ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Progress seen on Garabagh after leaders’ talks
Sunday’s talks, held in Munich, Germany between Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, were constructive and progress was made “in some areas”, the OSCE mediators brokering the peace process have said.
“During this meeting, the sixth such meeting this year, the two presidents engaged in a detailed and in-depth discussion of the most important unresolved points in the co-chairs' proposals. The talks, which lasted almost four hours, were constructive. In some areas, progress was made. At the same time, some issues still remain open,” the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United States - said in a joint statement.
Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian instructed their foreign ministers to continue working with the co-chairs on these matters. As a next step, the mediators are organizing a working session with the two ministers in advance of the OSCE Ministerial Council, which will take place December 1-2 in Athens, the statement said.
The Azerbaijani government has confirmed that progress had been made at the presidential talks in bringing closer both sides’ positions. Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said the significance of the meeting is also noted in its lasting nearly four hours.
The presidents met at the residence of the French Consul General in Munich at the initiative of the Minsk Group co-chairs. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian, as well as the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the talks.
The French Foreign Ministry said earlier that the talks were to focus on returning the Armenia-occupied territories surrounding Upper Garabagh to Azerbaijani control; security and granting an interim status to the region allowing for self-administration; creating a corridor linking Armenia with Upper Garabagh; determining the region’s final legal status; providing guarantees for the return of Azerbaijani refugees to their homes; and stationing peacekeeping forces in the region.
Further, Reuters quoted French co-chairman Fassier as saying that "some difficulties" had been identified despite significant progress in the peace process. He did not elaborate due to confidentiality and only said the presidents had, for the first time, exchanged views on so many issues. Along with unresolved matters, the two leaders discussed new topics, Fassier said.
Also, US mediator Robert Bradtke said he was impressed by the political will to seek a settlement, BBC News reported.
"I think today what was impressive was the way the two presidents worked with us ... and their willingness to discuss points that are quite difficult and quite controversial and I think, as someone who is relatively new to this process, that is what impressed me the most," he said.
Russia’s Yury Merzlyakov said he had called on the presidents to refrain from making strongly-worded statements against each other at this sensitive time in peace talks and from rhetoric about seeking a military solution to the long-standing dispute.
The Azerbaijani leader said last week that the latest meeting should be crucial for resolving the conflict. In remarks broadcast on Azerbaijan’s TV channel on Saturday, President Aliyev warned that the Munich talks were the final hope of settling the issue peacefully and, if the meeting failed to reach agreement, he would be "left with no other option” but to use force to free the country’s occupied land.
"We have the full right to liberate our land by military means," he said.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war there in the 1990s that claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks have been fruitless so far. Azerbaijan has never ruled out military action to liberate its land and has spent billions on dollars on building up its military.
The meeting was the first since Armenia and Turkey, Azerbaijan’s ally, moved to normalize their strained relations after a century of hostility caused by Armenia’s occupying Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on alleged World War I-era genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
Armenian pullout ‘agreed’
Some world media outlets have released reports saying an agreement had been reached during Sunday’s talks on Armenia’s returning some of the occupied Azerbaijani territories soon.
Euronews, the European Union’s news network, reported that the two countries’ leaders had discussed a framework accord envisioning an Armenian pullout. The report quoted a diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity following the meeting of Presidents Aliyev and Sarkisian. Euronews said the presidents had achieved significant progress on the framework agreement but did not reach a final accord. Under the agreement, Armenia will pull out of five of the seven districts around Upper Garabagh, but the region itself and the strategic Lachin district which links it with Armenian territory will remain under occupation.
According to the Turkish Haberler.com website, Armenian officials said during the Munich talks that it could withdraw from Kalbajar, another strategic district, by the end of 2009. Yerevan’s goal is both to soften Baku’s stance and to secure approval of the agreement on mending ties Armenia recently signed with Turkey, Azerbaijan’s ally, in the Turkish parliament.
Haberler.com said a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the report.
“Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 immediately after Armenian forces invaded the Kalbajar district, and the key pre-condition for reopening the border is the return of Kalbajar,” the source said.
Armenia threatens to recognize rebel region
The Armenian president’s spokesman has claimed Yerevan could recognize the “independence” of the self-proclaimed Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh republic or sign an agreement on mutual assistance with it if tension around the self-styled entity continues to grow.
Samvel Fermanian said Armenia has not recognized the so-called independence since that the move would hamper peace talks underway with Azerbaijan.
“But if peace talks grind to a halt and military action begins, nothing will stand in the way of Armenia’s recognizing Upper Garabagh’s independence,” Fermanian warned.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for over a decade. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory since the end of warfare in the early 1990s. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned last week that if Sunday’s talks with his Armenian counterpart in Munich failed to reach agreement, Azerbaijan would be "left with no other option” but to free its occupied territories by military means.
POLITICS
Aliyev among world’s 500 most influential Muslims
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has been included in the book "500 most influential Muslims of the world".
The book, published under the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding of Georgetown University, underscores that Aliyev is the leader of a country whose citizens follow the basis of moderate Islam and which is an active member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazada, the Caucasus Muslims Office (CCO) chairman, is another representative from Azerbaijan in this list.
The book also includes Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, Saudi King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as well as Iran’s clerical leaders and the rulers of the Asian Muslim countries.
ECONOMICS
Baku hosts first Azeri-Belgian business forum
An Azeri-Belgian business forum was held for the first time in Baku on Monday. The event was attended by 15 Belgian and about 40 Azeri entrepreneurs.
Samir Valiyev, the head of the Azerbaijan Economic Development Ministry’s office, said Belgium is mainly represented by companies engaged in agriculture, industries, transport, and consulting services.
Valiyev said Azeri-Belgian relations were developing. He added that, despite the world economic crisis, bilateral trade turnover increased 46% to $66 million from January-September in comparison with the same period in 2008.
Emin Eyyubov, the Azeri ambassador to Belgium, told the foreign businessmen that tourism, industries and agriculture are the priority sectors for the fast-growing South Caucasus republic and are attractive for channeling investment.
Philip Jotard, Belgian Ambassador in Baku, voiced confidence that cooperation between the two countries would continue to expand.
“As for which sector in Azerbaijan investment could be made in, this will be up to investors. Businessmen working in seven fields are represented at the current business forum. Investments could go to agriculture, industries, construction and other sectors. But the final say is up to the businessmen.”
OIL & GAS
Devon Energy to sell its ACG stake
The U.S. company Devon Energy is selling its share in the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) offshore unit in Azerbaijan, hoping to focus on mining projects in the U.S.
"We will sell our stake in the ACG project, as well as all our international assets, including assets in the Gulf of Mexico," Devon Energy spokesman Chip Minty wrote in an e-mail to Trend Capital on Monday.
According to Minty, Devon Energy has decided to focus its activities on onshore projects in North America, "where the company has more opportunities to drill."
Some reports have circulated that Devon Energy will sell its share in the first quarter of 2010.
Devon Energy has a 5.62-percent equity share in the ACG project. Its total reserves exceed 900 million tons.
ACG participating interests are: BP (operator - 34.1 percent), Chevron (10.2 percent), Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR (10 percent), INPEX (10 percent), StatoilHydro (8.6 percent), ExxonMobil (8 percent), TPAO (6.8 percent), Devon (5.6 percent), ITOCHU (3.9 percent), and Delta Hess (2.7 percent).
In the first three quarters of 2009, BP produced over 224 million barrels of oil from the ACG fields, which on average is over 822,100 bpd, BP said last week.
The Baku-Supsa pipeline stretching to the Black Sea coast of Georgia transports a variety of Azeri light oil produced in the field. The project partners, excluding ExxonMobil and Devon Energy, transport major volumes of oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export pipeline to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
ExxonMobil and Devon Energy, which are not involved in the BTC project, transport their crude by rail toward Georgia’s Black Sea ports.
HEALTH
Swine flu concerns allayed
The last patient being treated for A/H1N1 (swine flu) in Azerbaijan has been discharged from hospital, allaying concerns over the virus, Health Ministry official Viktor Gasymov said.
14 cases of swine flu have been reported in the country so far. All the patients have recovered, officials noted.
The first two H1N1 cases were reported in Azerbaijan this past July in two persons who contracted the virus while in France and Britain. Early in November, the Health Ministry confirmed 11 more cases in Azerbaijani citizens who had returned from Ukraine and Turkey, people who were in contact with them, as well as a foreign national who visited Britain. Further, health officials reported one more case of A/H1N1 infection in a Baku resident.
Swine flu, which began to spread rapidly this spring, has killed thousands around the world.
MISCELLANEOUS
Italian historian traces Azeri roots in Leonardo da Vinci
World-famous painter Leonardo da Vinci could have had Azerbaijani roots, according to a sensational conclusion made by Italian historian Louis Buff Parry after many years of research.
Parry has established that da Vinci’s mother was apparently a Muslim who hailed from Azerbaijan and was brought to Italy as a slave.
However, the conclusion is just one of the theories. Other suppositions suggest the painter’s Oriental roots could be traced by examining fingerprints on his drawings, which were discovered a few years ago. The examination showed that the central pattern on da Vinci’s left index finger is inherent in 60 percent of Oriental people.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Azerbaijan blasts world powers over backing hostile neighbor
Azerbaijan has directed pounding criticism at the superpowers over supporting arch-foe Armenia, blaming the international community for failing to do enough to resolve the nearly two-decade-long Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov has said settling the dispute while maintaining Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity does not meet any other country’s interests. Azerbaijan is cooperating with the West in several large-scale energy projects but has not yet seen any benefits from this partnership in terms of resolving the Garabagh conflict, its most pressing problem, he told an international conference on South Caucasus security in Baku on Friday.
Further, Asgarov said the world’s leading policymakers are treating the issue with a double standard. He emphasized that during unrest in the Balkans, NATO promptly moved to solve the problem, while the Garabagh conflict was assigned to the mediating OSCE Minsk Group whose efforts have been unsuccessful for nearly two decades.
“The Minsk Group has accomplished nothing over 18 years. Is the world community waiting for Upper Garabagh to fall into Palestine’s state? International law has been left helpless at Armenia’s hands,” the vice-speaker said.
Commenting on the reasoning that the Armenian community is strong in the world’s leading countries, Asgarov said that “if US policy depends on the Armenian diaspora, this is ridiculous and I don’t want to believe that.”
According to Asgarov, international forces calling on Azerbaijan to seek a peaceful solution to the Garabagh conflict, actually, have no intention to assist the country.
“A NATO Parliamentary Assembly official has told me that no one wants to abandon Christian Armenia and help Muslim Azerbaijan,” Asgarov said.
Addressing international experts attending the conference, the vice-speaker said that, “if international law does not work, the leading countries should declare this from the UN rostrum.”
“That way Azerbaijan will know what to do. The international community has been insistently discouraging us from tackling a military solution of the conflict. But you should know that if Azerbaijan seeks to launch war, it won’t ask for permission from the United States, Russia, France [the co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group] or other leading powers. This will be a decision of the Azerbaijani people and their president,” Asgarov said.
Ethnic Armenians in Upper Garabagh, backed by Armenia, declared so-called independence in fighting that erupted as the Soviet Union headed towards its 1991 collapse. The Armenians invaded Upper Garabagh and seven surrounding Azeri districts before a cease-fire was declared in 1994. Some 30,000 people were killed and a million Azeris ousted from their homes as a result of the Armenian aggression. The Armenian armed forces continue occupying a part of Azerbaijani land, despite four UN resolutions calling for their unconditional pullout.
Similar harsh criticism of the world community came from Novruz Mammadov, the head of the Presidential Administration’s international relations department. He blamed the West over its failing to aid the country while supporting hostile Armenia.
“Despite financial and moral support to Armenia, which occupies Azerbaijan’s territory and Upper Garabagh, we have seen no substantial support from the U.S…The point is that, though we have been subjected to Armenia’s aggression, it has received $2 billion in the meantime, while we have not received a dime.”
Mammadov noted that, instead of providing assistance, the West has been reproaching Azerbaijan over human rights and other issues.
He said Azerbaijan will defend its intransigent position on the Garabagh conflict till the end and there is no need to pressure Baku in any manner.
“They say both inside the country and abroad that if Azerbaijan pursued democratic reform more swiftly, Western attitude would be different. But I don’t think this assertion is right, because we have hundreds of other facts at hand. Let’s just refer to the events involving Afghanistan in recent days. The world community, the presidents of 27 states convened and talked about providing assistance to Afghanistan, but no tough stance is being put forward over the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
“Let’s say that there is a dispute over the Upper Garabagh territory. How about the seven districts around Garabagh? Why isn’t the world community demanding an immediate end to the Armenian occupation of that land?” Mammadov asked.
Touching on the agreement signed by Turkey and Armenia to reopen the two countries’ shared border, which has long been shut, Mammadov said Western diplomats often say they are unable and have no time to discuss certain issues, but they had unexpectedly gathered in Switzerland for the signing of the Ankara-Yerevan protocols, and the documents were signed at the top level.
Turkey and Armenia face decades of enmity. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 following the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and past genocide claims. On October 10, in Zurich, the two governments signed two protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders in a bid to normalize their strained relations. The agreement has triggered a cool-down in Baku-Ankara relations, though the documents require parliamentary approval before taking effect, and Turkish officials have repeatedly made clear that Ankara could mend ties with Yerevan and open the border only after the Garabagh conflict has been fairly resolved.
Regarding the recent arrest of two bloggers in Azerbaijan, which was harshly criticized by international organizations, Mammadov said the West, and US media in particular, has begun watching this issue even more intensely than the Garabagh conflict, which is seen as a tool to pressure Azerbaijan.
The Presidential Administration official called on Western diplomats to “seriously think about Azerbaijan.” He said the country could play the role of a substantial mediator between the East and West and the Christian and Islamic worlds.
Mammadov said that, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the BBC radio in Arab countries, eight out of every ten people hate America. “The U.S. should seriously think about this survey,” he added.
International analysts and rapporteurs have tried to dismiss the strongly-worded criticism of their countries, shifting the focus to the Russia-Georgia conflict.
“Russia has shown that it is ignoring, and will continue to ignore, international law,” claimed Vladimir Socor, a senior scholar at the Jamestown Foundation.
To substantiate his opinion suggesting that Azerbaijan is not the only country facing the inaction of international law, Socor referred to the brief war fought by Russia and Georgia in 2008, when no steps were taken to defend Georgia’s territorial integrity despite support for Tbilisi by the West and the world community as a whole.
Speaking about the Garabagh conflict, Socor suggested that its settlement and the planned opening of the Turkey-Armenia border should be addressed not in parallel, but “synchronously.”
“Undoubtedly, the process of reopening the border should proceed along with the Garabagh settlement. But what is President Obama doing? Unfortunately, he is trying to disrupt this balance. Ratification of the Turkish-Armenian protocols and the Garabagh conflict settlement should not just proceed in parallel, but should be intertwined and proceed synchronously. This means that every step relating to the protocols issue should be backed up by a solution of the Garabagh problem. Undoubtedly, Turkey is trying to adhere to this very principle and, no matter how hard it is for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he will approve the needed decision. I hope that after Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. in December and his consultations with US leaders, the White House will begin employing a policy of synchronizing the protocols’ ratification with the Garabagh settlement.”
Turkey and Armenia face decades of enmity. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and past genocide claims. On October 10, in Zurich, the two governments signed two protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders in a bid to normalize their strained relations.
Oksana Antonenko of Britain’s International Institute for Strategic Studies made clear that the world community does not want war to again erupt in the South Caucasus region. She said last year’s armed conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia had adversely affected the situation in the region. On the other hand, the turbulent events had broken the ice over settlement of the Garabagh issue, Antonenko believes.
The international conference, entitled “Security challenges in the South Caucasus: realities and prospects for regional development,” was organized by the Strategic Research Center under the Azerbaijani President as part of a project being implemented jointly with the British institute.
The magnitude of the event is illustrated by the fact that it was joined by representatives of three influential think-tanks –John Hopkins University, the Heritage Foundation and the Jamestown Foundation. Reports on security issues and settling conflicts in post-Soviet states were delivered by leading analysts from a number of countries, including Britain, Belgium, Germany, Iran, Turkey, Georgia, and Russia.
ECONOMICS
Singaporean firm to build shipyard in Azerbaijan
Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine will build and commission a shipyard near the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR’s Deep Water Jacket Factory named after Heydar Aliyev, according to an agreement signed in Baku on Friday.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Singaporean company by SOCAR and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC). SOCAR holds a 70 percent stake in the initial stage of the project, while AIC holds 30 percent. Keppel Offshore & Marine intends to buy a 10 percent stake within the next three months and another 10 percent over the next three years.
The plant is to be built using existing infrastructure, which has reduced the initial estimated cost of the project. According to the preliminary feasibility study, $400 million was required to construct the facility, but the latest estimates have put the figure at $300 million to $350 million.
SOCAR will finance 30 percent of the project cost, while the rest will be covered by outside sources.
According to Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, the plant will be commissioned two to two and a half years after the start of construction operations, which are due to begin in late 2009 to early 2010. The shipyard will be equipped to up-to-date standards.
“The plant will be able to provide vessels both to the Caspian oil fleet and border services, the ministry of defense and other companies and entities operating in Azerbaijan,” Mustafayev said.
