In the Circle of Kunduz. interview with author

INTERVIEW with Autor novel-trilogy «IN THE CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ»

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA 24.09.2021
 
QUESTION: Today's dramatic events in Afghanistan increase the relevance of your military-historical novel-trilogy "In the Circle of Kunduz", forcing us to comprehend the benefits or harms of the presence of the troops of the Western NATO coalition there. Did you foresee such an outcome when you published the novel in 2020?

ANSWER: Not at all. The Afghan theme is not a conjectural one for me. I wrote the novel without calculating the date of the XX anniversary of the presence of NATO troops (ISAF) in Afghanistan - in October 2021, and certainly could not know about the literal date of their withdrawal. It just happened that way.
The topic of Afghanistan is always present in my life: during my service in Afghanistan, I tried to gain knowledge from the primary source — the local population, using any opportunity to ask about the tribal, confessional structure; laws; traditions; customs; culture; way of life; about the attitude to the ruling elite. After returning to my homeland in the USSR, I followed the development of events in this country, drew knowledge from historical and military literature, memoirs of major military leaders and diplomats. Considering that I myself was a participant and an eyewitness of the events of the 1980s in Afghanistan, I found it necessary to tell about those who would leave indifferent to himself years later.

QUESTION: The main character of the third story "ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS" of the novel "In THE CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ" is a Volga German Bruno Thevs, who was born in Dzhambul (Kazakhstan), and was transported in childhood by his widowed mother in 1989 to permanent residence in Germany (Freiburg). Bruno is the son of the Soviet soldier Konstantin Thevs, who died in the Afghan war (1979-1989). From childhood he dreamed of becoming a military intelligence officer, like his father, so he chose a military path. And in 2009 as an officer of the special operations forces of the KSK Bundeswehr (FRG) Oberleutnant Bruno Thevs sought from his superiors a referral to the ISAF coalition forces in Afghanistan.

There, according to the plot, Bruno will meet the heroine of the story — the Afghan Seeta Ahmadzai and will start a romantic relationship with her. By the way: is it possible in real life that in the Afghan fundamental society a local girl meets a German, an officer of the NATO forces-a kafir (infidel)?

ANSWER: This is impossible! But we have an exceptional case. In the novel, a Pashtun woman of the Gilzai tribe, Seeta Ahmadzai, was born in Munich in a family of Afghan emigrants — refugees. Her parents and older brothers left Afghanistan in early 1980 with the entry of Soviet troops there. Seeta grew up and received a higher medical education in Germany. But she was brought up in the family within the framework of strict Muslim customs and traditions. After graduating from the university, Seeta came to the office of the International Humanitarian Mission MSF "Doctors without Borders" and got a job as a doctor. The MSF hospital in the city of Kunduz (Afghanistan) was chosen as the place of a long business trip.

Her parents and brothers were born in this province, although their family roots come from the south-east of Paktiya province in Afghanistan.

And many of their relatives live in Kunduz. Finally, in the same place, according to the plan of Seeta's parents, she will be married to one of her fellow "Pashtun Gilzai" tribesmen. That is why this city was approved by Seeta's father as the place of her future work.

But fate will order otherwise. On one of the days of hospital everyday life Seeta will meet a German KSK officer, Ober leutnant Bruno Thevs, who brought a wounded German reporter Otto Greenberg, released from Taliban captivity, to their emergency room. The prototype of Otto Greenberg was the American journalist of the New York Times newspaper Stephen Farrell. The acquaintance of Bruno and Seeta will gradually develop into a romantic one, while still remaining sinless, chaste. Under the long persuasions of Seeta and her relatives, her father will finally agree to the upcoming wedding with Bruno.

QUESTION: In the development of the plot, the disappointment of Ober Lieutenant Bruno Thevs in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan will be сaused by the death in a series of airstrikes of the ISAF forces of the Afghan bride Seeta Ahmadzai, the reporter Otto Greenberg, who became his friend; as well as the mass casualties of the civilian population in the villages Umar-Heil and Daftani; and the MSF Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz.

It is appropriate to ask: did these resonant events take place in real life?

ANSWER: They had! Cases of excessive use of military force by the ISAF coalition in Afghanistan in 2001-2021 were frequent. Many civilians, including children, were killed. This is a well-known fact.

QUESTION: In the first story "WE WILL ALL RETURN!" and in the second - "NOT BY THE FRONT CORRIDOR" of your novel "IN THE CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ", the main characters are six Soviet soldiers in the Afghan war (1979-1989). Three of them will die in the war. The fate of the three survivors will also be dramatic. Please tell us about it briefly.

