Welcome to Azerbaijan!

If you are traveling along the Great Silk Road, then after Turkey you can get to the Republic of Azerbaijan - a little-known country, a foreigner is not always clear, and therefore interesting. The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the South Caucasus at the crossroads of civilizations between Russia, Turkey and Iran. Accordingly, both in the historical past and in the present, the country is experiencing the influence of the cultures of all these countries. Azerbaijan is a regional transport hub. If you look at the map, all convenient routes from the West to the East and from the North to the South lie through Azerbaijan, which can be called the gateway of Europe to the Middle East and to Central Asia.

Azerbaijan is a split country (since 1813), 10 million people live in the north - in the Republic of Azerbaijan and about 30 million people live in Iran, mostly Iranian Azerbaijan, which is in the north of the country. Azerbaijan in the past has much to be proud of and much more than in modern times:

• the birthplace of Zoroastrianism;
• One of the centers of the medieval Sufi movement;
• the country where the Shiite branch of Islam first became the state religion (16th century);
• the country of the first industrial oil boom (the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century);
• The first opera and the first democratic republic in the Muslim East (1918-1920);
• One of the main centers of the social democratic movement in Tsarist Russia (early 20th century).
• a country where in 1918 the right to vote was given to women.
• a country with magical carpets, miniatures, magical cuisine, rich in musical culture and poetry. With a developed imagination, you can imagine that you are in a country of 1001 nights ...

Unfortunately, all this is in the past, independent Azerbaijan (since 1991) has bad records in the Human Rights, Bad governance and Corruption indices. From 1993 to this day, Azerbaijan in the indices of Freedom House is defined as not free Country. The country has been ruled since 1993 by a family clan founded by President Heydar Aliyev. Now his son is in power - President Ilham Aliyev, and he appointed his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva as the first vice-president. All the other close and distant relatives of the family are also in high positions in government and business.

Azerbaijan is an oil country, oil money accounts for 94% of budget export revenues. Carboresources of the country are important for European consumers who are involved in their development.

As it was noted by many researchers, oil (and other valuable natural resources), in countries with untapped democratic institutions, is both an advantage and a curse for society. The non-oil sector is not developing. The authorities, having oil money lose interest in society, become unaccountable for their citizens. The economic and social situation in Azerbaijan is entirely dependent on world oil prices. Due to the fall in world oil prices, GDP per capita dropped from $ 7,875 in 2013 to $ 3,865.34 in 2018

Neither civil nor economic rights in the country are guaranteed. Property rights are not respected, which is the main obstacle to business development. A person can engage in business (medium and large) only if he has contacts in the government. The judicial system and law enforcement agencies are subordinate to the executive branch. There are two factions in parliament - the faction "That's right!" And "That's right, Your Excellency!" The media are entirely under the control of the authorities. Freedom of speech has been preserved only on the Internet, on social networks and blogs.

Political opposition and dissent are generally depressed. There are about 80 political prisoners in the country. Not only dissidents themselves are repressed, but their relatives as well, none of them is allowed to workplaces in both state institutions and business structures - the well-known Verbotene Berufe is a ban on the profession.

Yet, the main national problem is not ignoring civil rights and not unemployment, but the war with Armenia around the Azerbaijani region - Karabakh. This war is already 30 years old, during this time about 11 thousand Azerbaijani citizens and 6.5 thousand Armenians died. The war has generated 750,000 Azerbaijani and 300,000 Armenian refugees, 14% of Azerbaijani territory is still under Armenian occupation. Occupation, refugees and military spending put a heavy burden on the country's economy.

Over the past 30 years of war, constant peace negotiations have been conducted with the assistance of international observers, but so far, they have not been successful. Some observers associate this with the position of Russia, which, in their opinion, is interested in continuing the conflict in order to bind both Armenia and Azerbaijan to itself.

Another important topic for the country today is the process of European integration. Azerbaijan is a member of the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Today, the European Union is making significant efforts to accelerate the integration of Azerbaijan into the EU, but Azerbaijan does not show much enthusiasm here, especially because of the EU"s demand to stop the persecution of dissidents and guarantee the civil and economic rights of the population. Azerbaijan also refuses to join the World Trade Organization for fear of increasing foreign influence on the economy and trade of the country, which is completely monopolized by the ruling clan.

It cannot be said that the ruling family in the country does not like Europe. However, if the government is striving for European integration, then in a very strange manner, Europe in which it seeks is not a community of free people and high-tech production, but Europe of consumption and luxury living. Not to become Europe, but to look stylish, in a European way, this is the dream of the ruling regime in the country. For this purpose, the first European Games, Eurovision Song Contest, Formula 1, and the UEFA Champions League Final were held in the country. Members of the ruling family are always dressed in the latest fashion and often donate money to restore European monuments...

As you can see, the picture of Azerbaijani life does not look very nice. However, if you do not notice the above problems, then tourists have something to look at and from what to enjoy in Azerbaijan. During the period of active oil production, the country received $ 130 billion, $ 100 billion has already been spent, some of this money was stolen, but a considerable part was spent on improving the infrastructure and upgrading the capital - Baku, a beautiful city that has both medieval and modern architecture. The capital with a population of three million is located on the shores of the Caspian Sea and has beautiful beaches in the suburbs. Military tension in the Karabakh conflict zone in the capital is unnoticed. Baku is partly reminiscent of the Mediterranean sunny cities, where people are cheerful and carefree; they work to live, and not live to work.

Azerbaijanis are friendly, hospitable and always ready to help a foreigner. The core of the national character of Azerbaijanis was formed under the decisive influence of the medieval Turkic military-feudal code of honor, information about which can be drawn from the great Turkic epics "Dede Gorgut" (11th century) or "Koroglu" (16th century):

• all or nothing;
• valor is better than good;
• defeat is worse than death;
• asking for help is a shameful thing;
• impulses of the soul in any direction find every understanding;
• frugality is stinginess;
• the guest is holy;
• Caution is cowardice.

I note that serfdom, as a rule, strongly influencing the national character, was not in Azerbaijan.

Islam has a great influence on the national mentality, which demands patience from its followers, control over their emotions, and a decent dose of authoritarianism - submissively to elders, authorities, and any authorities in general. "You can sit in the place where there is no Allah, but never sit where there is no supervisor (aqsaggal)", - and such "wise" authoritarian advice in folklore is not few.

Azerbaijanis are not very religious, although 96% of the population during the polls define themselves as Muslims; however, those who follow the Muslim procedures (namaz, fasting, refusal to drink, etc.) are only 17% among the respondents.

Azerbaijani society is extremely tolerant, the country will not meet extreme manifestations of religious intolerance, ethnic nationalism, and there is no anti-Semitism in the country. All this is explained by a certain "Azerbaijan universalism", which allows outsiders to find easily a common language with the local population.

The climate, and people, and resources, and culture contributes to the creation of some beautiful space in which people would live happy without lies and violence. However, something went wrong. So far, the independence won in hard struggle has not brought her supporters a decent life.

However, the struggle continues. Despite the massive repression, supporters of democracy and human rights are finding forms of protest that do not allow the authorities to completely subjugate society. The year 2019 was declared in the country as the year of the great Azerbaijani Sufi poet Nasimi (1369 - 1417 brutally executed by the obscurantist ruler in Aleppo (Syria), and right after that the appeal of Nasimi to freedom for the oppressed person began to spread in social networks:

"O nightingale blessed

Why are you still in

are you suffering in the cage?

Destroy your dungeon and demand a new one rose garden for yourself