The shipyard will compliment the project to build a new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district outside Baku. Kazakhstan’s oil will be delivered through the terminal for further transit through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which transports Azerbaijan’s crude to world markets through Georgia and Turkey.
The enterprise is expected to have no competition in the region and it may take orders for building ships not only from domestic customers but also from other foreign countries.
Keppel Offshore & Marine is one of the largest offshore and marine groups in the world. The Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, was established in 2002.
OIL & GAS
SOCAR exec dismisses reports on turning down Nabucco
The Azeri state oil company SOCAR has dismissed reports claiming that Azerbaijan plans to turn down a proposed energy partnership with Europe.
Elshad Nasirov, SOCAR Vice-President, told journalists that the reports circulated by Russia’s Lenta.ru news website and the Bloomberg news agency distorted his earlier statement by claiming that the South Caucasus republic could refuse to take part in the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline project and redirect supplies of its gas to Asian markets.
“If there is no Western route for bringing hefty revenues to the country, Azerbaijan does not consider this as a taboo for accessing Eastern energy markets. In other words, we do not rule out the options of accessing either Western or Eastern markets.”
The SOCAR official said that, just as in past years, exporting natural gas to EU countries remains a priority for Azerbaijan.
“The European market is extremely lucrative because prices are determined here, not in the capital of any country but in the market proper,” Nasirov said.
He also said SOCAR was interested in refining its oil in areas closer to European markets, which would boost the country’s profits, adding that this could be done in any European country.
The numerous reports about Azerbaijan’s alleged plan to turn down gas supplies to Europe came after a setback in talks between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which is a major consumer of the South Caucasus republic’s gas and a potential transit state. Ankara demands that SOCAR offer a lower price for gas, which Baku refuses to do. The differences are actually playing into Moscow’s hands due to their undermining confidence in the Nabucco project, analysts say.
Turkey is buying SOCAR’s gas for $120 per 1,000 cubic meters, but pays as much as $250 for Russian fuel.
The Russian daily Vremya Novostey reported earlier that Russia, which previously signed a contract on gas deliveries with SOCAR, will be paying $190 for Azeri gas. Though the volume is rather insignificant – only 500 million cubic meters a year - it could be increased in the future if Baku and Moscow deem this necessary.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in October that talks on gas deliveries with Turkey were deadlocked, that Turkey is refusing to pay world-market prices for Azerbaijan’s gas and seeking a high fee for the transit of fuel. President Aliyev also warned that the country could seek other buyers of its gas, such as Russia and Iran.
Baku’s options include joining a gas pipeline project from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China, whose growing economy requires more and more energy resources. In fact, Turkmenistan has already decided to redirect part of its gas exports to China and increase the majority of its gas exports to Iran.
The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline, which is to pump gas via Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria, is expected to come online in 2014. The conduit will carry 31 billion cubic meters of gas annually, when fully operational. But according to Lenta.ru, sources of gas to fill the pipeline have yet to be found. Until recently, Azerbaijan had been considered the only country that could supply fuel, but its capacities do not suffice to fully fill the conduit, the report claimed.
Nabucco is deemed as a rival route for the Moscow-backed South Stream pipeline, which is being built by the Russian gas behemoth Gazprom and Italy's ENI.
Warning
A US official has urged Azerbaijan and Turkey to agree on the price of gas to be transported through the Nabucco pipeline, warning that energy companies will otherwise seek alternate options. Turkish news agencies quoted US Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar, as saying that the issue of finding sources of fuel for the Western-backed pipeline remains on the agenda.
“It is crystal clear that first gas delivery will come from Azerbaijan,” Morningstar told the European Policy Center think-tank. “But there is an issue that needs to be resolved straight away here. Why can’t Turkey and Azerbaijan agree upon the price of gas and its transit? We strongly encourage both countries to come to an agreement, because they have to agree to ensure further reliance on Nabucco and the confidence of companies joining the project. In our opinion they will, but they are moving slowly. In my view, both countries have to keep in mind that this agreement meets their strategic interests.”
According to Morningstar, if Azerbaijan and Turkey fail to reach agreement, energy companies and participating countries will move to consider other options.
“These alternatives could be delivering liquid and compressed gas to Europe across the Black Sea via White Stream. All options should and will be worked on. But the priority issue is trying to reach an Azerbaijan-Turkey accord. This will turn Turkey into a very powerful transit state for transporting Caucasus and Central Asian gas to Europe,” said Morningstar.
He added that other potential suppliers for Nabucco are Turkmenistan and Iraq, noting that Washington does not favor, however, Iran’s becoming part of the Southern Corridor.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the feasibility of the Nabucco project, saying finding sources of supplies remains a challenge. “There are three components of the Nabucco project – suppliers, transit states and consumer nations. The project, which has six partners, currently lacks a solid framework on the supply issue,” Erdogan told a news conference in Italy.
“Though only 15bn cubic meters are required at the initial stage, supplying this volume is still under a question mark,” he said.
“Turkey is not a supplier. The European Union is seeking to transport gas via Nabucco from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan during this stage. However, there are problems with the transit of Turkmen gas through Iran and the Caspian basin. On the other hand, the EU does not approve of transporting gas through Russian territory.”
Erdogan said, further, that Nabucco is not an alternative to the Russian-backed South Stream pipeline as these two projects compliment one another. Neither project will fully meet Europe’s needs for gas, he said.
“For this reason, Turkey will continue playing the role of a transit state in these projects,” Erdogan added.
POLITICS
Azerbaijan dismisses ‘refusal to grant NATO air space’
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has dismissed an Associated Press report claiming that Baku had refused to open up air space to Turkmenistan for the delivery of NATO cargo to Afghanistan.
He said the report had no merit, as thousands of aircraft head toward Afghanistan above Azerbaijan’s territory.
“All NATO states carry out flights through Azerbaijan with permission any time. We grant one-year authorization for such flights to some countries. There are no problems or difficulties in this area,” the deputy minister said.
Azimov noted, further, that talks have recently been underway with NATO on sending AWACS surveillance aircraft to Afghanistan through Azerbaijan. However, Baku has yet to respond to this proposal. Moreover, dispatching such planes requires an agreement among all countries granting access to their air space.
“This issue does not depend on Azerbaijan alone. It must be resolved by all countries lying along the route – from Turkey all the way to Afghanistan, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan,” Azimov said.*
NATO urged to provide security guarantees to its allies
NATO should provide security guarantees not only to its members but also its current allies, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said.
Azimov spoke at a conference entitled, “NATO’s new strategic concept: allies’ contribution to debate,” in Baku last week, saying the Euro-Atlantic region’s security depends on a concerted effort of the alliance’s member states and partners, otherwise there could be adverse consequences for the bloc’s future “architecture.”
“I suggest signing bilateral agreements between NATO and its partners. Along with responsibilities and obligations of both sides, such agreements should reflect security guarantees for the partner states.
Alleged nuclear reactors delivery to Armenia to be scrutinized
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said he was unaware of transporting reactors to Armenia’s nuclear power plant through Turkey’s territory, but Baku would scrutinize reports to that end.
Further, Azimov said the presence of nuclear reactors in Armenia poses a threat to the region, noting that Azerbaijan and other regional states, as well as the European Union, have previously called upon Yerevan to take action in this respect for many years.
“The EU is demanding a shutdown of the atomic power plant, taking into account the very low safety measures used in maintaining the nuclear reactors and high seismic activity in the region and in Armenia. Russia has devised a plan jointly with Armenia that envisions re-equipping or repairing the reactors. The reactors are presently managed and overseen by Russia.
“You can look at it this way: supplying reactors producing nuclear energy that are located in Armenia and controlled by Russia is a bilateral affair between these two countries. If Russia wants to do this work, we can view this only positively,” Azimov said.
He said that whether or not the reactors are delivered to Armenia through Turkey’s territory is a technical issue, but added: “Given that the Turkey-Armenia border remains shut, this transit should be viewed as an exclusive case.”
Hulusi Kilic, Turkey’s Ambassador in Baku, has labeled as false the reports on the reactors’ transfer via his country. “If the Turkey-Armenia border is closed, there can’t be transit either,” he said.
Armenia and Turkey have been at odds and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for over a decade.
REGION
Russia lowers price of gas sold to Armenia
Russia has lowered the price of natural gas it sells to Armenia, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian has said.
According to Movsisian, beginning April 1, 2010 the price will be $180 per 1,000 cubic meters instead of the previous $200.
The South Caucasus republic has been buying Russian gas since this past April for $154, including the Value Added Tax (VAT).
OIL & GAS
BP Azerbaijan releases three-quarterly results
Oil giant BP, which operates Azerbaijan’s major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea, produced more than 224 million barrels (more than 30 million tons or 822,100 barrels a day) from the fields during the first three quarters of 2009, the company said.
Of the 822,100 barrel daily average production, 105,300 b/d came from Chirag, 185,800 b/d from Central Azeri, 275,200 b/d from West Azeri, 139,400 b/d from East Azeri and 116,400 b/d from the Deep Water Gunashli platform.
During the this period, ACG spent about $540 million in operating expenditure and $723 million in capital expenditure. For the full year BP expects to spend about $839 million in operating expenditure and $1,639 million in capital expenditure on ACG activities.
Associated gas
Since the beginning of 2009, BP Azerbaijan has also exceeded nearly two-fold the projection on the delivery of associated gas produced from the ACG fields to Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
The company delivered about 392 million standard cubic feet, or 11.1 million cubic meters per day. Instead of the planned total of 1.45 billion cubic meters, around 3 billion cubic meters were delivered during the first three quarters of this year.
ACG participating interests are: BP (operator – 34.1%), Chevron (10.2%), SOCAR (10%), INPEX (10%), Statoil (8.6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), Devon (5.6%), ITOCHU (3.9%), and Hess (2.7%).
Shahdaniz output
BP Azerbaijan’s production from Shahdaniz, Azerbaijan’s largest gas field in the Caspian Sea, is expected to be 8.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year and about 45,000 barrels of condensate per day during Stage 1 of the project, as new platform-drilled wells are brought on stream over the next few years.
The field continued to produce steadily from four wells to off-take points in Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Turkish border during the first three quarters of 2009. The gas from Shahdaniz Stage 1 continues to be sold to Azerbaijan, Georgia’s GOGC, Turkish BOTAS and the BTC pipeline consortium.
The plan for 2009 is to produce 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.9 million tons of condensate.
During this period, the field produced 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.2 million tons of condensate, or 16.3 million cubic meters of gas per day, and more than 34,000 barrels of condensate per day.
Since the start of Shahdaniz production in late 2006 till the end of the third quarter 2009 about 31 million barrels (about 3.9 million tons) of Shahdaniz condensate were exported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export pipeline which transports Azerbaijan’s crude to world markets through Georgia and Turkey. By November 9 about 32.4 million barrels (about 4.1 million tons) of condensate were exported via BTC.
During the first nine months of 2009, BP Azerbaijan spent $114 million in operating expenditure and $255 million in capital expenditure on Shahdaniz activities. For the entire year the company is planning to spend $322m in operating expenditure and $369m in capital expenditure on the project.
Shahdaniz participating interests are: BP (operator – 25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), SOCAR (10%), LUKOIL (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).
Total exec: Shahdaniz transit talks with Turkey ‘difficult’
Transit of natural gas from phase 2 of Azerbaijan's Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea could be rerouted via Russia if already-difficult talks with Turkey fail, the major French oil producer, Total SA's senior vice-president for Central Asia, Arnaud Breuillac, told Dow Jones Newswires in an exclusive interview.
Current discussions with the Turkish government about the transit of natural gas from the second phase of the project are "quite difficult", Breuillac said, with disagreements over price also becoming an obstacle to progress. Turkey is demanding prices as low as those negotiated during the first phase, even though market conditions have changed and prices are higher now.
Total holds a 10% interest in Shahdaniz, which is developed by a consortium including operator BP, Norway's Statoil, Russia's Lukoil, Turkey's TPAO and the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR.
Turkey buys 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from the first phase of Shahdaniz development, which produces a peak of 8 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The upper-limit of the gas price is set at $120 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is lower than international prices.
Turkey's position as a final destination for second phase Shahdaniz gas was also preventing an agreement. "(Turkey) doesn't need all the gas that will be produced during the second phase ... A part should transit (the country)," Breuillac said, but Turkey is reluctant.
"The Turks must understand that if they don't accept that part of the gas transits (through Turkey), it won't then transit through their territory but will go to Russia or even to Iran instead," Breuillac said.
SOCAR recently signed a deal with Russia's state-controlled Gazprom OAO for gas from Shahdaniz which would see gas pipelines to Russia upgraded, Breuillac noted.
He stressed there wouldn't "in any case" be a repeat of the commercial exclusivity agreed with Turkey for Shahdaniz's first phase.
Despite the challenges, the start of the second phase of Shahdaniz remains on track for 2016, Breuillac said.
Breuillac, who met with national oil group SOCAR's president Rovnag Abdullayev in Azerbaijan last week, said that Shahdaniz's second phase is expected to produce twice as much as the first phase, with a total estimated production of around 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
TAP transit fees will be lower than Nabucco’s: energy exec
“Fees for transporting gas through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will be lower than a 3300km new pipeline such as Nabucco," said Robert Klein, Managing Director for TAP.
This week, the German RWE Company - one of the participants to the Nabucco project – released a comparative analysis of the Southern Corridor project saying that the Nabucco project -- which seeks to export Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe -- is the most effective one in terms of tariffs for transportation and costs to deliver gas from sources to the market. According to a RWE report, the fees for transporting 1,000 cubic meters of gas per 100 kilometers of TAP is €6.2 and via Nabucco - €1.7.
According to Klein, who was quoted by the TAP project website, TAP's total pipeline length is 520km. "In addition, TAP will use existing pipeline infrastructure to transport gas from well head to market. As a result and when calculated accurately, TAP's tariff, as well as its total cost of transport, would be lower than a 3300km newly built pipeline such as Nabucco," the report said.
TAP is expected to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to Europe. The pipeline will originate in Greece, cross Albania’s territory and the Adriatic Sea, and onward to Italy.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Turkish reporter denies her controversial statement on Garabagh
The Turkish journalist who visited Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, has dismissed Armenian media reports that quoted her as saying that the region is Armenian land, an allegation that has sparked ire in Azerbaijan.
Nagehan Alci, a writer for the Akhsham newspaper, speaking in Istanbul, told Radio Liberty’s Armenian service that she had not said Upper Garabagh is “100 percent Armenian land.”
According to Alci, her interview with the separatist regime’s public television channel had been distorted.
“I said we had come there to see and cover what’s going on. We witnessed that, today, this is an Armenian land, an Armenian country, because 100 percent of its population are Armenians. Though it is not internationally recognized, there is an Armenian government there today,” the reporter alleged.
Alci added that the TV channel employees cut out the word “today” from her statement, trying “to hide which tense she was talking in.”
Following the journalist’s visit to the occupied territories without Baku’s authorization, she was included in the country’s list of “personas non grata.” But the Akhsham editorial office has confirmed that it had not instructed Alci to visit the region.
Upper Garabagh is an historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
POLITICS
PACE appoints new co-rapporteur
Maltese lawmaker Joe Debono Grech has been appointed a new co-rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee for Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani PACE delegation head, Samad Seyidov, said.
"The voting was objective. We are pleased with this choice," Seyidov said.
According to Seyidov, Grech was elected with 18 votes. Another candidate, Gerd Janne Kristoffersen, a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party who was backed by the Socialist lawmakers represented by Andreas Gross, received 12 votes.
The former co-rapporteur, Bulgaria’s Evguenia Jivkova, resigned from the post this past June. She did not stand in this year’s parliamentary elections in her country and has shifted to working in business.
Saakashvili’s spokesman APPOINTED envoy to Azerbaijan
The Georgian parliament has endorsed Ivane Noniashvili’s appointment as the country’s ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Noniashvili has served as the spokesman for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration since 2006.
The post has remained vacant since the former envoy, Nikolos Natbiladze, was appointed Georgia’s ambassador to Spain in September.
ECONOMICS
Iran to make "Azerbaijan" cars
Iran is expected to tackle manufacturing cars of the "Azerbaijan" brand in 2010, according to Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rahimi.
“All nations living in Iran are dear to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, but the Azerbaijani people are dearer, and the president cares for them more,” he was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying at the opening of a cement plant in Tabriz.
“One of the promises made by President Ahmadinejad during his visit to Tabriz will soon be implemented, and that promise is to launch production of high-quality "Azerbaijan" automobiles,” Rahimi said.
According to Rahimi, the cars will be manufactured by the Iran Khodro company.
MISCELLANEOUS
Turkish businessman Kabakci dies
Well-known Turkish businessman Nahid Kabakci, who headed the major Ramko Inshaat construction company, has died in Azerbaijan, according to law enforcement sources.
The prosecutor’s office of the Yasamal district of Baku was notified last Wednesday that Kabakci, a 60-year-old Turkish national, has passed away at the Natavan Business Center where he lived and worked. Forensic experts have arrived at a preliminary conclusion that his death had been caused by a heart attack overnight. The investigation has also revealed that Kabakci had consumed a singificant amount of alcohol the previous night. Final conclusions about the businessman’s demise will be made after the medical report is finalized.
Kabakci is said to have undergone heart surgery several years ago.
The businessman had worked in Azerbaijan for many years. His company has built a number of major facilities in Baku, including the Hyatt Regency hotel, oil giant BP’s office and the Natavan Business Center. Kabakci was also the first organizer of the Best Model of Azerbaijan contest.
