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The Russian ultra-nationalist dubbed Putins Rasputinby Breitbart News when it was run by PresidentDonald Trumps chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has emerged as an unlikely foreign-policy fixer for the Kremlin.

AlexanderDugin, whose bushy beard gives him a passing resemblance to the Siberian mystic who bewitched the last czars family, says he played a key but largely clandestine role in patching up Russias relations with Turkey, an account confirmed by a senior figure in Ankara. And with people he calls ideological allies now in the White House, Dugin says hes bullish on better ties with the U.S., too.

Photographer: Alexander Vilf/Sputnik

After Turkey shot down a Russian warplane along the Syrian border in 2015, prompting World War III to trend on Twitter, the firebrand philosopher used his contacts in both countries to form a backchannel that helped Vladimir Putin and PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoganend an increasingly dangerous feud, according to a retired Turkish general who flew to Moscow for secret talks.

The rapprochement allowed Putin to outmaneuver the Obama administration and turn the tide in Syrias civil war on behalf ofBashar al-Assad. ForDugin, whose views on the evils of liberalism have been cited by Bannon and other far-right leaders, it also moved Russia a step closer to fulfilling his vision of unwinding the U.S.-led global order, in part by luring Turkey away from NATO and creating a Russo-Islamic pact that includes Iran.

Dugin, the son of a Soviet military-intelligence official, said being independent makes him an effective go-between in matters of state. The 55-year-old rabble-rouser, blacklisted by the U.S. for aiding the insurgency in Ukraine, has no official post. But he has advised a member of Putins inner circle and written a textbook on geopolitics thats been used by the military.

I can talk to people like an official cant,Duginsaid in his Moscow office at Tsargrad TV, where hes a commentator and chief editor. A diplomat says what hes told. What does a military man say? Even less. And an intelligence officer? Nothing at all. You dont understand where the truth lies. I speak from the perspective of geopolitics. Thats why the Turks started to trust me.

Dugin, whos been described as everything from an occult fascist to a mystical imperialist, lost his prestigious job running the sociology department at Moscow State University in 2014 after activists accused him of encouraging genocide. Thousands of people signed a petition calling for his removal after a rant in support of separatists in Ukraine in which he said, kill, kill, kill.

The Kremlin, which gave the prolific polemicist prominent airtime on the biggest networks to cheerlead during the annexation of Crimea in 2014, has kept him at arms length since he criticized Putin for not taking more of Ukraine. When asked ifDuginplayed a role in the detente with Turkey, Putins spokesman,Dmitry Peskov, said, No.

Hes seen as a brilliant philosopher, but brilliance and madness are very close to each other, said Sergei Markov, a political consultant to Putins staff. Even thoughDugins not an official envoy, Markov said, he appears to have given the Turks some very good advice.

Duginmade everyone happy by organizing a November visit to Crimea by a Turkish delegation that included one of Erdogans cousins, a few weeks after meeting Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara, Markov said. The trip was a major fillip for Russias efforts to gain recognition for Putins annexation of the Black Sea peninsula, which provoked U.S. and European sanctions.

Incredibly beautifulone of the best moments of my life, Dugin said after Trumps inauguration.

Dugins writings, in dozens of books and countless blogs, have made him an influential thinker not only in Turkey, but also Iran, wheres hes a frequent visitor, and among anti-establishment parties that are on the rise throughout the West, a trend that is welcomed by Russias leadership.

Apart from Turkey only two countries really pay attention to meIran and the U.S.,Duginsaid.

The foreword to one of his books was written by a retired U.S. professor, Paul Gottfried, a Trump supporter who was among the first political philosophers to use the term alternative right to describe the radical conservative movement. In July 2016, a month before he joined the Trump campaign, Bannon described Breitbart as the platform for the alt-right.

In a video address to a Vatican conference in 2014, Bannon, whose White House role has beenelevated to include a seat on Trumps National Security Council, defended the traditionalist views espoused byDuginand other nationalists who want sovereignty for their country. Dugin said hes never met Bannon.

Dugins role in resolving the crisis with Erdogan over the jet incident was confirmedby Ismail Hakki Pekin, a former head of Turkish military intelligence. He was one of five members of the Patriotic Party, including a fellow retired general and a retired admiral, who flew to Moscow in December 2015 for four days of meetings thatDuginarranged with current and retired Russian officers.

