were many good things that were
lost in the past while disregarding the terrible crimes committed by the
Soviet regime. I think it will disappear with the new generation coming
into the political scene in Russia but first we have to stop the propaganda,
the shameful propaganda used by Kremlin to rehabilitate these old types.
-
Karpov and I, we have reasonable relations as two professional players
but our political views are very different. Karpov was Communist Russian
Nationalist and I belonged to an opposite part of political spectrum. We
speak Russian both. That’s our common language; I don’t think
we have anything else in common.
-
It’s quite difficult for me to imagine my life without chess. So
I didn’t stop analysing games and following games of my colleagues
(or ex-colleagues now), or working on my chess books. I will be keeping
my ties with this game and I may play some exhibition games. So I don’t
want to quit the game of chess completely. I just decided and it’s
a firm decision not to play competitive chess anymore.
-
‘Mental power waning?’ Maybe you’re right, but I’m
still number one and I just recently won a major tournament ahead of my
toughest rivals so I think I had a few years ahead of me if I had decided
to stay. It was not about losing my mental power; it’s about not
feeling good about my contribution to the game. I sense that my energy,
my experience could be used somewhere else.
Links