Azerbaijan blasts world powers over backing hostile neighbor
Azerbaijan has directed pounding criticism at the superpowers over supporting arch-foe Armenia, blaming the international community for failing to do enough to resolve the nearly two-decade-long Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov has said settling the dispute while maintaining Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity does not meet any other country’s interests. Azerbaijan is cooperating with the West in several large-scale energy projects but has not yet seen any benefits from this partnership in terms of resolving the Garabagh conflict, its most pressing problem, he told an international conference on South Caucasus security in Baku on Friday.
Further, Asgarov said the world’s leading policymakers are treating the issue with a double standard. He emphasized that during unrest in the Balkans, NATO promptly moved to solve the problem, while the Garabagh conflict was assigned to the mediating OSCE Minsk Group whose efforts have been unsuccessful for nearly two decades.
“The Minsk Group has accomplished nothing over 18 years. Is the world community waiting for Upper Garabagh to fall into Palestine’s state? International law has been left helpless at Armenia’s hands,” the vice-speaker said.
Commenting on the reasoning that the Armenian community is strong in the world’s leading countries, Asgarov said that “if US policy depends on the Armenian diaspora, this is ridiculous and I don’t want to believe that.”
According to Asgarov, international forces calling on Azerbaijan to seek a peaceful solution to the Garabagh conflict, actually, have no intention to assist the country.
“A NATO Parliamentary Assembly official has told me that no one wants to abandon Christian Armenia and help Muslim Azerbaijan,” Asgarov said.
Addressing international experts attending the conference, the vice-speaker said that, “if international law does not work, the leading countries should declare this from the UN rostrum.”
“That way Azerbaijan will know what to do. The international community has been insistently discouraging us from tackling a military solution of the conflict. But you should know that if Azerbaijan seeks to launch war, it won’t ask for permission from the United States, Russia, France [the co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group] or other leading powers. This will be a decision of the Azerbaijani people and their president,” Asgarov said.
Ethnic Armenians in Upper Garabagh, backed by Armenia, declared so-called independence in fighting that erupted as the Soviet Union headed towards its 1991 collapse. The Armenians invaded Upper Garabagh and seven surrounding Azeri districts before a cease-fire was declared in 1994. Some 30,000 people were killed and a million Azeris ousted from their homes as a result of the Armenian aggression. The Armenian armed forces continue occupying a part of Azerbaijani land, despite four UN resolutions calling for their unconditional pullout.
Similar harsh criticism of the world community came from Novruz Mammadov, the head of the Presidential Administration’s international relations department. He blamed the West over its failing to aid the country while supporting hostile Armenia.
“Despite financial and moral support to Armenia, which occupies Azerbaijan’s territory and Upper Garabagh, we have seen no substantial support from the U.S…The point is that, though we have been subjected to Armenia’s aggression, it has received $2 billion in the meantime, while we have not received a dime.”
Mammadov noted that, instead of providing assistance, the West has been reproaching Azerbaijan over human rights and other issues.
He said Azerbaijan will defend its intransigent position on the Garabagh conflict till the end and there is no need to pressure Baku in any manner.
“They say both inside the country and abroad that if Azerbaijan pursued democratic reform more swiftly, Western attitude would be different. But I don’t think this assertion is right, because we have hundreds of other facts at hand. Let’s just refer to the events involving Afghanistan in recent days. The world community, the presidents of 27 states convened and talked about providing assistance to Afghanistan, but no tough stance is being put forward over the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
“Let’s say that there is a dispute over the Upper Garabagh territory. How about the seven districts around Garabagh? Why isn’t the world community demanding an immediate end to the Armenian occupation of that land?” Mammadov asked.
Touching on the agreement signed by Turkey and Armenia to reopen the two countries’ shared border, which has long been shut, Mammadov said Western diplomats often say they are unable and have no time to discuss certain issues, but they had unexpectedly gathered in Switzerland for the signing of the Ankara-Yerevan protocols, and the documents were signed at the top level.
Turkey and Armenia face decades of enmity. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 following the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and past genocide claims. On October 10, in Zurich, the two governments signed two protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders in a bid to normalize their strained relations. The agreement has triggered a cool-down in Baku-Ankara relations, though the documents require parliamentary approval before taking effect, and Turkish officials have repeatedly made clear that Ankara could mend ties with Yerevan and open the border only after the Garabagh conflict has been fairly resolved.
Regarding the recent arrest of two bloggers in Azerbaijan, which was harshly criticized by international organizations, Mammadov said the West, and US media in particular, has begun watching this issue even more intensely than the Garabagh conflict, which is seen as a tool to pressure Azerbaijan.
The Presidential Administration official called on Western diplomats to “seriously think about Azerbaijan.” He said the country could play the role of a substantial mediator between the East and West and the Christian and Islamic worlds.
Mammadov said that, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the BBC radio in Arab countries, eight out of every ten people hate America. “The U.S. should seriously think about this survey,” he added.
International analysts and rapporteurs have tried to dismiss the strongly-worded criticism of their countries, shifting the focus to the Russia-Georgia conflict.
“Russia has shown that it is ignoring, and will continue to ignore, international law,” claimed Vladimir Socor, a senior scholar at the Jamestown Foundation.
To substantiate his opinion suggesting that Azerbaijan is not the only country facing the inaction of international law, Socor referred to the brief war fought by Russia and Georgia in 2008, when no steps were taken to defend Georgia’s territorial integrity despite support for Tbilisi by the West and the world community as a whole.
Speaking about the Garabagh conflict, Socor suggested that its settlement and the planned opening of the Turkey-Armenia border should be addressed not in parallel, but “synchronously.”
“Undoubtedly, the process of reopening the border should proceed along with the Garabagh settlement. But what is President Obama doing? Unfortunately, he is trying to disrupt this balance. Ratification of the Turkish-Armenian protocols and the Garabagh conflict settlement should not just proceed in parallel, but should be intertwined and proceed synchronously. This means that every step relating to the protocols issue should be backed up by a solution of the Garabagh problem. Undoubtedly, Turkey is trying to adhere to this very principle and, no matter how hard it is for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he will approve the needed decision. I hope that after Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. in December and his consultations with US leaders, the White House will begin employing a policy of synchronizing the protocols’ ratification with the Garabagh settlement.”
Turkey and Armenia face decades of enmity. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and past genocide claims. On October 10, in Zurich, the two governments signed two protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders in a bid to normalize their strained relations.
Oksana Antonenko of Britain’s International Institute for Strategic Studies made clear that the world community does not want war to again erupt in the South Caucasus region. She said last year’s armed conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia had adversely affected the situation in the region. On the other hand, the turbulent events had broken the ice over settlement of the Garabagh issue, Antonenko believes.
The international conference, entitled “Security challenges in the South Caucasus: realities and prospects for regional development,” was organized by the Strategic Research Center under the Azerbaijani President as part of a project being implemented jointly with the British institute.
The magnitude of the event is illustrated by the fact that it was joined by representatives of three influential think-tanks –John Hopkins University, the Heritage Foundation and the Jamestown Foundation. Reports on security issues and settling conflicts in post-Soviet states were delivered by leading analysts from a number of countries, including Britain, Belgium, Germany, Iran, Turkey, Georgia, and Russia.
ECONOMICS
Singaporean firm to build shipyard in Azerbaijan
Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine will build and commission a shipyard near the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR’s Deep Water Jacket Factory named after Heydar Aliyev, according to an agreement signed in Baku on Friday.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Singaporean company by SOCAR and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC). SOCAR holds a 70 percent stake in the initial stage of the project, while AIC holds 30 percent. Keppel Offshore & Marine intends to buy a 10 percent stake within the next three months and another 10 percent over the next three years.
The plant is to be built using existing infrastructure, which has reduced the initial estimated cost of the project. According to the preliminary feasibility study, $400 million was required to construct the facility, but the latest estimates have put the figure at $300 million to $350 million.
SOCAR will finance 30 percent of the project cost, while the rest will be covered by outside sources.
According to Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev, the plant will be commissioned two to two and a half years after the start of construction operations, which are due to begin in late 2009 to early 2010. The shipyard will be equipped to up-to-date standards.
“The plant will be able to provide vessels both to the Caspian oil fleet and border services, the ministry of defense and other companies and entities operating in Azerbaijan,” Mustafayev said.
The shipyard will compliment the project to build a new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district outside Baku. Kazakhstan’s oil will be delivered through the terminal for further transit through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which transports Azerbaijan’s crude to world markets through Georgia and Turkey.
The enterprise is expected to have no competition in the region and it may take orders for building ships not only from domestic customers but also from other foreign countries.
Keppel Offshore & Marine is one of the largest offshore and marine groups in the world. The Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, was established in 2002.
OIL & GAS
SOCAR exec dismisses reports on turning down Nabucco
The Azeri state oil company SOCAR has dismissed reports claiming that Azerbaijan plans to turn down a proposed energy partnership with Europe.
Elshad Nasirov, SOCAR Vice-President, told journalists that the reports circulated by Russia’s Lenta.ru news website and the Bloomberg news agency distorted his earlier statement by claiming that the South Caucasus republic could refuse to take part in the Western-backed Nabucco pipeline project and redirect supplies of its gas to Asian markets.
“If there is no Western route for bringing hefty revenues to the country, Azerbaijan does not consider this as a taboo for accessing Eastern energy markets. In other words, we do not rule out the options of accessing either Western or Eastern markets.”
The SOCAR official said that, just as in past years, exporting natural gas to EU countries remains a priority for Azerbaijan.
“The European market is extremely lucrative because prices are determined here, not in the capital of any country but in the market proper,” Nasirov said.
He also said SOCAR was interested in refining its oil in areas closer to European markets, which would boost the country’s profits, adding that this could be done in any European country.
The numerous reports about Azerbaijan’s alleged plan to turn down gas supplies to Europe came after a setback in talks between Azerbaijan and Turkey, which is a major consumer of the South Caucasus republic’s gas and a potential transit state. Ankara demands that SOCAR offer a lower price for gas, which Baku refuses to do. The differences are actually playing into Moscow’s hands due to their undermining confidence in the Nabucco project, analysts say.
Turkey is buying SOCAR’s gas for $120 per 1,000 cubic meters, but pays as much as $250 for Russian fuel.
The Russian daily Vremya Novostey reported earlier that Russia, which previously signed a contract on gas deliveries with SOCAR, will be paying $190 for Azeri gas. Though the volume is rather insignificant – only 500 million cubic meters a year - it could be increased in the future if Baku and Moscow deem this necessary.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in October that talks on gas deliveries with Turkey were deadlocked, that Turkey is refusing to pay world-market prices for Azerbaijan’s gas and seeking a high fee for the transit of fuel. President Aliyev also warned that the country could seek other buyers of its gas, such as Russia and Iran.
Baku’s options include joining a gas pipeline project from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China, whose growing economy requires more and more energy resources. In fact, Turkmenistan has already decided to redirect part of its gas exports to China and increase the majority of its gas exports to Iran.
The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline, which is to pump gas via Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Austria, is expected to come online in 2014. The conduit will carry 31 billion cubic meters of gas annually, when fully operational. But according to Lenta.ru, sources of gas to fill the pipeline have yet to be found. Until recently, Azerbaijan had been considered the only country that could supply fuel, but its capacities do not suffice to fully fill the conduit, the report claimed.
Nabucco is deemed as a rival route for the Moscow-backed South Stream pipeline, which is being built by the Russian gas behemoth Gazprom and Italy's ENI.
Warning
A US official has urged Azerbaijan and Turkey to agree on the price of gas to be transported through the Nabucco pipeline, warning that energy companies will otherwise seek alternate options. Turkish news agencies quoted US Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar, as saying that the issue of finding sources of fuel for the Western-backed pipeline remains on the agenda.
“It is crystal clear that first gas delivery will come from Azerbaijan,” Morningstar told the European Policy Center think-tank. “But there is an issue that needs to be resolved straight away here. Why can’t Turkey and Azerbaijan agree upon the price of gas and its transit? We strongly encourage both countries to come to an agreement, because they have to agree to ensure further reliance on Nabucco and the confidence of companies joining the project. In our opinion they will, but they are moving slowly. In my view, both countries have to keep in mind that this agreement meets their strategic interests.”
According to Morningstar, if Azerbaijan and Turkey fail to reach agreement, energy companies and participating countries will move to consider other options.
“These alternatives could be delivering liquid and compressed gas to Europe across the Black Sea via White Stream. All options should and will be worked on. But the priority issue is trying to reach an Azerbaijan-Turkey accord. This will turn Turkey into a very powerful transit state for transporting Caucasus and Central Asian gas to Europe,” said Morningstar.
He added that other potential suppliers for Nabucco are Turkmenistan and Iraq, noting that Washington does not favor, however, Iran’s becoming part of the Southern Corridor.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the feasibility of the Nabucco project, saying finding sources of supplies remains a challenge. “There are three components of the Nabucco project – suppliers, transit states and consumer nations. The project, which has six partners, currently lacks a solid framework on the supply issue,” Erdogan told a news conference in Italy.
“Though only 15bn cubic meters are required at the initial stage, supplying this volume is still under a question mark,” he said.
“Turkey is not a supplier. The European Union is seeking to transport gas via Nabucco from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan during this stage. However, there are problems with the transit of Turkmen gas through Iran and the Caspian basin. On the other hand, the EU does not approve of transporting gas through Russian territory.”
Erdogan said, further, that Nabucco is not an alternative to the Russian-backed South Stream pipeline as these two projects compliment one another. Neither project will fully meet Europe’s needs for gas, he said.
“For this reason, Turkey will continue playing the role of a transit state in these projects,” Erdogan added.
POLITICS
Azerbaijan dismisses ‘refusal to grant NATO air space’
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has dismissed an Associated Press report claiming that Baku had refused to open up air space to Turkmenistan for the delivery of NATO cargo to Afghanistan.
He said the report had no merit, as thousands of aircraft head toward Afghanistan above Azerbaijan’s territory.
“All NATO states carry out flights through Azerbaijan with permission any time. We grant one-year authorization for such flights to some countries. There are no problems or difficulties in this area,” the deputy minister said.
Azimov noted, further, that talks have recently been underway with NATO on sending AWACS surveillance aircraft to Afghanistan through Azerbaijan. However, Baku has yet to respond to this proposal. Moreover, dispatching such planes requires an agreement among all countries granting access to their air space.
“This issue does not depend on Azerbaijan alone. It must be resolved by all countries lying along the route – from Turkey all the way to Afghanistan, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan,” Azimov said.*
NATO urged to provide security guarantees to its allies
NATO should provide security guarantees not only to its members but also its current allies, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said.
Azimov spoke at a conference entitled, “NATO’s new strategic concept: allies’ contribution to debate,” in Baku last week, saying the Euro-Atlantic region’s security depends on a concerted effort of the alliance’s member states and partners, otherwise there could be adverse consequences for the bloc’s future “architecture.”
“I suggest signing bilateral agreements between NATO and its partners. Along with responsibilities and obligations of both sides, such agreements should reflect security guarantees for the partner states.
Alleged nuclear reactors delivery to Armenia to be scrutinized
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said he was unaware of transporting reactors to Armenia’s nuclear power plant through Turkey’s territory, but Baku would scrutinize reports to that end.
Further, Azimov said the presence of nuclear reactors in Armenia poses a threat to the region, noting that Azerbaijan and other regional states, as well as the European Union, have previously called upon Yerevan to take action in this respect for many years.
“The EU is demanding a shutdown of the atomic power plant, taking into account the very low safety measures used in maintaining the nuclear reactors and high seismic activity in the region and in Armenia. Russia has devised a plan jointly with Armenia that envisions re-equipping or repairing the reactors. The reactors are presently managed and overseen by Russia.
“You can look at it this way: supplying reactors producing nuclear energy that are located in Armenia and controlled by Russia is a bilateral affair between these two countries. If Russia wants to do this work, we can view this only positively,” Azimov said.
He said that whether or not the reactors are delivered to Armenia through Turkey’s territory is a technical issue, but added: “Given that the Turkey-Armenia border remains shut, this transit should be viewed as an exclusive case.”
Hulusi Kilic, Turkey’s Ambassador in Baku, has labeled as false the reports on the reactors’ transfer via his country. “If the Turkey-Armenia border is closed, there can’t be transit either,” he said.
Armenia and Turkey have been at odds and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for over a decade.
REGION
Russia lowers price of gas sold to Armenia
Russia has lowered the price of natural gas it sells to Armenia, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian has said.
According to Movsisian, beginning April 1, 2010 the price will be $180 per 1,000 cubic meters instead of the previous $200.
The South Caucasus republic has been buying Russian gas since this past April for $154, including the Value Added Tax (VAT).
OIL & GAS
BP Azerbaijan releases three-quarterly results
Oil giant BP, which operates Azerbaijan’s major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea, produced more than 224 million barrels (more than 30 million tons or 822,100 barrels a day) from the fields during the first three quarters of 2009, the company said.
Of the 822,100 barrel daily average production, 105,300 b/d came from Chirag, 185,800 b/d from Central Azeri, 275,200 b/d from West Azeri, 139,400 b/d from East Azeri and 116,400 b/d from the Deep Water Gunashli platform.