ANSWER: In the first story "WE WILL ALL RETURN!" and in the second — "NOT A PARADE CORRIDOR" of the novel "IN THE KUNDUZ CIRCLE", the heroes are six Soviet soldiers of the Afghan War (1979-1989): Kostyan (Konstantin Thevs from Dzhambul), Sidor (Sergey Sidorenko from Rostov-on-Don), Rust (Rustam Tukaev from Tatarstan), Mongol (Darkhan Badmaev from Ulan-Ude), Strela (Hermann Streltsov from Leningrad), Koster (Ivan Kostrov from Moscow) — military intelligence officers, drafted into the Soviet Army in the fall of 1984 from different regions of the USSR. They participate in military operations of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Only three of them are destined to come out alive from the flames of war — Sidor, Rust and Koster. They will return to a completely different country, where the former values will be debunked. It will not be easy for them to integrate into the civilian environment.

The historical novel-trilogy "In the CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ" consists of three stories and has a cross-cutting plot.

In the development of the third story "ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS" the heavy losses of Bruno Tevs in the Afghan war of 2000 will strengthen his confidence in the inhumanity of the goals and means of the Western ISAF coalition in Afghanistan. He will also be disappointed in his private military mission. After completing his service in Afghanistan, Bruno will return to Germany and retire from military service.

From there, soon, he will go to Russia and find the surviving combat friend of his father — Rust (a legless invalid Rustam Tukayev).

Rust will tell Bruno the story of his father — Kostyan (Konstantin Thevs) and five of his combat friends.
Bruno also learns about the vicissitudes of those who returned from the war alive — Rust, Koster and Sidor. The political crisis that broke out in October 1993 at the House of Soviets in Moscow will separate friends on different sides of the barricades. But our heroes — Sidor, Rust and Koster are honest before their conscience and true to their beliefs: what could be stronger than a fighting friendship?! At an hour when the life of a friend is in danger, help will certainly come.
Rust will be struck by a sniper's bullet, his life will hang by a thread.
Koster, risking his life, will take out the wounded Sidor from the engulfed in flames upper floor of the House of Soviets.
An hour after that, pulling a wounded soldier out of the firing zone, Koster will die.
A young daughter Masha will remain after him.
Evacuated to the hospital, Rust will be in a coma, and will spend several months in a hospital bed.

In the second half of the 1990s, Sidor will join a large diamond business. By a fatal coincidence, he will be outlawed and will receive a long prison term. Despite the special environment in prison, Sidor will preserve his moral principles. His release from the colony will coincide with the arrival of Bruno in Russia. Together they will have to pass another life exam.

At the end of the story, thanks to Rust and Sidor, Bruno will meet the daughter of the deceased Koster, Masha — a student of Moscow University. The common misfortune is the loss of fathers will reveal in the young the need for them in each other.

In general, the novel "In THE CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ" shows the best human qualities — true friendship, honesty, heroism, self-sacrifice, compassion, the will to live and return to the roots. The plot is based on real events in Afghanistan and Russia in the past 100 years, and tells about the fate of people of several generations.
The story "In the Circle of Kunduz" makes the reader think about how many troubles the civil war that has been going on for more than four decades has brought to the Afghan people; that the centuries — old way of life here does not accept changes, customs and traditions-the imposition of values from outside. Peace and prosperity in Afghanistan are impossible without the unshakable Islamic faith and observance of its canons.

QUESTION: What do you think about the withdrawal of the Western coalition troops from Afghanistan? What difficulties will Afghanistan face on the way to a new formation?

ANSWER: Today's events in Afghanistan, in my opinion, are natural.
It is enough to recall how the Western ISAF Coalition was included in October 2001, causing retaliatory terror throughout the country only by 2007. The Taliban leaders then fled to Pakistan. And the puppet government supported by the coalition in Kabul has not won the trust of the Afghan people for 20 years, having united all the resistance forces against itself, including the warring ones.
It can be stated that at the moment the Taliban movement, created in 1994 in the south of Afghanistan in the provinces of Kandahar and Uruzgan, is de facto threatened and even opposed in the east by ISIL forces breaking through into the provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar from neighboring Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have yet to prove their viability in the right to power in Kabul.
Let me remind you: the Afghan Taliban movement was formed in the south of the country-the zone of traditional residence of the two largest tribal unions "Gilzai" and "Durrani"(or "Abdali"). It was created by the Pashtun Gilzai.
In contrast to the origins, representatives of the Nurzai tribe and Popolzai — the Durrani union-are in power in the Afghan Taliban today.
ISIS began its exodus in the east, because of the "Durand line" (demarcated in 1893) — the actual border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the union of the "Karrani" (or "Karlani") tribes traditionally lives — Wazirs, Safis, Momands, Afridi, Shinwari, Masud (Mehsud), Hugyani, Orakzai, Jadran, etc.

