The Azerbaijan Report 1: First Impressions

Okay, I'm all set to report on my visit to Azerbaijan, where I am this minute, ensconced in the venerable Soviet-era Hotel Absheron (aka "Hotel Abyssmal"). More about that later.

I will post identical items to both my blogs, Campanastan and WaterWired.

Robert's comment (on WaterWired) about my enjoying Quiet Riot's classic Cum On Feel The Noize on my Lufthansa flights was on target. Note that Quiet Riot not only covers the hits of, but follows the Slade school of spelling. Hot Chocolate's Every 1's A Winner, the fuzz-funk classic, was also another rediscovered gem on Lufthansa's awesome audio selection. But enough about music.

Back to my hotel. It's seen better days, as oil-rich Baku erects more modern and functional hotels left and right. The Absheron is refurbishing its rooms, and I was fortunate enough to get a room on a refurbished floor, which means a working toilet, TV, and refrigerator. But I am right by the Caspian Sea and can see it from my window.

Below is the view from my room, looking south. That's the Caspian Sea and a seaside park. The downtown is to the right.

The service staff is typical of the "Sovet-era" hospitality, best described as "You're paying for the room, you expect service, too?" Most staff have that I'm-shouldering-the-weight-of-the-world-so-I-cannot- be-bothered-with-your-petty-request look. You want soap? Hah! But what should I expect for USD 130/night? There are large numbers of tourists here, including the ubiquitous Japanese, with whom Azerbaijan has a very close relationship. Add the South Koreans, who are building a huge new port about 60 km south of Baku.

Baku is a very cosmopolitan ("European") city with a population of about 2M, around 25% of the country's total population (8.6M). There are many expatriates here, mainly because of the oil and gas industry. The city's opulence is everywhere. Mercedes and BMWs abound, and even the police drive BMW cruisers. There are a few Hummers and many Range and Land Rovers and Lexus SUVs. Upscale shops are not hard to find. Excellent restaurants featuring many cuisines are abundant. It's fat city, all right. And the merchants seem to prefer dollars to euros!

Although Baku is wealthy I've been told that the rest of the country is not as affluent.

Recall that Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, but I can count on one finger the number of mosques I've seen in Baku, and on one hand to count all the women wearing head scarves. I've heard no call to prayers, as I did in Cairo. The country follows a secular Islam, much like Turkey, with whom there is a strong bond. When I visited my colleague Bahruz's office on Friday morning, he proudly greeted me with a bottle of Azerbaijan cognac and insisted we down two shots. Then we visited the analytical lab, always a good thing to do after cognac. Yes, Azerbaijan now produces cognac as well as wine, but neither rivals the cognac of Armenia and wine of Georgia. But then again, Azerbaijan has two fluids neither of its neighbors has much of: oil and gas.

Below is a Soviet SS-20 nuclear missile silo cleverly disguised as a 12th-century A.D. tower in Baku's Old Town. Ah, those crafty Soviets! This one was capable of reaching Istanbul, provided the wind was blowing in the right direction and the rocket didn't explode upon takeoff.  

In the early 20th century, Baku provided about 50% of the world's oil; in World War II, it provided about 95% of the Soviet Union's needs. Today, most of the onshore fields are spent and the production has moved offshore. They send 1M barrels per day of the stuff through the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) pipline, delivering the oil to the Turkish Mediterrean port, passing neither through Russian territory nor Armenia, with whom Azerbaijan is "at odds" over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. There is also a BTE (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) natural gas pipeline that connects to a larger pipeline system in the Turkish city of Erzurum.

For a small country, Azerbaijan has great variety. The only climatic zones it does not have are arctic and tropical. In the north, elevations in the Caucasus Mountains exceed 4000m (13,000 feet). Forested slopes are in contrast to the 'semi-desert' around Baku.

Azeris form the major ethnic group, comprising about 87% of the 8.6M residents. Talysh comprise about 5%, then Lezgins, Russians, Armenians, and 'Others'. Some have told me that there are issues with some of the ethnic groups, especially the ones near the Russian border, that could portend problems. And Azerbaijan worries whenever the USA talks of attacking Iran, becuase that would likely trigger an influx of refugees. There are more Azeris (15M) in Iran than in Azerbaijan, and many would likely flee Iran in the event of an attack.

   

The USA is close to Azerbaijan and vice-versa, and since Azerbaijan provides the West with plenty of oil and gas, we are wont to overlook its shortcomings vis-a-vis corruption and human rights. The President is Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father, the revered Heydar Aliyev, who died in 2003. There are still pictures of the "old man" all over the place. Some pundits predict problems when the son leaves power.

My friend Bahruz's conversation is peppered with phrases like "during Soviet period" or "after Soviet period". That seems like a more natural time reference point than AD/BCE. What we in the West don't realize is how much suffering the former Soviet republics endured after the Union's dissolution. And Azerbaijan and Armenia fought over Nagorno-Karabakh. Bahruz is quick to add that Russia is interested in keeping the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict unresolved, and that without the hand of Moscow, Azerbaijan and Armenia could solve the problem. 

Bahruz asked me an interesting question yesterday: "What is it with President Bush on TV? He seems so unserious." He noted that Bush seems almost buffoonish on TV, unlike Putin, who is always serious. Bahruz wondered about Bush's IQ. I told him Bush has degrees from Yale and Harvard, two of the world's best universities. He gave me a puzzled look. 

As is the case with residents of many countries, Azerbaijanis do not think highly of our government but like Americans. The Presidential race is followed quite closely here. Bahruz and his wife like Obama, but she worries he will be assassinated. Bahruz wondered why with such a populous country we have so much trouble finding good candidates to run for President.

With that, it is time to turn in here - I am 12 hours ahead of PDT. More to come later, after I visit the terribly despoiled (like its namesake hotel) Absheron Peninsula.  Bahruz tells me we will visit a wonderful swimming beach. I couldn't tell if he was kidding me. If we do visit a beach, it will probably have "No Smoking" signs.

"Intelligence is in the head, not in the age." -- Azerbaijani proverb