During the this period, ACG spent about $540 million in operating expenditure and $723 million in capital expenditure. For the full year BP expects to spend about $839 million in operating expenditure and $1,639 million in capital expenditure on ACG activities.
Associated gas
Since the beginning of 2009, BP Azerbaijan has also exceeded nearly two-fold the projection on the delivery of associated gas produced from the ACG fields to Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR.
The company delivered about 392 million standard cubic feet, or 11.1 million cubic meters per day. Instead of the planned total of 1.45 billion cubic meters, around 3 billion cubic meters were delivered during the first three quarters of this year.
ACG participating interests are: BP (operator – 34.1%), Chevron (10.2%), SOCAR (10%), INPEX (10%), Statoil (8.6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), Devon (5.6%), ITOCHU (3.9%), and Hess (2.7%).
Shahdaniz output
BP Azerbaijan’s production from Shahdaniz, Azerbaijan’s largest gas field in the Caspian Sea, is expected to be 8.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year and about 45,000 barrels of condensate per day during Stage 1 of the project, as new platform-drilled wells are brought on stream over the next few years.
The field continued to produce steadily from four wells to off-take points in Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Turkish border during the first three quarters of 2009. The gas from Shahdaniz Stage 1 continues to be sold to Azerbaijan, Georgia’s GOGC, Turkish BOTAS and the BTC pipeline consortium.
The plan for 2009 is to produce 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.9 million tons of condensate.
During this period, the field produced 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.2 million tons of condensate, or 16.3 million cubic meters of gas per day, and more than 34,000 barrels of condensate per day.
Since the start of Shahdaniz production in late 2006 till the end of the third quarter 2009 about 31 million barrels (about 3.9 million tons) of Shahdaniz condensate were exported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export pipeline which transports Azerbaijan’s crude to world markets through Georgia and Turkey. By November 9 about 32.4 million barrels (about 4.1 million tons) of condensate were exported via BTC.
During the first nine months of 2009, BP Azerbaijan spent $114 million in operating expenditure and $255 million in capital expenditure on Shahdaniz activities. For the entire year the company is planning to spend $322m in operating expenditure and $369m in capital expenditure on the project.
Shahdaniz participating interests are: BP (operator – 25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), SOCAR (10%), LUKOIL (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).
Total exec: Shahdaniz transit talks with Turkey ‘difficult’
Transit of natural gas from phase 2 of Azerbaijan's Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea could be rerouted via Russia if already-difficult talks with Turkey fail, the major French oil producer, Total SA's senior vice-president for Central Asia, Arnaud Breuillac, told Dow Jones Newswires in an exclusive interview.
Current discussions with the Turkish government about the transit of natural gas from the second phase of the project are "quite difficult", Breuillac said, with disagreements over price also becoming an obstacle to progress. Turkey is demanding prices as low as those negotiated during the first phase, even though market conditions have changed and prices are higher now.
Total holds a 10% interest in Shahdaniz, which is developed by a consortium including operator BP, Norway's Statoil, Russia's Lukoil, Turkey's TPAO and the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR.
Turkey buys 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from the first phase of Shahdaniz development, which produces a peak of 8 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The upper-limit of the gas price is set at $120 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is lower than international prices.
Turkey's position as a final destination for second phase Shahdaniz gas was also preventing an agreement. "(Turkey) doesn't need all the gas that will be produced during the second phase ... A part should transit (the country)," Breuillac said, but Turkey is reluctant.
"The Turks must understand that if they don't accept that part of the gas transits (through Turkey), it won't then transit through their territory but will go to Russia or even to Iran instead," Breuillac said.
SOCAR recently signed a deal with Russia's state-controlled Gazprom OAO for gas from Shahdaniz which would see gas pipelines to Russia upgraded, Breuillac noted.
He stressed there wouldn't "in any case" be a repeat of the commercial exclusivity agreed with Turkey for Shahdaniz's first phase.
Despite the challenges, the start of the second phase of Shahdaniz remains on track for 2016, Breuillac said.
Breuillac, who met with national oil group SOCAR's president Rovnag Abdullayev in Azerbaijan last week, said that Shahdaniz's second phase is expected to produce twice as much as the first phase, with a total estimated production of around 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
TAP transit fees will be lower than Nabucco’s: energy exec
“Fees for transporting gas through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will be lower than a 3300km new pipeline such as Nabucco," said Robert Klein, Managing Director for TAP.
This week, the German RWE Company - one of the participants to the Nabucco project – released a comparative analysis of the Southern Corridor project saying that the Nabucco project -- which seeks to export Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe -- is the most effective one in terms of tariffs for transportation and costs to deliver gas from sources to the market. According to a RWE report, the fees for transporting 1,000 cubic meters of gas per 100 kilometers of TAP is €6.2 and via Nabucco - €1.7.
According to Klein, who was quoted by the TAP project website, TAP's total pipeline length is 520km. "In addition, TAP will use existing pipeline infrastructure to transport gas from well head to market. As a result and when calculated accurately, TAP's tariff, as well as its total cost of transport, would be lower than a 3300km newly built pipeline such as Nabucco," the report said.
TAP is expected to transport gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to Europe. The pipeline will originate in Greece, cross Albania’s territory and the Adriatic Sea, and onward to Italy.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Turkish reporter denies her controversial statement on Garabagh
The Turkish journalist who visited Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, has dismissed Armenian media reports that quoted her as saying that the region is Armenian land, an allegation that has sparked ire in Azerbaijan.
Nagehan Alci, a writer for the Akhsham newspaper, speaking in Istanbul, told Radio Liberty’s Armenian service that she had not said Upper Garabagh is “100 percent Armenian land.”
According to Alci, her interview with the separatist regime’s public television channel had been distorted.
“I said we had come there to see and cover what’s going on. We witnessed that, today, this is an Armenian land, an Armenian country, because 100 percent of its population are Armenians. Though it is not internationally recognized, there is an Armenian government there today,” the reporter alleged.
Alci added that the TV channel employees cut out the word “today” from her statement, trying “to hide which tense she was talking in.”
Following the journalist’s visit to the occupied territories without Baku’s authorization, she was included in the country’s list of “personas non grata.” But the Akhsham editorial office has confirmed that it had not instructed Alci to visit the region.
Upper Garabagh is an historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
POLITICS
PACE appoints new co-rapporteur
Maltese lawmaker Joe Debono Grech has been appointed a new co-rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee for Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani PACE delegation head, Samad Seyidov, said.
"The voting was objective. We are pleased with this choice," Seyidov said.
According to Seyidov, Grech was elected with 18 votes. Another candidate, Gerd Janne Kristoffersen, a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party who was backed by the Socialist lawmakers represented by Andreas Gross, received 12 votes.
The former co-rapporteur, Bulgaria’s Evguenia Jivkova, resigned from the post this past June. She did not stand in this year’s parliamentary elections in her country and has shifted to working in business.
Saakashvili’s spokesman APPOINTED envoy to Azerbaijan
The Georgian parliament has endorsed Ivane Noniashvili’s appointment as the country’s ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Noniashvili has served as the spokesman for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration since 2006.
The post has remained vacant since the former envoy, Nikolos Natbiladze, was appointed Georgia’s ambassador to Spain in September.
ECONOMICS
Iran to make "Azerbaijan" cars
Iran is expected to tackle manufacturing cars of the "Azerbaijan" brand in 2010, according to Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rahimi.
“All nations living in Iran are dear to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, but the Azerbaijani people are dearer, and the president cares for them more,” he was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying at the opening of a cement plant in Tabriz.
“One of the promises made by President Ahmadinejad during his visit to Tabriz will soon be implemented, and that promise is to launch production of high-quality "Azerbaijan" automobiles,” Rahimi said.
According to Rahimi, the cars will be manufactured by the Iran Khodro company.
MISCELLANEOUS
Turkish businessman Kabakci dies
Well-known Turkish businessman Nahid Kabakci, who headed the major Ramko Inshaat construction company, has died in Azerbaijan, according to law enforcement sources.
The prosecutor’s office of the Yasamal district of Baku was notified last Wednesday that Kabakci, a 60-year-old Turkish national, has passed away at the Natavan Business Center where he lived and worked. Forensic experts have arrived at a preliminary conclusion that his death had been caused by a heart attack overnight. The investigation has also revealed that Kabakci had consumed a singificant amount of alcohol the previous night. Final conclusions about the businessman’s demise will be made after the medical report is finalized.
Kabakci is said to have undergone heart surgery several years ago.
The businessman had worked in Azerbaijan for many years. His company has built a number of major facilities in Baku, including the Hyatt Regency hotel, oil giant BP’s office and the Natavan Business Center. Kabakci was also the first organizer of the Best Model of Azerbaijan contest.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Azerbaijan Oil: Dawn of Offshore Development
The commissioning of Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks), the unique city on pilings, marked the beginning of the development of the offshore oil industry in Azerbaijan in 1949.
It was the first experience in offshore oil production in the world. At the same time, there was the development of the oil sciences and engineering in Azerbaijan, which was and remains one of the leading centers in the world. Azerbaijan oilworkers participated in the development of the oil sector not only within the former USSR, but also abroad.
During this period, offshore exploration expanded, a number of oil and gas fields were discovered and commissioned (including Gum-Deniz, Sangachal-Divanni-Deniz-Khara-Zira island, Bulla-Deniz, and Darwin pitcher, and offshore drilling, including exploration drilling), the technique and technology of hydrotechnological oil plants and the infrastructure of offshore oil production was developed.
At the same time, a number of new onshore oil and gas fields were discovered and commissioned (Kurovdag, Mishovdag, Kursanga, Garabaghly, Galmaz, Garabagh and others). That era was characterized by the intensive development and operations at the Neft Dashlari and other fields. Also, an offshore field was established on the Estacada in the open sea for the first time in the world. Further, engineering, scientific and technical measurement caused an inflow of capital into the country, improved productivity through the saving of metals and led to a decline in the prices of oil.
Background
Oil production from its existing fields began to decline after World War II, as a result of catastrophic over-production coupled with under investment. However, it was felt that the real potential for new discoveries was to be found offshore.
As far back as the mid-19th century, the first offshore oil explorations were carried out in Azerbaijan. In 1864, academician G.V. Abikh surveyed and documented oil structures present on the Caspian seabed.
In the early 1930s, engineers proposed construction of offshore wells timber piles, connected by a causeway, and the first such well was laid in the open sea at a depth of 6 meters to the east from Bibi-Heybet bay.
In 1945, oil engineers S.A. Orujev and Y. Safarov proposed a method of tubular collapsible construction for offshore bases. This construction enabled the quick installation of under oil-rigs during any season. In 1947 a group of oilmen developed the trestle method of linking development rigs and processing facilities. The average height of trestles above sea level is 5-7 meters and the width of causeways was about 3.5 meters. In 1948, construction of trestles and other causeways started on Pirallahi and Oil Rocks.
Oil Rocks Saga
One of the striking examples for offshore oil deposit development is "Oil Rocks" - "Neft Dashlari". It is located to the southeast of Absheron Archipelago. In "Oil Rocks" the sea depth ranges from 10 to 25 meters, though part of the oil pool reaches a depth of 60 meters. Oil prospecting with a geological survey, structure drilling, seismic prospecting and preliminary drilling began in 1945.
On August 24, 1949 the first offshore exploration well at Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks) was drilled after the causeway was built. In November, at a depth of 1,000 meters, the well N1 tested oil at a rate of 700 bpd. Neft Dashlari is referred to as "The Island of Seven Ships" because during construction of the bridge-head, disabled ships were sunk to provide a solid base for causeways.
Following this, full-scale development began in 1950. Development from multiple drilling sites connected by trestle bridges also employed deviated holes. In 1953, to maintain reservoir pressure, water flooding was begun. Today, after 50 years in use, the field is still delivering about 15,000 bpd.
Azerbaijan Oil: Soviet Era
The Soviet Era began in 1920 after the nationalization of the oil industry of Azerbaijan and covers the period until the country gained independence in 1991.
In 1920, when the Bolsheviks captured Azerbaijan, all private property - including oil wells and factories - were confiscated. All oil assets in the country were nationalized and the Azneft State company was formed.
After the occupation, Azerbaijan’s entire oil industry was directed toward the needs of the Soviet Union, including a tremendous output of oil for the Soviet war effort during World War II.
In 1920, only 1800 qualified specialists worked in Russia’s oil industry, of which 1232 were assigned to work in Azerbaijan. The industry urgently needed technology, education and specialists. A scientific exchange was begun with the US, where visitors from Baku were transferred to oil fields in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, California, and Texas to learn new methods of well drilling and production. The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy was established in 1920 to train oil specialists.
The production of oil was reduced to 2.4 million tons in 1921. As part of the second stage, due to the increase in exploration works, a number of new oil fields were discovered (especially Gala, Buzovna-Mashtagha and others) and oil production reached 23.6 million tons in 1941, thus making up 76% of the total amount of oil production in the USSR. Due to that, S.A Vezirov (chief of Azerneftcombinat), R.H. Ismayilov (chief of the association, Azneftzavodlar), B.Q. Baba-zade (head geologist of Azizbeyneft), R. Ragimov (master of drilling), became the first oilmen to be awarded the title of the Heroes of Socialist Labor. Due to the removal of oil equipment and oil specialists to eastern Soviet regions (Tatarstan, Turkmenistan, Bashkiria and others) during the war of 1941-1945, Azerbaijan accounted for 11.1 million tons of oil production.
Well No 1, drilled to 942 meters in depth, was commissioned with the hope of producing 100 tons of oil a day at Neft Dashlary on November 7, 1949, thus laying the foundation for offshore oil production. Agha Gurban Aliyev was the first geologist assigned to the well.
Advancement in drilling and logging practices
In 1925, for the first time in Russia, Baku engineer M.M. Skvortsov built a device for the automatic movement of a chisel, which became known as the "automatic driller". By 1930, electrical logging tools were used in the well-bore by Schlumberger in the Surakhany oil field.
A new technology in drilling was introduced in Baku: electrical aggregates with exact control of the number of rotations came into widespread use. By the early 1930s about one-third of well stocks were operated with pumps using gas lift. In 1933, the first deviated well was drilled in the Bibi-Heybat field.
Other firsts were:
- 1936 saw the beginning of the industrial application of the multi-stepped turbo drill without a reducer, which had been invented by Shumilov, Taghiyev and others.
- For the first time in the world, an oil well was drilled by the electro-drilling construction method which was introduced by engineers Ostrovsky, Aleksandrov and others in Kala oil field
Oilworkers’ heroism in World War II
During the first year of the war, Azerbaijan produced 25.4 million tons of oil - a record. Azerbaijani oil made up three-fourths of the total oil production in the Soviet Union.
By the Decree of the USSR Supreme Council in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognized by the issuing of orders and medals of the USSR.
By the end of the year, so many engineers and oil workers had left for the war front that positions had to be filled by women. By the summer of 1942 more than 25,000 women, or 33% of all workers, were on the job in 18 hour shifts in the oil industries. At refineries and chemical plants, the percentage of women was even higher, estimated at 38%. By 1944, women's participation had grown to 60%. Veterans and retirees also returned to the oil fields to help.
Hitler was determined to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus, in particular Baku, as it would provide much needed oil-supplies for the German military, which was suffering due to blockades. The 1942 German offensive, codenamed Case Blue, saw a determined attempt to seize the oil fields in a large scale advance into the area, but Axis forces were surrounded and eventually defeated at Stalingrad, forcing a retreat from the region.
As a result of catastrophic over-production and under investment, Azerbaijani oil production began to decline after World War II.
Baku: The Capital Of Islamic Culture
The Year of Culture, “Baku: The Capital of Islamic Culture-2009”, which served to promote the Azerbaijani capital in the Muslim world and beyond with a wide range of events, will close on December 15 following a solemn ceremony at the Heydar Aliyev Palace.
Baku, an ancient city which has historically been the crossroads of world civilizations, was granted the title at the fifth Islamic conference of culture ministers held in Tripoli, Libya November 21-23, 2007. Participants at that meeting also decided to hold the next ministerial in Baku.
On December 29-31, 2001, the Islamic states’ culture ministers who gathered in Doha, Qatar for their third conference adopted a resolution approving the preliminary “Capitals of Islamic Culture” program, which had been proposed by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). According to the resolution, every year ISESCO was to select three cities among those bidding from the members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) -- one city each from the Arab states, Asian and African countries. At that conference, it was decided to name Mecca the first capital of Islamic culture.
Further, ISESCO developed a concept for the program and, following Mecca, a proposal was made to name 30 Arab, Asian and African cities as capitals of Islamic culture over a period of ten years. The fourth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, held in Algeria on December 15-17, 2004, endorsed the program of the Capitals of Islamic Culture for the period 2005-2014.
As part of this program, cities chosen to bear the honorary title have to possess remarkable history on a countrywide and regional scale and stand out for their contribution to science, art and literature representing importance for both Islamic and world culture. The requirements for successful bidders also include running scientific research centers, manuscript libraries, archaeological training centers, and institutions individually and jointly organizing cultural events.
Since the beginning of 2009, a slew of events representing tremendous importance and drawing public attention have been held as part of the Year of Culture, “Baku: The Capital of Islamic Culture-2009.” The first event took place on January 1. Gifted students, teachers and men of art who contributed to the city’s recognition were honored with ISESCO awards.