Karrani is another Pashtun community-they are from the "Tribal Zone", the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (until 2010 the "North-Western Border Province"), which includes South and North Waziristan-the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. The jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan does not apply in the Tribal Area.
For example: under pressure, at the expense of and jointly with the United States the armed forces of Pakistan conducted a series of large-scale military operations against the Taliban in the Tribal Zone in 2001-2021 with the use of strike bomber aircraft. The confrontation claimed the lives of a large number of Pakistani civilians and military personnel.
Another big problem of the Taliban who came to power in Kabul will be the aggravation of the dormant "conflict of the north and the south". Inhabited by Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Hazaras, Pamir peoples and other ethnic groups.minorities are a conglomerate that is not ready to unconditionally accept the power of the Pashtuns, who do not want to share it and will demand the participation of their representatives in the management of the state. An example of this is the Panjshir resistance of the Tajiks under the leadership of Ahmad Masud. The Taliban are not ready to allow an island of uncontrolled territory in the central part of the country.
The Panjshir people also have nowhere to retreat. It is necessary to calm down pride and start negotiating.
Will the Taliban have enough wisdom not to get bogged down in internecine wars? It is becoming more obvious that the Taliban are on the way to unite the tribal territories and create a state of Pashtunistan.
What awaits them at the stage of managing Afghanistan? An empty state treasury, the collapse of the state administration system, the collapse of the army, people enslaved by fear.
Bearing in mind the inconclusive withdrawal of the ISAF coalition from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, it is hard to believe that the West will help the Taliban restore the national economy.

QUESTION: What, in your opinion, is the reason for the endless troubles of the Afghan people for decades?

ANSWER: The main reason is foreign interference. The second reason is the lack of acceptance by the Afghan society at different historical stages-by kings Amanullah Khan (1919-1929) and Zahir Shah (1933-1973); by Presidents Mohammad Daoud Khan (1973-1978), Nur Mohammad Taraki (1978-1979)-of socio-economic and political changes in the country's Constitution. Reforms here have always led to popular unrest, to the loss of the ruler's throne, and someone's life, and not only the actual monarch, but also many of his relatives. Property and inheritance rights, the main of which is" on the land", have been inherited for centuries, and are inviolable for Afghans, like their faith — Islam.

For initiation into the subject, I will give a dialogue of one of the heroes of my military-historical novel "In the KUNDUZ CIRCLE" Rust with an Afghan mujahid named Khalfutdin:
"There is an undeclared war going on," Rust said loudly, " and Soviet soldiers are dying! We are here to help the Saur Revolution free the Afghan people from oppression”.
— We don't need to be freed from anyone! Halfutdin objected. - Leave us alone! Our way of life has remained unchanged for centuries. We don't know how to live differently! And most importantly, we don't want to! The most precious thing we have is our Islam. Your top leadership, before sending troops here, should have studied the history of Afghanistan: Emir Zahir Shah, who was deposed in 1973 after forty years of rule, repeated the fate of another Afghan ruler, Amanullah Khan, who lost power in 1929, and, like him, is living out his life in exile. In both cases, reforms were to blame for everything: the desire to build a secular society, blind imitation of the West, the USSR with its communist ideology, the rejection of the age-old way of life and traditions of their ancestors, up to the abolition of the wearing of the veil by Afghan women. We don't want such an Afghanistan!"

QUESTION: Your novel-trilogy "In the KUNDUZ CIRCLE" was published in separate stories and chapters — in the overwhelming number of Russian literary and art magazines, the presentation took place at the headquarters of the Russian Military Historical Society, which indicates the level of trust in your work from historians and military authorities. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation highly appreciated the work, calling it increasing the prestige of our Armed Forces in the world, serving to strengthen patriotism among the personnel and the younger generations of defenders of the Fatherland, recommending that it be filmed and provided with a wide film distribution abroad. It is also known that the novel is nominated for the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. Could you tell us about your future plans?

ANSWER: The main thing, in my opinion, is that the novel was accepted by the same Afghan veterans as me. They are the most strict and grateful reader. Many of those who passed the Afghan War (1979-1989) recognized themselves and their comrades in the heroes of the work. I believe that the best human qualities: true friendship, a sense of duty, love for the Motherland, courage, self — sacrifice, empathy, respect for the traditions of another people, faith in the victory of good over evil are equally valuable and relevant both in Russia and in Europe, America, and East Asia.
I have chosen a difficult, but, as it seems to me, the right path — I am moving towards creating a film based on my novel, but with the hands of foreign filmmakers-a director, actors, producer, moreover, with funds raised abroad.
Released on a wide expanse, the film is planned to be presented at the leading international film festivals — in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Tokyo, Hollywood and others.
Yes, this is not an easy task! The promotion of universal values in the implemented national projects of culture and art, along with the desire to dominate the military-political arena, are important for states to a similar extent. The evidence that I am on the right track is the assessments of the novel "In the CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ" received from foreign filmmakers in Germany, the Scandinavian states, the USA and other countries. They note the deep knowledge of the author, who is a direct participant in those historical processes, of their essence; the images are seen as authentic — not fictional; heroes cause a desire to be like them, corresponding to the slogan: "THE STORY OF HEROES, AMONG WHOM YOU WANT TO LIVE!

Iliyas DAUDI