Russian warplane violating Turkish airspace is downed in Kizildag region of Turkey's Hatay province, close to the Syrian border, on November 24, 2015. A jet brought down after violating Turkish airspace was given 10 warnings over a five-minute period.

Photographer: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

During the visit,Dugintook the Turkish delegation to a secret room in a special place to meet his benefactor,Konstantin Malofeev, a multimillionaire with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, Pekin said in an interview in Ankara.

Duginand Malofeev, whos also under U.S. sanctions for supporting the revolt in Ukraine, started Tsargrad, an old name for Constantinople, in 2015 and the TV channel now has some 20 million viewers. It was the only major station to carry a speech former Trump adviserCarter Pagegave in Moscow last year.

Pekin saidDuginintroduced Malofeev as Putins right-hand man, and the Turks came to learn the financier really can knock on Putins door.

Thats how the trip became effective, Pekin said. We knew what we said went directly to Putin.

And what they said was that Erdogan had nothing to do with downing the bomber the previous month. Pekin said he and his colleagues were successful in convincing the Russians they spoke with, including two plainclothes generals, that rogue elements in the military were responsible for the shootdown.

It was a conspiracy involving followers ofFethullah Gulen, a reclusive cleric based in Pennsylvania, and U.S. and NATO officials who wanted to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey, said Pekin, who briefed senior diplomats and military officials in Ankara after the Moscow trip.

Pekin saidDuginhad sought out the two retired Turkish generals and former admiral specifically because they all had a history opposing Erdogan and spent time in jail for alleged plots to overthrow the government, which made them more credible in the eyes of their Russian interlocutors.

Vladimir Putin and Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in October.

Photographer: Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant via Getty Images

In March, with tensions between Putin and Erdogan still simmering,Duginflew to Ankara for a follow up visit that included talks with relatives of Erdogan and other influential figures.

Duginsaid he told the Turks that arresting the person accused of shooting dead one of the Russian pilots as he tried to parachute to safety would go along way toward re-establishing relations. The next day, on March 30, the suspect was taken into custody in the eastern city of Izmir.

They said they were carrying out an investigation and that Erdogan would apologize, saidDugin, who passed on the information to Russian officials.

Three months later, on June 27, with Turkeys economy squeezed by the trade curbs Russia introduced after the shootdown, Erdogan finally expressed regret for the incident, paving the way for a resumption of ties.

But less than three weeks later, on July 15, something Malofeev andDugin warned about back in that secret room came truean attempted coup by disgruntled members of the military, according to Pekin.

Malofeev dismissed the assertion hes Putin's right-hand man as a flattering exaggeration. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, denied the financier played a role in the rapprochement with Turkey.

Dugin, a dissident in the 1980s who co-founded the National Bolshevik party after communism ended, was in Ankara at the time of the military revolt. He gave a series of TV interviews in support of the Turkish leaders decision to mend ties with Russia, the last of which, at state-run TRT Haber, concluded just 2 1/2 hours before the coup plotters seized the station.

Erdogan blamed Gulen and his U.S. benefactors for the putsch, responding with a sweeping crackdown of suspected Gulenists that has upended society and driven Turkey and Russia closer together. The re-energized partnership was put to the test in December, when Russias ambassador to Turkey was assassinated by a police officer in Ankara.

That was the last attempt by the outgoing U.S. administration and the globalists to disrupt Russias rapprochement with Turkey,Duginsaid.

Duginhas delighted in watching Russia and Turkey take the reins in resolving the Syrian crisis, elbowing the U.S. aside.

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Dugin, who has long predicted the demise of the Wests liberal hegemony, said the election of Trump has been a watershed development that promises to change the course of world history.

Incredibly beautifulone of the best moments of my life, he said after Trumps inauguration.

After decades of railing against Washington for seeking the Westernization of all of humanity, Trumps elevation has led to a Damascene conversion for Dugin, who declared anti-Americanism over.

America not only isnt an opponent, its a potential ally under Trump, he said.

NowDugins focusing on Europe, where hes been cultivating ties with anti-establishment parties that threaten a political and military union seven decades in the making.

With key elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands this year, the Russian polemicist has a new mantra for Europe thats ripped straight out of Trumps campaign playbook:

Drain theswamp.

With assistance from Stepan Kravchenko and JoshuaGreen.

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The One Russian Linking Putin, Erdogan and Trump - Bloomberg