The official opening ceremony of the Year of Culture was held at the Heydar Aliyev Palace on February 18 and attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and member of parliament. Also participating were ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, OIC Assistant Secretary-General Atta al-Mannan Bakhit, four ministers and deputy ministers from Islamic states, as well as representatives of international organizations, the capitals of European culture, Linz, and Houston, Baku’s sister city.
President Aliyev said during the ceremony that Azerbaijan continues contributing to Islamic unity, despite being a newly independent state.
“Azerbaijan should strive to bring Islamic states closer by its policies and actual measures, because Islamic states are in need of this,” Aliyev said.
The president noted that Muslim countries should support each other in all areas. “Unity of these countries on the international stage is important for peace and security in the world.”
The Azerbaijani leader went on to denounce the destructive actions of neighboring Armenia, which has occupied part of Azerbaijan’s territory for nearly two decades.
“Historical monuments, mosques and museums in the Azerbaijani land under Armenian occupation have been destroyed. Azerbaijan is unable to protect the cultural and historical monuments in these territories. The destruction of historical monuments there has been noted by international observers, as well. Undoubtedly, after our land is freed, Azerbaijan will restore these destroyed historical and cultural monuments. But for this to happen, the Upper Garabagh conflict must be settled and Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity ensured.”
ISESCO’s Director General Altwaijri told the ceremony that his organization condemns the destruction of Azerbaijan’s historical monuments in the occupied territories, urging the world community to prevent such actions.
The Year of Culture featured over 70 functions, including conferences, a grand festival and scientific symposeums dedicated to Islamic culture. Further, the Advisory Council on the cultural strategy of the Islamic world held its ninth meeting in Baku, as well. The activities also included an international conference, “Historical cities and modern architecture of Islamic countries”, and an info-tour of Azerbaijan for a group of representatives of Jordan and Morocco’s tourism companies, as well as the media. Also, among the events held in Baku were the International Mugham (folk music) Festival, the Week of Uzeyir Music, dedicated to the National Music Day which is marked on the birthday anniversary date of the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayov, who was the founder of Azerbaijan’s classical music and the author of the first-ever Oriental opera. Moreover, “Tuesday” events and festivities devoted to the Novruz Holiday have been held. In addition, “Ashiq music anthology” CDs, made in cooperation with France’s Maison des Cultures du Monde Association which promote the art of unique Azerbaijani poetry, dance and music, as well as the “Baku: The Capital of Islamic Culture” website were premiered.
History of Azerbaijan Culture
The heritage, culture, and civilization of Azerbaijan have both ancient and modern roots. The Azerbaijanis are believed to have inherited traits from various ancient civilizations.
Azerbaijan’s culture is rooted in ancient times and recorded in petroglyphs on the rocks of Gobustan outside Baku, Gamigaya in Nakhchivan and on the Dalidag mountain in Kalbajar. Other history has been set down in archaic ceramics of neolith and epochs of bronze, bronze ornaments and utensils, products made of gold and silver found in numerous ancient burial grounds and settlements.
The ancient cults (animism, ancestors' cult, and others) in Azerbaijan were replaced by the Zoroastrian religion in the middle of the first millennium BC. Being one of the most ancient religions on the planet, it contains the concept of duality ruling the world (Good and Evil, Ahuramazda and Ahriman), and so one of the main spiritual duties of the Zoroastrian worshipper was the duty of Choice. One of the important holidays was Novruz, which is interpreted as a New Day and means a new day approaching due to the victory of Good over Evil. Novruz lost its meaning as a Zoroastrian holiday as the centuries passed and today there is the holiday of spring in the day of the Spring equinox on March 21 in Azerbaijan. It is a cheerful holiday that is celebrated for several weeks. Further, people use recipes from ritual dishes and sweets which have been handed down over the millennia.
In the Middle Ages, a number of cities emerged as the main cultural, political, administrative and trading centers. Such cities in Azerbaijan included Shamakhi, Ganja, Baku, Barda, Sheki, Tabriz, Nakchivan, Shabran, Ardabil, Maraga, Gabala, Beylagan and others. Medieval authors called Azerbaijan the country of one hundred cities. By the fifth century AD Caucasian Albania already had its own written alphabet. Albanian educator Musa Kalankatu wrote “The Agwan History” in the 7th century AD and the Albanian poet Davdak wrote the poem “On The Death of Grand Duke Javanshir”.
In late 7th - early 8th centuries, when the great bulk of the town population adopted Islam, a new culture emerged and the Albanian alphabet was replaced with Arabic. Muslim educational institutions, mektebs or madrasa, where Arabic was taught alongside with the Koran, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, philosophy and other subjects spread throughout the country. Construction projects were ongoing throughout the country during both the Albanian period and afterwards. Many cult buildings (churches, mosques), bridges, castles, fortresses, irrigation projects appeared during the 11-12th centuries, marking a renaissance in Azerbaijan.
This epoch brought together poets, thinkers, architects such as the philosopher Bakhmanyar, historian Masud Ibn Namdar, architect Abubakr Ajami, poetess Mahsati Ganjavi and the great poet and philosopher Nizami Ganjavi, poet and thinker Khagani and others. At this particular time, the Turk-Oghuz epos Kitab-i-Dede Gorgud was finally created; chess, backgammon and the chovgan game of polo were wide-spread games of entertainment. Almost in each town a zorkhana, a wrestling hall or gym, was available to the public. Thanks to that period, we enjoy such striking architectural achievements as the fortifications of Baku, the Maiden Tower, the mausoleums of Nakhchivan, kanegah on the river Pirsaat and many other monuments.
The intensive development of culture proceeded further from the 13th -15th centuries despite wars and invasions. Such masterpieces of poetry as Divan, the assembly of verses by the poet Hasanoglu, Kissa and Yussuf by the poet Ali were created in the Azerbaijani language. A large observatory was built under the sponsorship and planning of the great Azerbaijani astronomer, scientist and philosopher Nasreddin Tusi, who was considered a mentor by many subsequent astronomers from the Muslim period, including Ulugbek. The Observatory was equipped with devices, previously unknown to science, designed by Tusi himself. At that time the musicians Safiaddin Urmavi and Abdulgadir Maragahi created the original and unparalleled musical system.
The culture of this epoch is distinguished by such outstanding personalities as Imamaddin Nasimi, Badr Shirvani, Abdurrashid Bakuvi, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, philosophers and poets. The famous historian Rashidaddin and others lived at that time. Many of the celebrated personalities - poets, mathematicians, philosophers - developed high principles of Sufi philosophy that were frequently concealed by love lyrics. Such Sufi philosophers as Nasimi and Bakuvi enriched the culture of universal values.
During the epoch of Safavids (16th century) the art of miniature and calligraphy received a new impetus. One of the most known schools of miniature in the East, the Tabriz school, and its brightest representative, Sultan Mohammed (16th century), flourished at that time. Mohammed Fizuli's (1494-1556) poem, Leili and Majnun, became the poetic pinnacle. Spoken folk poetry also developed. The epos Koroglu was very popular in the region and the person portrayed as the legendary folk hero was so popular that now there are several presumed places claiming to have been his famed fortress Chanlibel.
During the Middle Ages crafts, including glazed ceramics, metal wares, colored glassworks, art of carpet weaving, embroidery and tapestry, rapidly developed in Azerbaijan. Those goods were widely exported, and remarkable samples are today kept in the leading museums of the world (the Hermitage, the Louvre, Topgapy, Victoria and Albert Museum, Metropolitan Museum and others).
The reputation of local craftsmen allowed them to often be invited to work in other countries, and during wars they were forcibly removed from the country. For example, Azerbaijani builders, copper-smiths, calligraphers and architects participated in the construction of many architectural masterpieces in Samargand, Shakhrisabz, Iraq and India.
After Azerbaijan had become a part of the Russian Empire, an era of strong European cultural influence began. It was reflected in fine arts, architecture, literature, education and other areas. In the 19th century, the first scientific research of the history of Azerbaijan from the medieval ages was undertaken as Gulistan-i-Iram by Bakikhanov appeared. At the same time, Mirza Fatali Akhundov (1812-1878), the founder of the Azerbaijan's drama and modern Azerbaijan literature, became known for his realistic novels and dramas. In 1874 the first newspaper in Azerbaijani language, Ekinchi, was published. The publisher of the newspaper was well-known educator Hasan bey Zardabi.
In March 1873 the first theatre performance in the Azerbaijani language took place, and in 1866 the first grammar school, and later in 1864 the first female grammar school, were opened in Baku. From the 19th to early 20th centuries a number of newspapers and magazines were published in Azerbaijani, including the Hummet, Takammul, as well as in Russian, the Bakinski Rabochi and Kaspi. The satiric magazine, Molla Nasreddin, published by writer J. Mammadguluzadeh, was met with great success. Some outstanding personalities were assisting with the magazine, including well-known artist-caricaturist Azim Azimzadeh, poet-satirist M.A.Sabir, and poet Aligulu Gamkyusar etc.
Opening night for the first national opera, Leyli and Majnun by composer Uzeyir Hajibayov, took place on January, 12, 1908. On October 25, 1913, the first night of the national comedy Arshin mal alan stole the hearts of the public. Outstanding masters of the national theatrical stage of that period were Huseyn Arablinski, Huseyngulu Sarabski, Mirza Aga Aliyev and Sidgi Ruhulla. During the same period, a basis for modern fine arts in Azerbaijan was created. Its founders were artists Bakhruz Kangarli and Azim Azimzadeh. Architects Ploshko, Skibinski, Goslavski, and Ahmedbey Ziverbayov built such remarkable projects as the present Puppet Theatre, City Hall of Baku, Museum of History, Museum of Arts, National Academy of Sciences, Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Juma Mosque in Shamakhi, and other buildings.
The Soviet period in Azerbaijan brought on such new directions as constructivism and found reflection in the architecture of Baku (Shyusev and Vesnin brothers) that led to the building of the former Azerneshr and other buildings in the city. The national school of architecture was developed under the creative impact of Useynov, Dadashev, Gasimzadeh, Ismaylov, and Shulgin.
Such poets, writers and dramatists as Huseyn Javid, Mikayil Mushfig, Abbas Sahhat, Yusif Chamanzaminli, Mammadseyid Ordubadi, Jafar Jabbarli and others enriched the national literature of Azerbaijan. Such composers as Gara Garayev, Niyazi, Fikret Amirov and Arif Melikov greatly influenced the development of modern national musical culture. Also, such composers and jazz musicians as Vagif Mustafazadeh, Aziza Mustafazadeh, Rafig Babayev and others began using traditional motifs in their music.
The most famous artists and sculptors of the period were Mikayil Abdullayev, Sattar Bahlulzadeh, Tair Salakhov, Togrul Narimanbeyov, Alakbar Rzaguliyev, Fuad Abdurahmanov, Tokay Mammadov and Omar Eldarov, but they form only a small portion of the talented group. Well known modern film directors include Hasan Seyidbeyli, Rasim Ojagov, Arif Babayev, Ajdar Ibrahimov and others. The list of renowned writers includes the names of Magsud and Rustam Ibrahimbayovs, Natig Rasulzadeh, Elchin, Chingiz Abdullayev along with others.
Azerbaijani arts and culture have always been on par with world culture, and all inventions and trends on a global scale have flourished in Azerbaijan. Cinema was no exception. The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography.
When the Lumiere brothers of France premiered their first motion picture footage in Paris on December 28, 1895, little did they know how rapidly it would ignite a new age of photographic documentation. These ingenious brothers invented an apparatus, patented in February 1895, which they called the “cinematographe” (from which the word “cinematography” was derived). It is not surprising that this device soon showed up in Baku – at the turn of the 19th century, a time when the Azerbaijani capital was one the booming centers of international business.
Azerbaijani cinema hit a peak of worldwide acclaim when the film “Burnt by the Sun”, co-produced with Russian film-makers, gained top international awards. Renowned screenwriter and producer Rustam Ibrahimbayov, who is well known outside of Azerbaijan, became the first Azeri to receive the Academy Award, also known as the Oscars, for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1994 and the Grand Prize from the Jury at the 47th Cannes International Film Festival.
Past history shows the abundance and versatility of Azerbaijan’s culture, which covers a variety of areas spanning from ancient folk art to modern cinematography. Research of Azerbaijan’s fine arts, music, theater, cinema and folk art, which have covered a long and challenging path of development, proves the high cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people.
Mysterious Symbol Of Azerbaijan
Paris has it's Eiffel Tower. In Moscow, St. Basil's Cathedral draws them in. In Rome, it's the Colosseum. Athens, its Acropolis. And in Baku-the well-recognized architectural landmark is none other than the Maiden Tower. Azerbaijanis are incredibly proud of this monument that is shrouded in mystery and legend, even though scholars and historians are unable to determine, with absolute authority, its origins.
It lies at the heart of Baku's Old City and is listed on UNESCO's world heritage list.
The Maidens' Tower is a round bastion tower located along the ancient coast of Baku. It may once have been part of the city walls that enclose the old town. Measuring over 30 meters tall and around 16 meters in diameter, the Maiden Tower was once the largest and most impressive building in Azerbaijan. Its architectural design, seemingly so simple, consists of walls, which at the base are extraordinarily thick, beginning at five meters in depth and gradually narrowing to four meters at the top.
But the question everyone asks is, "Why is it called Maiden Tower?" Well, many legends surround the name. Most of them center around the word "Maiden." According to one of the most popular legends, it was a king who fell in love with a young maiden (actually his daughter) and wanted to marry her. But the princess tried to delay her father's advances by begging him to build the tower and wait until it was completed. When he completed it, he had still not changed his mind. So she climbed to the top and leaped into the sea. As the level of the Caspian Sea has experienced cycles of rising and falling over the centuries, there is a strong possibility that at one time the waves did lap at the Tower.
According to another legend, a biblical story, it was near "the Maiden Tower" where Saint Bartholomew, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, was executed. Bartholomew appeared in Baku 's territory in the first century AD, popularizing Christianity among pagans. However, Bartholomew's doctrine was rejected and he was executed near the walls of "The Maiden Tower". The place of the execution is marked by a small chapel. In fact, the execution was absolutely real and is clearly visible in an 1890 photo of “the Maiden Tower.”
Yet another story goes that Baku has never actually been taken in a war, thus it's a "virgin" tower. There are countless other tales and legends, which are part of the tower’s allure.
Different analyses of its name, along with the obscure configuration of its interior, have generated many interpretations about its function. It is widely accepted that the tower was built as a singular defensive structure and also probably formed part of the city walls of Baku, however, it is also claimed to have functioned as a Zoroastrian Temple, a Zoroastrian "Tower of Silence", a lighthouse or as an observatory.
The tower's age is also a subject of historical dispute. Its architectural style and years of construction are obscure and estimates of its age go back to an unlikely 2,000 years.
In classical history, the period of its construction is said to be the 12th century. So says a Kufi inscription on the outside of the tower (at a height of 14 meters from the ground): "gubba" (dome) of Massud ibn Davud".
But many historians argue that the slab in the brickwork was placed later to fill a gap in the wall. Having studied the lime mortar and color of the stones used for the tower construction, scientists assume it was erected not earlier than the first century (the most ancient building constructed with such mortar was found in Gabala and is dated to the first century AD), but not later than the tenth century AD (as the stones used for construction of the tower and Mohammed's Mosque are practically identical).
And finally others believe that an exterior comparison of the brickwork indicates it is clear that the lower tier of the Maiden Tower is much older than the upper area. Further, the site was inhabited since the Paleolithic period and reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and a Russian presence, revealed in different building methods used in its construction. Thus, the tower was built in two stages: the foundation of the tower (up to 13.7 meters) is dated between the fifth and the sixth centuries, while the remaining structure is believed to have been completed by the twelfth century.
A thorough survey conducted by Russian military engineers at the beginning of the nineteenth century found that the original structure of the tower had remained unchanged, with the exception of altered and remodeled roofs and vaults. These vaults were remodeled again at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The most magnificent and mysterious landmark of Baku, the Maiden Tower has no similar structures in the entire Orient and is considered an unofficial symbol of Azerbaijan.
Ancient population of Garabagh
Garabagh, the historical Azerbaijani territory, is one of the cradles of civilization. There are many reasons to believe that this region, along with the Mediterranean and North Africa, is part of the cradle of civilization of mankind and was among the first areas where the evolution of humans took place.
Garabagh extends from the highland section of the Lesser Caucasus in Azerbaijan up through the country between the Kura and the Araz rivers. In various periods of history, its territory has been referred to in various ways: the Country of Gargars, Uti, Orkhistena, Artsakh, Khachin, and other names. The name Garabagh is mentioned in sources as far back as the 12th century.
In the first millennium b.c.e such tribes as Gargars, Utis, Saks, and Sodes which, along with other tribes constituted the Albanian tribe union, lived in the territory of present-day Garabagh.
Talking about the ethnic affiliation of the most ancient inhabitants of Garabagh, it is necessary to note that the overall information from the written sources of ancient times is rather poor. There are different scientific versions, the most widespread of which is that belonging to the most ancient residents of Garabagh to the Caucasian group of languages. At the same time, stories about the Turkic origin of the Albanian tribes (not related to the Albanians in the Balkans), or a part of them which inhabited the territory of present-day Garabagh and all of northern Azerbaijan, are worth being considered, as well.
It is known that in the first millennium b.c.e such tribes as Gargars, Utis, Saks, and Sodes which, along with other tribes, were attributed to the Albanian tribal family, lived in the territory of present-day Garabagh. According to ancient authors, the number of Albanian tribes reached 26.3. The area they inhabited included, approximately, the territory of current northern Azerbaijan.
During the Medea-Ahemenides period (VI-IV c. BC), the territory ruled by the Medeans and by Persians covered all of the South Caucasus, including Garabagh. Armenian historians try to assert that, ostensibly, at this time Garabagh was already part of Armenia. But historical sources indicate quite the opposite.
It is beyond a doubt that the Albanian tribe union originated in the territory of Garabagh and throughout present-day northern Azerbaijan. However, this is not the case with the Armenians and the Armenian language, which could have appeared in the Caucasus, at best, not earlier than the period of the wars begun by the Armenian kings Artashes and Zariadrij, i.e. after the second century b.c.e.
Now it is well known that the current Armenia is not the native land of ethnic Armenians. The Armenians in the Caucasus are, absolutely, an outside element. The ancient Armenian people evolved in the area of the upper Euphrates valley in approximately the first half of the first millennium BC. Even Herodotus wrote in the fifth century BC that Armenia was “a small country” on the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Xenophontus confirms Herodotus's description, saying that when he stepped on the land of the Fasians and Taokhs, which later was called Northern-Central Armenia, he understood that Armenians were left behind. Ancient Armenian chroniclers also write that the small Armenian state created after Urartu's fall, survived for only a short time and was taken over, first by Medea, and after 550 BC was seized by the Iranian Ahmenids. Thus, the statements of some Armenian historians claiming that Garabagh was a part of the Armenian State from the fifth to the fourth centuries BC are groundless.
Approximately from the fourth to the third centuries b.c.e. Albanian tribes united and established the Caucasian Albanian State. Moses Khorenatsi, an ancient Armenian historian, wrote that Arran, who obviously was a legendary ancestor, so to say the eponym of the Albanians, received “all the Albanian plain with its highland part...” and that “the tribes of Utis, Gardmans, Tsavdeys and the Gargarian principality derives from the descendants of Arran”. All of the above-mentioned tribes were the Albanian tribes.
It is almost doubtless, that among the mentioned tribes of Utis, Tsavdeys and Gardmans were the inhabitants of Garabagh. Thus, the historical sources definitely testify to the Albanian origin of the tribes of the Garabagh area.
The authors from antiquity mentioned the Albanian tribe of Utis/Otens. Herodotus was also among them. According to Plinius, the area that was inhabited by the Utis bordered Atropatena along the Araz river and, namely in the part which adjoined the Mukan (currently Mugan plain in Azerbaijan), where the tribe of Miks resided. Just like the Miks, Utis appear in the historical arena in the first quarter of the fifth century BC, participating in Iranian King Kserks's crusade to Greece and fighting in the famous Gavgamel battle.
The people of the Sodis (Tsavdeys), seemingly, should be identified with a tribe, the name of which is attested in the name of the Soduken(a) region which is located in the mountainous region of present-day Garabagh, at that time known under name of Artsakh.
Gargars are one of the major Albanian tribes. They lived in Artsakh and in the low lands. There are assumptions that the Albanian alphabet, consisting of 52 letters, was formed based on the Gargarian dialect of the Albanian language.
The commissioning of Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks), the unique city on pilings, marked the beginning of the development of the offshore oil industry in Azerbaijan in 1949.
It was the first experience in offshore oil production in the world. At the same time, there was the development of the oil sciences and engineering in Azerbaijan, which was and remains one of the leading centers in the world. Azerbaijan oilworkers participated in the development of the oil sector not only within the former USSR, but also abroad.
During this period, offshore exploration expanded, a number of oil and gas fields were discovered and commissioned (including Gum-Deniz, Sangachal-Divanni-Deniz-Khara-Zira island, Bulla-Deniz, and Darwin pitcher, and offshore drilling, including exploration drilling), the technique and technology of hydrotechnological oil plants and the infrastructure of offshore oil production was developed.
At the same time, a number of new onshore oil and gas fields were discovered and commissioned (Kurovdag, Mishovdag, Kursanga, Garabaghly, Galmaz, Garabagh and others). That era was characterized by the intensive development and operations at the Neft Dashlari and other fields. Also, an offshore field was established on the Estacada in the open sea for the first time in the world. Further, engineering, scientific and technical measurement caused an inflow of capital into the country, improved productivity through the saving of metals and led to a decline in the prices of oil.
Background
Oil production from its existing fields began to decline after World War II, as a result of catastrophic over-production coupled with under investment. However, it was felt that the real potential for new discoveries was to be found offshore.
As far back as the mid-19th century, the first offshore oil explorations were carried out in Azerbaijan. In 1864, academician G.V. Abikh surveyed and documented oil structures present on the Caspian seabed.
In the early 1930s, engineers proposed construction of offshore wells timber piles, connected by a causeway, and the first such well was laid in the open sea at a depth of 6 meters to the east from Bibi-Heybet bay.
In 1945, oil engineers S.A. Orujev and Y. Safarov proposed a method of tubular collapsible construction for offshore bases. This construction enabled the quick installation of under oil-rigs during any season. In 1947 a group of oilmen developed the trestle method of linking development rigs and processing facilities. The average height of trestles above sea level is 5-7 meters and the width of causeways was about 3.5 meters. In 1948, construction of trestles and other causeways started on Pirallahi and Oil Rocks.
Oil Rocks Saga
One of the striking examples for offshore oil deposit development is "Oil Rocks" - "Neft Dashlari". It is located to the southeast of Absheron Archipelago. In "Oil Rocks" the sea depth ranges from 10 to 25 meters, though part of the oil pool reaches a depth of 60 meters. Oil prospecting with a geological survey, structure drilling, seismic prospecting and preliminary drilling began in 1945.
On August 24, 1949 the first offshore exploration well at Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks) was drilled after the causeway was built. In November, at a depth of 1,000 meters, the well N1 tested oil at a rate of 700 bpd. Neft Dashlari is referred to as "The Island of Seven Ships" because during construction of the bridge-head, disabled ships were sunk to provide a solid base for causeways.
Following this, full-scale development began in 1950. Development from multiple drilling sites connected by trestle bridges also employed deviated holes. In 1953, to maintain reservoir pressure, water flooding was begun. Today, after 50 years in use, the field is still delivering about 15,000 bpd.
Azerbaijan Oil: Soviet Era
The Soviet Era began in 1920 after the nationalization of the oil industry of Azerbaijan and covers the period until the country gained independence in 1991.
In 1920, when the Bolsheviks captured Azerbaijan, all private property - including oil wells and factories - were confiscated. All oil assets in the country were nationalized and the Azneft State company was formed.
After the occupation, Azerbaijan’s entire oil industry was directed toward the needs of the Soviet Union, including a tremendous output of oil for the Soviet war effort during World War II.
In 1920, only 1800 qualified specialists worked in Russia’s oil industry, of which 1232 were assigned to work in Azerbaijan. The industry urgently needed technology, education and specialists. A scientific exchange was begun with the US, where visitors from Baku were transferred to oil fields in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, California, and Texas to learn new methods of well drilling and production. The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy was established in 1920 to train oil specialists.
The production of oil was reduced to 2.4 million tons in 1921. As part of the second stage, due to the increase in exploration works, a number of new oil fields were discovered (especially Gala, Buzovna-Mashtagha and others) and oil production reached 23.6 million tons in 1941, thus making up 76% of the total amount of oil production in the USSR. Due to that, S.A Vezirov (chief of Azerneftcombinat), R.H. Ismayilov (chief of the association, Azneftzavodlar), B.Q. Baba-zade (head geologist of Azizbeyneft), R. Ragimov (master of drilling), became the first oilmen to be awarded the title of the Heroes of Socialist Labor. Due to the removal of oil equipment and oil specialists to eastern Soviet regions (Tatarstan, Turkmenistan, Bashkiria and others) during the war of 1941-1945, Azerbaijan accounted for 11.1 million tons of oil production.
Well No 1, drilled to 942 meters in depth, was commissioned with the hope of producing 100 tons of oil a day at Neft Dashlary on November 7, 1949, thus laying the foundation for offshore oil production. Agha Gurban Aliyev was the first geologist assigned to the well.
Advancement in drilling and logging practices
In 1925, for the first time in Russia, Baku engineer M.M. Skvortsov built a device for the automatic movement of a chisel, which became known as the "automatic driller". By 1930, electrical logging tools were used in the well-bore by Schlumberger in the Surakhany oil field.
A new technology in drilling was introduced in Baku: electrical aggregates with exact control of the number of rotations came into widespread use. By the early 1930s about one-third of well stocks were operated with pumps using gas lift. In 1933, the first deviated well was drilled in the Bibi-Heybat field.
Other firsts were:
- 1936 saw the beginning of the industrial application of the multi-stepped turbo drill without a reducer, which had been invented by Shumilov, Taghiyev and others.
- For the first time in the world, an oil well was drilled by the electro-drilling construction method which was introduced by engineers Ostrovsky, Aleksandrov and others in Kala oil field
Oilworkers’ heroism in World War II
During the first year of the war, Azerbaijan produced 25.4 million tons of oil - a record. Azerbaijani oil made up three-fourths of the total oil production in the Soviet Union.
By the Decree of the USSR Supreme Council in February 1942, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognized by the issuing of orders and medals of the USSR.
By the end of the year, so many engineers and oil workers had left for the war front that positions had to be filled by women. By the summer of 1942 more than 25,000 women, or 33% of all workers, were on the job in 18 hour shifts in the oil industries. At refineries and chemical plants, the percentage of women was even higher, estimated at 38%. By 1944, women's participation had grown to 60%. Veterans and retirees also returned to the oil fields to help.
Hitler was determined to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus, in particular Baku, as it would provide much needed oil-supplies for the German military, which was suffering due to blockades. The 1942 German offensive, codenamed Case Blue, saw a determined attempt to seize the oil fields in a large scale advance into the area, but Axis forces were surrounded and eventually defeated at Stalingrad, forcing a retreat from the region.
As a result of catastrophic over-production and under investment, Azerbaijani oil production began to decline after World War II.
Baku: The Capital Of Islamic Culture
The Year of Culture, “Baku: The Capital of Islamic Culture-2009”, which served to promote the Azerbaijani capital in the Muslim world and beyond with a wide range of events, will close on December 15 following a solemn ceremony at the Heydar Aliyev Palace.
Baku, an ancient city which has historically been the crossroads of world civilizations, was granted the title at the fifth Islamic conference of culture ministers held in Tripoli, Libya November 21-23, 2007. Participants at that meeting also decided to hold the next ministerial in Baku.
On December 29-31, 2001, the Islamic states’ culture ministers who gathered in Doha, Qatar for their third conference adopted a resolution approving the preliminary “Capitals of Islamic Culture” program, which had been proposed by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). According to the resolution, every year ISESCO was to select three cities among those bidding from the members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) -- one city each from the Arab states, Asian and African countries. At that conference, it was decided to name Mecca the first capital of Islamic culture.
Further, ISESCO developed a concept for the program and, following Mecca, a proposal was made to name 30 Arab, Asian and African cities as capitals of Islamic culture over a period of ten years. The fourth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, held in Algeria on December 15-17, 2004, endorsed the program of the Capitals of Islamic Culture for the period 2005-2014.
As part of this program, cities chosen to bear the honorary title have to possess remarkable history on a countrywide and regional scale and stand out for their contribution to science, art and literature representing importance for both Islamic and world culture. The requirements for successful bidders also include running scientific research centers, manuscript libraries, archaeological training centers, and institutions individually and jointly organizing cultural events.
Since the beginning of 2009, a slew of events representing tremendous importance and drawing public attention have been held as part of the Year of Culture, “Baku: The Capital of Islamic Culture-2009.” The first event took place on January 1. Gifted students, teachers and men of art who contributed to the city’s recognition were honored with ISESCO awards.
The official opening ceremony of the Year of Culture was held at the Heydar Aliyev Palace on February 18 and attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and member of parliament. Also participating were ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, OIC Assistant Secretary-General Atta al-Mannan Bakhit, four ministers and deputy ministers from Islamic states, as well as representatives of international organizations, the capitals of European culture, Linz, and Houston, Baku’s sister city.
President Aliyev said during the ceremony that Azerbaijan continues contributing to Islamic unity, despite being a newly independent state.
“Azerbaijan should strive to bring Islamic states closer by its policies and actual measures, because Islamic states are in need of this,” Aliyev said.
The president noted that Muslim countries should support each other in all areas. “Unity of these countries on the international stage is important for peace and security in the world.”
The Azerbaijani leader went on to denounce the destructive actions of neighboring Armenia, which has occupied part of Azerbaijan’s territory for nearly two decades.
“Historical monuments, mosques and museums in the Azerbaijani land under Armenian occupation have been destroyed. Azerbaijan is unable to protect the cultural and historical monuments in these territories. The destruction of historical monuments there has been noted by international observers, as well. Undoubtedly, after our land is freed, Azerbaijan will restore these destroyed historical and cultural monuments. But for this to happen, the Upper Garabagh conflict must be settled and Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity ensured.”
ISESCO’s Director General Altwaijri told the ceremony that his organization condemns the destruction of Azerbaijan’s historical monuments in the occupied territories, urging the world community to prevent such actions.
The Year of Culture featured over 70 functions, including conferences, a grand festival and scientific symposeums dedicated to Islamic culture. Further, the Advisory Council on the cultural strategy of the Islamic world held its ninth meeting in Baku, as well. The activities also included an international conference, “Historical cities and modern architecture of Islamic countries”, and an info-tour of Azerbaijan for a group of representatives of Jordan and Morocco’s tourism companies, as well as the media. Also, among the events held in Baku were the International Mugham (folk music) Festival, the Week of Uzeyir Music, dedicated to the National Music Day which is marked on the birthday anniversary date of the great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayov, who was the founder of Azerbaijan’s classical music and the author of the first-ever Oriental opera. Moreover, “Tuesday” events and festivities devoted to the Novruz Holiday have been held. In addition, “Ashiq music anthology” CDs, made in cooperation with France’s Maison des Cultures du Monde Association which promote the art of unique Azerbaijani poetry, dance and music, as well as the “Baku: The Capital of Islamic Culture” website were premiered.
History of Azerbaijan Culture
The heritage, culture, and civilization of Azerbaijan have both ancient and modern roots. The Azerbaijanis are believed to have inherited traits from various ancient civilizations.
Azerbaijan’s culture is rooted in ancient times and recorded in petroglyphs on the rocks of Gobustan outside Baku, Gamigaya in Nakhchivan and on the Dalidag mountain in Kalbajar. Other history has been set down in archaic ceramics of neolith and epochs of bronze, bronze ornaments and utensils, products made of gold and silver found in numerous ancient burial grounds and settlements.
The ancient cults (animism, ancestors' cult, and others) in Azerbaijan were replaced by the Zoroastrian religion in the middle of the first millennium BC. Being one of the most ancient religions on the planet, it contains the concept of duality ruling the world (Good and Evil, Ahuramazda and Ahriman), and so one of the main spiritual duties of the Zoroastrian worshipper was the duty of Choice. One of the important holidays was Novruz, which is interpreted as a New Day and means a new day approaching due to the victory of Good over Evil. Novruz lost its meaning as a Zoroastrian holiday as the centuries passed and today there is the holiday of spring in the day of the Spring equinox on March 21 in Azerbaijan. It is a cheerful holiday that is celebrated for several weeks. Further, people use recipes from ritual dishes and sweets which have been handed down over the millennia.
In the Middle Ages, a number of cities emerged as the main cultural, political, administrative and trading centers. Such cities in Azerbaijan included Shamakhi, Ganja, Baku, Barda, Sheki, Tabriz, Nakchivan, Shabran, Ardabil, Maraga, Gabala, Beylagan and others. Medieval authors called Azerbaijan the country of one hundred cities. By the fifth century AD Caucasian Albania already had its own written alphabet. Albanian educator Musa Kalankatu wrote “The Agwan History” in the 7th century AD and the Albanian poet Davdak wrote the poem “On The Death of Grand Duke Javanshir”.
In late 7th - early 8th centuries, when the great bulk of the town population adopted Islam, a new culture emerged and the Albanian alphabet was replaced with Arabic. Muslim educational institutions, mektebs or madrasa, where Arabic was taught alongside with the Koran, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, philosophy and other subjects spread throughout the country. Construction projects were ongoing throughout the country during both the Albanian period and afterwards. Many cult buildings (churches, mosques), bridges, castles, fortresses, irrigation projects appeared during the 11-12th centuries, marking a renaissance in Azerbaijan.
This epoch brought together poets, thinkers, architects such as the philosopher Bakhmanyar, historian Masud Ibn Namdar, architect Abubakr Ajami, poetess Mahsati Ganjavi and the great poet and philosopher Nizami Ganjavi, poet and thinker Khagani and others. At this particular time, the Turk-Oghuz epos Kitab-i-Dede Gorgud was finally created; chess, backgammon and the chovgan game of polo were wide-spread games of entertainment. Almost in each town a zorkhana, a wrestling hall or gym, was available to the public. Thanks to that period, we enjoy such striking architectural achievements as the fortifications of Baku, the Maiden Tower, the mausoleums of Nakhchivan, kanegah on the river Pirsaat and many other monuments.
The intensive development of culture proceeded further from the 13th -15th centuries despite wars and invasions. Such masterpieces of poetry as Divan, the assembly of verses by the poet Hasanoglu, Kissa and Yussuf by the poet Ali were created in the Azerbaijani language. A large observatory was built under the sponsorship and planning of the great Azerbaijani astronomer, scientist and philosopher Nasreddin Tusi, who was considered a mentor by many subsequent astronomers from the Muslim period, including Ulugbek. The Observatory was equipped with devices, previously unknown to science, designed by Tusi himself. At that time the musicians Safiaddin Urmavi and Abdulgadir Maragahi created the original and unparalleled musical system.
The culture of this epoch is distinguished by such outstanding personalities as Imamaddin Nasimi, Badr Shirvani, Abdurrashid Bakuvi, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, philosophers and poets. The famous historian Rashidaddin and others lived at that time. Many of the celebrated personalities - poets, mathematicians, philosophers - developed high principles of Sufi philosophy that were frequently concealed by love lyrics. Such Sufi philosophers as Nasimi and Bakuvi enriched the culture of universal values.
During the epoch of Safavids (16th century) the art of miniature and calligraphy received a new impetus. One of the most known schools of miniature in the East, the Tabriz school, and its brightest representative, Sultan Mohammed (16th century), flourished at that time. Mohammed Fizuli's (1494-1556) poem, Leili and Majnun, became the poetic pinnacle. Spoken folk poetry also developed. The epos Koroglu was very popular in the region and the person portrayed as the legendary folk hero was so popular that now there are several presumed places claiming to have been his famed fortress Chanlibel.
During the Middle Ages crafts, including glazed ceramics, metal wares, colored glassworks, art of carpet weaving, embroidery and tapestry, rapidly developed in Azerbaijan. Those goods were widely exported, and remarkable samples are today kept in the leading museums of the world (the Hermitage, the Louvre, Topgapy, Victoria and Albert Museum, Metropolitan Museum and others).
The reputation of local craftsmen allowed them to often be invited to work in other countries, and during wars they were forcibly removed from the country. For example, Azerbaijani builders, copper-smiths, calligraphers and architects participated in the construction of many architectural masterpieces in Samargand, Shakhrisabz, Iraq and India.
After Azerbaijan had become a part of the Russian Empire, an era of strong European cultural influence began. It was reflected in fine arts, architecture, literature, education and other areas. In the 19th century, the first scientific research of the history of Azerbaijan from the medieval ages was undertaken as Gulistan-i-Iram by Bakikhanov appeared. At the same time, Mirza Fatali Akhundov (1812-1878), the founder of the Azerbaijan's drama and modern Azerbaijan literature, became known for his realistic novels and dramas. In 1874 the first newspaper in Azerbaijani language, Ekinchi, was published. The publisher of the newspaper was well-known educator Hasan bey Zardabi.
In March 1873 the first theatre performance in the Azerbaijani language took place, and in 1866 the first grammar school, and later in 1864 the first female grammar school, were opened in Baku. From the 19th to early 20th centuries a number of newspapers and magazines were published in Azerbaijani, including the Hummet, Takammul, as well as in Russian, the Bakinski Rabochi and Kaspi. The satiric magazine, Molla Nasreddin, published by writer J. Mammadguluzadeh, was met with great success. Some outstanding personalities were assisting with the magazine, including well-known artist-caricaturist Azim Azimzadeh, poet-satirist M.A.Sabir, and poet Aligulu Gamkyusar etc.
Opening night for the first national opera, Leyli and Majnun by composer Uzeyir Hajibayov, took place on January, 12, 1908. On October 25, 1913, the first night of the national comedy Arshin mal alan stole the hearts of the public. Outstanding masters of the national theatrical stage of that period were Huseyn Arablinski, Huseyngulu Sarabski, Mirza Aga Aliyev and Sidgi Ruhulla. During the same period, a basis for modern fine arts in Azerbaijan was created. Its founders were artists Bakhruz Kangarli and Azim Azimzadeh. Architects Ploshko, Skibinski, Goslavski, and Ahmedbey Ziverbayov built such remarkable projects as the present Puppet Theatre, City Hall of Baku, Museum of History, Museum of Arts, National Academy of Sciences, Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Juma Mosque in Shamakhi, and other buildings.
The Soviet period in Azerbaijan brought on such new directions as constructivism and found reflection in the architecture of Baku (Shyusev and Vesnin brothers) that led to the building of the former Azerneshr and other buildings in the city. The national school of architecture was developed under the creative impact of Useynov, Dadashev, Gasimzadeh, Ismaylov, and Shulgin.
Such poets, writers and dramatists as Huseyn Javid, Mikayil Mushfig, Abbas Sahhat, Yusif Chamanzaminli, Mammadseyid Ordubadi, Jafar Jabbarli and others enriched the national literature of Azerbaijan. Such composers as Gara Garayev, Niyazi, Fikret Amirov and Arif Melikov greatly influenced the development of modern national musical culture. Also, such composers and jazz musicians as Vagif Mustafazadeh, Aziza Mustafazadeh, Rafig Babayev and others began using traditional motifs in their music.
The most famous artists and sculptors of the period were Mikayil Abdullayev, Sattar Bahlulzadeh, Tair Salakhov, Togrul Narimanbeyov, Alakbar Rzaguliyev, Fuad Abdurahmanov, Tokay Mammadov and Omar Eldarov, but they form only a small portion of the talented group. Well known modern film directors include Hasan Seyidbeyli, Rasim Ojagov, Arif Babayev, Ajdar Ibrahimov and others. The list of renowned writers includes the names of Magsud and Rustam Ibrahimbayovs, Natig Rasulzadeh, Elchin, Chingiz Abdullayev along with others.
Azerbaijani arts and culture have always been on par with world culture, and all inventions and trends on a global scale have flourished in Azerbaijan. Cinema was no exception. The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography.
When the Lumiere brothers of France premiered their first motion picture footage in Paris on December 28, 1895, little did they know how rapidly it would ignite a new age of photographic documentation. These ingenious brothers invented an apparatus, patented in February 1895, which they called the “cinematographe” (from which the word “cinematography” was derived). It is not surprising that this device soon showed up in Baku – at the turn of the 19th century, a time when the Azerbaijani capital was one the booming centers of international business.
Azerbaijani cinema hit a peak of worldwide acclaim when the film “Burnt by the Sun”, co-produced with Russian film-makers, gained top international awards. Renowned screenwriter and producer Rustam Ibrahimbayov, who is well known outside of Azerbaijan, became the first Azeri to receive the Academy Award, also known as the Oscars, for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1994 and the Grand Prize from the Jury at the 47th Cannes International Film Festival.
Past history shows the abundance and versatility of Azerbaijan’s culture, which covers a variety of areas spanning from ancient folk art to modern cinematography. Research of Azerbaijan’s fine arts, music, theater, cinema and folk art, which have covered a long and challenging path of development, proves the high cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people.
Mysterious Symbol Of Azerbaijan
Paris has it's Eiffel Tower. In Moscow, St. Basil's Cathedral draws them in. In Rome, it's the Colosseum. Athens, its Acropolis. And in Baku-the well-recognized architectural landmark is none other than the Maiden Tower. Azerbaijanis are incredibly proud of this monument that is shrouded in mystery and legend, even though scholars and historians are unable to determine, with absolute authority, its origins.
It lies at the heart of Baku's Old City and is listed on UNESCO's world heritage list.
The Maidens' Tower is a round bastion tower located along the ancient coast of Baku. It may once have been part of the city walls that enclose the old town. Measuring over 30 meters tall and around 16 meters in diameter, the Maiden Tower was once the largest and most impressive building in Azerbaijan. Its architectural design, seemingly so simple, consists of walls, which at the base are extraordinarily thick, beginning at five meters in depth and gradually narrowing to four meters at the top.
But the question everyone asks is, "Why is it called Maiden Tower?" Well, many legends surround the name. Most of them center around the word "Maiden." According to one of the most popular legends, it was a king who fell in love with a young maiden (actually his daughter) and wanted to marry her. But the princess tried to delay her father's advances by begging him to build the tower and wait until it was completed. When he completed it, he had still not changed his mind. So she climbed to the top and leaped into the sea. As the level of the Caspian Sea has experienced cycles of rising and falling over the centuries, there is a strong possibility that at one time the waves did lap at the Tower.
According to another legend, a biblical story, it was near "the Maiden Tower" where Saint Bartholomew, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, was executed. Bartholomew appeared in Baku 's territory in the first century AD, popularizing Christianity among pagans. However, Bartholomew's doctrine was rejected and he was executed near the walls of "The Maiden Tower". The place of the execution is marked by a small chapel. In fact, the execution was absolutely real and is clearly visible in an 1890 photo of “the Maiden Tower.”
Yet another story goes that Baku has never actually been taken in a war, thus it's a "virgin" tower. There are countless other tales and legends, which are part of the tower’s allure.
Different analyses of its name, along with the obscure configuration of its interior, have generated many interpretations about its function. It is widely accepted that the tower was built as a singular defensive structure and also probably formed part of the city walls of Baku, however, it is also claimed to have functioned as a Zoroastrian Temple, a Zoroastrian "Tower of Silence", a lighthouse or as an observatory.
The tower's age is also a subject of historical dispute. Its architectural style and years of construction are obscure and estimates of its age go back to an unlikely 2,000 years.
In classical history, the period of its construction is said to be the 12th century. So says a Kufi inscription on the outside of the tower (at a height of 14 meters from the ground): "gubba" (dome) of Massud ibn Davud".
But many historians argue that the slab in the brickwork was placed later to fill a gap in the wall. Having studied the lime mortar and color of the stones used for the tower construction, scientists assume it was erected not earlier than the first century (the most ancient building constructed with such mortar was found in Gabala and is dated to the first century AD), but not later than the tenth century AD (as the stones used for construction of the tower and Mohammed's Mosque are practically identical).
And finally others believe that an exterior comparison of the brickwork indicates it is clear that the lower tier of the Maiden Tower is much older than the upper area. Further, the site was inhabited since the Paleolithic period and reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and a Russian presence, revealed in different building methods used in its construction. Thus, the tower was built in two stages: the foundation of the tower (up to 13.7 meters) is dated between the fifth and the sixth centuries, while the remaining structure is believed to have been completed by the twelfth century.
A thorough survey conducted by Russian military engineers at the beginning of the nineteenth century found that the original structure of the tower had remained unchanged, with the exception of altered and remodeled roofs and vaults. These vaults were remodeled again at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The most magnificent and mysterious landmark of Baku, the Maiden Tower has no similar structures in the entire Orient and is considered an unofficial symbol of Azerbaijan.
Ancient population of Garabagh
Garabagh, the historical Azerbaijani territory, is one of the cradles of civilization. There are many reasons to believe that this region, along with the Mediterranean and North Africa, is part of the cradle of civilization of mankind and was among the first areas where the evolution of humans took place.
Garabagh extends from the highland section of the Lesser Caucasus in Azerbaijan up through the country between the Kura and the Araz rivers. In various periods of history, its territory has been referred to in various ways: the Country of Gargars, Uti, Orkhistena, Artsakh, Khachin, and other names. The name Garabagh is mentioned in sources as far back as the 12th century.
In the first millennium b.c.e such tribes as Gargars, Utis, Saks, and Sodes which, along with other tribes constituted the Albanian tribe union, lived in the territory of present-day Garabagh.
Talking about the ethnic affiliation of the most ancient inhabitants of Garabagh, it is necessary to note that the overall information from the written sources of ancient times is rather poor. There are different scientific versions, the most widespread of which is that belonging to the most ancient residents of Garabagh to the Caucasian group of languages. At the same time, stories about the Turkic origin of the Albanian tribes (not related to the Albanians in the Balkans), or a part of them which inhabited the territory of present-day Garabagh and all of northern Azerbaijan, are worth being considered, as well.
It is known that in the first millennium b.c.e such tribes as Gargars, Utis, Saks, and Sodes which, along with other tribes, were attributed to the Albanian tribal family, lived in the territory of present-day Garabagh. According to ancient authors, the number of Albanian tribes reached 26.3. The area they inhabited included, approximately, the territory of current northern Azerbaijan.
During the Medea-Ahemenides period (VI-IV c. BC), the territory ruled by the Medeans and by Persians covered all of the South Caucasus, including Garabagh. Armenian historians try to assert that, ostensibly, at this time Garabagh was already part of Armenia. But historical sources indicate quite the opposite.
It is beyond a doubt that the Albanian tribe union originated in the territory of Garabagh and throughout present-day northern Azerbaijan. However, this is not the case with the Armenians and the Armenian language, which could have appeared in the Caucasus, at best, not earlier than the period of the wars begun by the Armenian kings Artashes and Zariadrij, i.e. after the second century b.c.e.
Now it is well known that the current Armenia is not the native land of ethnic Armenians. The Armenians in the Caucasus are, absolutely, an outside element. The ancient Armenian people evolved in the area of the upper Euphrates valley in approximately the first half of the first millennium BC. Even Herodotus wrote in the fifth century BC that Armenia was “a small country” on the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Xenophontus confirms Herodotus's description, saying that when he stepped on the land of the Fasians and Taokhs, which later was called Northern-Central Armenia, he understood that Armenians were left behind. Ancient Armenian chroniclers also write that the small Armenian state created after Urartu's fall, survived for only a short time and was taken over, first by Medea, and after 550 BC was seized by the Iranian Ahmenids. Thus, the statements of some Armenian historians claiming that Garabagh was a part of the Armenian State from the fifth to the fourth centuries BC are groundless.
Approximately from the fourth to the third centuries b.c.e. Albanian tribes united and established the Caucasian Albanian State. Moses Khorenatsi, an ancient Armenian historian, wrote that Arran, who obviously was a legendary ancestor, so to say the eponym of the Albanians, received “all the Albanian plain with its highland part...” and that “the tribes of Utis, Gardmans, Tsavdeys and the Gargarian principality derives from the descendants of Arran”. All of the above-mentioned tribes were the Albanian tribes.
It is almost doubtless, that among the mentioned tribes of Utis, Tsavdeys and Gardmans were the inhabitants of Garabagh. Thus, the historical sources definitely testify to the Albanian origin of the tribes of the Garabagh area.
The authors from antiquity mentioned the Albanian tribe of Utis/Otens. Herodotus was also among them. According to Plinius, the area that was inhabited by the Utis bordered Atropatena along the Araz river and, namely in the part which adjoined the Mukan (currently Mugan plain in Azerbaijan), where the tribe of Miks resided. Just like the Miks, Utis appear in the historical arena in the first quarter of the fifth century BC, participating in Iranian King Kserks's crusade to Greece and fighting in the famous Gavgamel battle.
The people of the Sodis (Tsavdeys), seemingly, should be identified with a tribe, the name of which is attested in the name of the Soduken(a) region which is located in the mountainous region of present-day Garabagh, at that time known under name of Artsakh.
Gargars are one of the major Albanian tribes. They lived in Artsakh and in the low lands. There are assumptions that the Albanian alphabet, consisting of 52 letters, was formed based on the Gargarian dialect of the Albanian language.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Aliyev, Sarkisian may meet in Munich - report
Baku, AssA-Irada, November 16, 2009
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian are expected to hold their next meeting to discuss settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict at the end of November in Munich, Germany, according to Armenia’s News.am news website.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process are reportedly scheduled to visit the region again this week -- following their talks with officials in Baku and Yerevan on November 4-6 -- to determine the venue and date of the upcoming talks.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said earlier that Presidents Aliyev and Sarkisian are expected to hold talks in a European city. Following the presidential talks, on December 1-2, the two countries’ foreign ministers are expected to meet on the sidelines of an OSCE ministerial in Athens.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Peace talks have not yet made progress in resolving the conflict.
Turkish journalist terms Garabagh ‘Armenian land’
Baku, AssA-Irada, November 16, 2009
A Turkish journalist has reportedly called Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, Armenia’s territory.
Nagehan Alci, a writer for the Akhsham newspaper, said in an interview with the “Upper Garabagh Republic” TV channel, during a visit to Garabagh and other occupied Azerbaijani territories, that Turkey is mistaken and Garabagh is completely Armenian land and that Armenians will never cede this region, according to the Newsarmenia.ru website.
Alci said he had asked the newspaper’s editor for permission to visit Garabagh, which was granted. Alci, who toured the area as part of a group of Turkish journalists during their visit to the occupied Azerbaijani region, said he was leaving Khankandi, the center of the self-proclaimed republic, with favorable impressions, adding she plans to visit there again.
Alci also failed to negate the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
“I am not a historian and cannot say whether or not genocide occurred, but 1915 saw aggravating developments. I am disappointed with these events. We have to be friends, because we have once been friends and have lived through common history. We have to take our friendship, not sorrow, to the future.”
The journalist also favored opening the Turkey-Armenia border.
Alci noted that he was aware of Azerbaijan’s concerns over the Turkish journalists’ visit. Alci claimed that their goal was to cover the realities of the turbulent region in an unbiased manner.
“It is possible that we will be declared personas non grata in Azerbaijan. But this is my business and we have to visit everywhere.”
Armenian media reported that the Turkish journalists will also head to the historic Azeri town of Shusha located in Garabagh and meet with what is described as Armenian refugees.
Upper Garabagh is an historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
POLITICS
Top official says int’l stance on bloggers’ arrest biased
International observers’ response to the recent conviction of two bloggers to jail sentences on charges of hooliganism is biased, says Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijan Presidential Administration socio-political department.
A Baku court on November 11 sentenced Emin Milli, 30, an ANTV Online TV blogger and coordinator in the youth organization Alumni Network, to two and a half years in prison, while video blogger Adnan Hajizade, 26, was sentenced to two years in prison. Local and international rights advocates, along with international organizations, have criticized the ruling, claiming the bloggers’ arrest was due to their critical writings on the internet.
Hasanov told reporters that thousands of court rulings on charges of hooliganism are handed down in Azerbaijan every year. International groups are not reacting to these sentences, but have now criticized the two young bloggers’ sentences.
“Certainly, they can say that these two youngsters are bloggers, have a high intellect and are close to the West. But Azerbaijan’s laws and the Criminal Code do not stipulate that those who are more intellectual and closer to the West or any given country should be handed down lighter sentences and are not to be prosecuted. Our laws are enforced based upon common standards. We cannot differentiate between people committing the same actions.”
Hasanov said, further, that the Azerbaijani society has reached a level whereby one branch of government cannot interfere with the authority of another branch.
“Azerbaijan is a country entering the European legal realm. Any influence exerted on courts can quickly bring about the passage of some decisions defying the government. Therefore, we respect the rulings issued by Azerbaijani courts. As an executive body, we are not authorized to meddle in the work of courts,” Hasanov said.
Hasanov added that citizens who disagree with a local court ruling are entitled to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and Azerbaijan certainly complies with all rulings of this judicial body.
Gov’t ‘not opposed’ to libel law
A senior Azerbaijani official has said authorities were not opposed to the adoption of a libel law, but the necessary groundwork should first be created in the country.
Vugar Aliyev, who heads the Presidential Administration section for work with the media, said adopting the Law on Defamation requires economic independence of the local media, improving journalists’ skills and minimized politicizing of the press.
“Adoption of the law is not far off,” Aliyev said during a conference, “Defamation and freedom of expression in Azerbaijan,” held in Baku on Monday by the Council of Europe’s local office and media watchdog Press Council.
Veronika Kotek, the CE Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said in her remarks that such a law should be passed in a CE member state.
Kotek maintained, further, that there are problems with freedom of expression in Azerbaijan and authorities should take a number of steps to solve them.
“First of all, government officials should not file criminal charges against journalists. Second, journalists’ professionalism should be increased. Third, courts should adopt European standards as a basis while issuing rulings for journalists. Fourth, punishment of journalists over infringing upon one’s dignity should not be handed down under the Criminal Code; these articles should be removed from the Criminal Code and a separate law on defamation passed.”
The CE envoy noted that the media plays the role of a public watchdog in society. However, its rights should not be boundless, either. The authorities, for their part, should ensure that action taken against media outlets is proportionate to the committed violation of law.
Other speakers also pointed to the need for passing the libel law. However, a number of speakers said such a law should be adopted only after the existing problems between the media and society are resolved.
Aflatun Amashov, the Press Council chairman, spoke in favor of adopting a libel law. He noted, however, that public opinion polls show that government officials are opposed to the measure. Amashov added that as much as 75 percent of the complaints received by the Press Council had been filed by officials.
ELECTIONS
CoE, OSCE to observe local polls
The Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will have representatives in the country to observe Azerbaijan’s December 23 municipal elections, according to the heads of the two organizations’ Baku representations.
Veronika Kotek, the CE Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said the election would be monitored by a small observation mission from the group’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
“The make-up of the mission has not yet been determined. But it is known that this will be a short-term observation mission,” Kotek said.
As for the OSCE, the organization will assign representatives of its Baku office to observe the local elections, Bilge Cankorel, head of the OSCE office, told journalists. According to Cankorel, his office will prepare a report about the course of the elections and further submit it to the OSCE.
Cankorel said there is a belief that democratic advances have been achieved in Azerbaijan’s electoral process, however, some problems remain. He noted that according to the country’s laws members of the military are to vote in general ballot stations, however, polling stations are often set up on military bases proper.
“We want servicemen’s voting to fully comply with the law,” Cankorel added.
Aliyev, Sarkisian may meet in Munich - report
Baku, AssA-Irada, November 16, 2009
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian are expected to hold their next meeting to discuss settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict at the end of November in Munich, Germany, according to Armenia’s News.am news website.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process are reportedly scheduled to visit the region again this week -- following their talks with officials in Baku and Yerevan on November 4-6 -- to determine the venue and date of the upcoming talks.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said earlier that Presidents Aliyev and Sarkisian are expected to hold talks in a European city. Following the presidential talks, on December 1-2, the two countries’ foreign ministers are expected to meet on the sidelines of an OSCE ministerial in Athens.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Peace talks have not yet made progress in resolving the conflict.
Turkish journalist terms Garabagh ‘Armenian land’
Baku, AssA-Irada, November 16, 2009
A Turkish journalist has reportedly called Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, Armenia’s territory.
Nagehan Alci, a writer for the Akhsham newspaper, said in an interview with the “Upper Garabagh Republic” TV channel, during a visit to Garabagh and other occupied Azerbaijani territories, that Turkey is mistaken and Garabagh is completely Armenian land and that Armenians will never cede this region, according to the Newsarmenia.ru website.
Alci said he had asked the newspaper’s editor for permission to visit Garabagh, which was granted. Alci, who toured the area as part of a group of Turkish journalists during their visit to the occupied Azerbaijani region, said he was leaving Khankandi, the center of the self-proclaimed republic, with favorable impressions, adding she plans to visit there again.
Alci also failed to negate the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
“I am not a historian and cannot say whether or not genocide occurred, but 1915 saw aggravating developments. I am disappointed with these events. We have to be friends, because we have once been friends and have lived through common history. We have to take our friendship, not sorrow, to the future.”
The journalist also favored opening the Turkey-Armenia border.
Alci noted that he was aware of Azerbaijan’s concerns over the Turkish journalists’ visit. Alci claimed that their goal was to cover the realities of the turbulent region in an unbiased manner.
“It is possible that we will be declared personas non grata in Azerbaijan. But this is my business and we have to visit everywhere.”
Armenian media reported that the Turkish journalists will also head to the historic Azeri town of Shusha located in Garabagh and meet with what is described as Armenian refugees.
Upper Garabagh is an historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
POLITICS
Top official says int’l stance on bloggers’ arrest biased
International observers’ response to the recent conviction of two bloggers to jail sentences on charges of hooliganism is biased, says Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijan Presidential Administration socio-political department.
A Baku court on November 11 sentenced Emin Milli, 30, an ANTV Online TV blogger and coordinator in the youth organization Alumni Network, to two and a half years in prison, while video blogger Adnan Hajizade, 26, was sentenced to two years in prison. Local and international rights advocates, along with international organizations, have criticized the ruling, claiming the bloggers’ arrest was due to their critical writings on the internet.
Hasanov told reporters that thousands of court rulings on charges of hooliganism are handed down in Azerbaijan every year. International groups are not reacting to these sentences, but have now criticized the two young bloggers’ sentences.
“Certainly, they can say that these two youngsters are bloggers, have a high intellect and are close to the West. But Azerbaijan’s laws and the Criminal Code do not stipulate that those who are more intellectual and closer to the West or any given country should be handed down lighter sentences and are not to be prosecuted. Our laws are enforced based upon common standards. We cannot differentiate between people committing the same actions.”
Hasanov said, further, that the Azerbaijani society has reached a level whereby one branch of government cannot interfere with the authority of another branch.
“Azerbaijan is a country entering the European legal realm. Any influence exerted on courts can quickly bring about the passage of some decisions defying the government. Therefore, we respect the rulings issued by Azerbaijani courts. As an executive body, we are not authorized to meddle in the work of courts,” Hasanov said.
Hasanov added that citizens who disagree with a local court ruling are entitled to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and Azerbaijan certainly complies with all rulings of this judicial body.
Gov’t ‘not opposed’ to libel law
A senior Azerbaijani official has said authorities were not opposed to the adoption of a libel law, but the necessary groundwork should first be created in the country.
Vugar Aliyev, who heads the Presidential Administration section for work with the media, said adopting the Law on Defamation requires economic independence of the local media, improving journalists’ skills and minimized politicizing of the press.
“Adoption of the law is not far off,” Aliyev said during a conference, “Defamation and freedom of expression in Azerbaijan,” held in Baku on Monday by the Council of Europe’s local office and media watchdog Press Council.
Veronika Kotek, the CE Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said in her remarks that such a law should be passed in a CE member state.
Kotek maintained, further, that there are problems with freedom of expression in Azerbaijan and authorities should take a number of steps to solve them.
“First of all, government officials should not file criminal charges against journalists. Second, journalists’ professionalism should be increased. Third, courts should adopt European standards as a basis while issuing rulings for journalists. Fourth, punishment of journalists over infringing upon one’s dignity should not be handed down under the Criminal Code; these articles should be removed from the Criminal Code and a separate law on defamation passed.”
The CE envoy noted that the media plays the role of a public watchdog in society. However, its rights should not be boundless, either. The authorities, for their part, should ensure that action taken against media outlets is proportionate to the committed violation of law.
Other speakers also pointed to the need for passing the libel law. However, a number of speakers said such a law should be adopted only after the existing problems between the media and society are resolved.
Aflatun Amashov, the Press Council chairman, spoke in favor of adopting a libel law. He noted, however, that public opinion polls show that government officials are opposed to the measure. Amashov added that as much as 75 percent of the complaints received by the Press Council had been filed by officials.
ELECTIONS
CoE, OSCE to observe local polls
The Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will have representatives in the country to observe Azerbaijan’s December 23 municipal elections, according to the heads of the two organizations’ Baku representations.
Veronika Kotek, the CE Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said the election would be monitored by a small observation mission from the group’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
“The make-up of the mission has not yet been determined. But it is known that this will be a short-term observation mission,” Kotek said.
As for the OSCE, the organization will assign representatives of its Baku office to observe the local elections, Bilge Cankorel, head of the OSCE office, told journalists. According to Cankorel, his office will prepare a report about the course of the elections and further submit it to the OSCE.
Cankorel said there is a belief that democratic advances have been achieved in Azerbaijan’s electoral process, however, some problems remain. He noted that according to the country’s laws members of the military are to vote in general ballot stations, however, polling stations are often set up on military bases proper.
“We want servicemen’s voting to fully comply with the law,” Cankorel added.
Monday, November 16, 2009
POLITICS
Int’l groups criticize conviction of young bloggers
The sentencing of two Azerbaijani bloggers to prison terms on charges of hooliganism has raised concerns among international organizations.
Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, described the convictions as political.
"These new imprisonments cement Azerbaijan's image as the pre-eminent jailer of journalists in the OSCE region. Five journalists are currently in prison, several of them on clearly trumped-up charges following organized provocations and unfair trials," Haraszti claimed in a letter to Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov posted on the OSCE website.
A Baku court last week sentenced Emin Milli, 30, an ANTV Online TV blogger and coordinator in the youth organization Alumni Network, to two and a half years in prison, while video blogger Adnan Hajizade, 26, was sentenced to two years in prison.
The two bloggers were arrested after a brawl at a restaurant in Baku this past July. According to law enforcement agencies, they assaulted two other men. But the opposition and their supporters claim the arrest was due to their critical writings on the internet.
"The severity of the sentences for these young bloggers and other journalists who have criticized the authorities, including the President and the Interior Minister, is self-revealingly political," Haraszti alleged.
The journalists imprisoned in Azerbaijan also include Eynulla Fatullayev, the editor-in-chief of the Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani-language daily Gundalik Azerbaijan newspapers, and Ganimat Zahid, the editor of opposition newspaper Azadlig. The two are serving prison terms on charges such as posing a terror threat, tax evasion and hooliganism.
"I hope that the appeals court will reverse the decision and release Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade as soon as possible. This will demonstrate to the international community that Azerbaijan takes seriously the OSCE media freedom commitments it has taken upon itself," Haraszti said.
Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, said in a statement that he was “concerned about the very harsh sentences” imposed on the two bloggers. Jagland noted that, shortly before the July incident which resulted in their imprisonment, the two young people produced a satirical YouTube video in which they implicitly criticized the government. “This sequence of events will have an inevitably chilling effect on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.”
“The authorities should very critically review their attitude towards media and civil society and public criticism in general, and bring it in line with their obligations as a member of the Council of Europe and a party to the European Convention on Human Rights,” the statement said.
The OSCE Office in Baku maintained that, in the opinion of a number of OSCE states, “certain procedural requirements were not fully complied with” in the court case of the two bloggers.
“The office looks forward to the issuance of the reasoning of the judgment soon and anticipates thorough appeal proceedings to be carried out in full independence and fairness, in line with applicable domestic legislation and international standards,” Bilge Cankorel, head of the OSCE Office in Baku, said in a statement.
The European Union presidency said it “regrets that the trial proceedings did not reflect due process” and believes that the court decision may further undermine the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.
“The presidency recalls that Azerbaijan has committed itself to the principles of democracy, good governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights when joining the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as in the context of its relationship with the European Union.
“The presidency reiterates that the European Union is willing and ready to assist Azerbaijan in developing its democratic institutions, while offering the prospects of a deeper bilateral relationship within the framework of the Eastern Partnership,” the EU presidency said.
The US State Department has called the court’s decision "a step backwards for Azerbaijan’s progress toward democratic reform." It criticized what it described as "the nontransparent investigation, closed-door hearings, and disproportionate legal charges," claiming they "raised concerns about the independence of the police and the judiciary as well as about restrictions on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan."
Gunter Nooke, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office said in Berlin that, with the convictions of Milli and Hajizade, there are allegedly “two new political prisoners in Azerbaijan.”
“It seems that in all the talks conducted at bilateral level by the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe regarding the events surrounding the two young men, Baku only pretended that it would see to a transparent and fair trail,” Nooke suggested.
PARLIAMENT
MP offers to postpone parliament poll
A lawmaker from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party has suggested postponing the parliamentary election scheduled for 2010.
Aydin Hasanov said in parliament Friday that significant funding has been allocated from the state budget to pay for elections, adding that spending so much on elections is unnecessary at a time of an economic crisis.
Hasanov recalled the amendments introduced to the laws on the prosecutor’s office and the Ombudsman, as well as the Constitution, suggesting tabling legislative elections in Azerbaijan until its Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict with Armenia is resolved.
“As a country that is in a state of war, we can amend laws. I am now offering to postpone parliamentary elections. Various proposals are made here [in parliament] on meeting the people’s social needs. So, let the 50 million manats [$62.5 million] designated for the elections be spent on the social security of the population,” Hasanov said.
Hasanov added that the lawmakers currently represented in parliament are “the worthiest sons of their nation.”
The statement was met by lawmakers with an ironic round of applause.
Under Azerbaijan’s Constitution, if military operations prevent holding parliamentary elections, the terms of the Milli Majlis’ members are to be extended pending the end of warfare. The decision must be approved by the Constitutional Court following an appeal from the government agency in charge of holding elections.
The last parliamentary election took place in 2005 and the next vote is scheduled to be held in the fall of 2010.
ECONOMICS
First barter company launched in Azerbaijan
The first-ever barter company, Azbarter LLC, has begun operating in Azerbaijan. The company seeks to research the needs of businesses and assist in the purchase and sales of goods and services through trade exchanges.
Khayal Mammadkhanly, Azbarter founder and president, says members of the organization will conduct exchanges of commodities and services without using cash. According to Mammadkhanly, companies will now be able to sell goods via barters, buy their required goods and pay for services without having to spend cash, wasting time and storing their products.
Global barter trade currently amounts to $400 billion a year, according to a report of the International Reciprocal Trade Organization (IRTA), the group that promotes equitable standards and governmental relations for the world barter industry.
Azersun Holding to build tea factory in Georgia
Azerbaijan’s Azersun Holding plans to open a tea factory in the Georgian capital Tbilisi at a cost of $2 million, a company executive says.
Alkhan Alizada said the Baku-based company has developed a long-term strategy to develop the tea-producing industry in Georgia. In the initial stage, Azersun Holding will build a factory with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons of tea that will employ 30 people.
OIL & GAS
Azerbaijan signs deal to supply gas to Bulgaria
Azerbaijan turning into EU energy partner
Azerbaijan has signed an agreement to export natural gas to Bulgaria which will result in Azerbaijan being recognized as a European Union energy partner.
The two countries signed the two documents on energy cooperation during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Sofia on Friday.
The documents included a memorandum between Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Industry and Energy and Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy and Energy. Also signed was a Memorandum of Understanding on transporting natural gas between Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR and Bulgaria’s state-owned gas operator Bulgartransgaz, a subsidiary of Bulgargaz.
Under the cooperation memo signed by the two countries’ energy ministries, at least 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be annually supplied to Bulgaria beginning in 2011-2012, allowing the Eastern European country to boost its energy security and diversify hydrocarbon supply routes, Bulgarian media reports.
Further, according to the agreements, SOCAR and Bulgartransgaz are to set up a joint venture. The company will explore the possible delivery of gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, including both finding supplies for the quota that Bulgaria will be entitled to receive through the Nabucco gas transit pipeline and the transit of Azerbaijan’s compressed gas by tankers through the Black Sea.
If the project is created, Bulgaria would not have to build a liquefied natural gas terminal. Following the Russia-Ukraine gas crisis earlier this year, the Bulgarian government considered pushing for building such a terminal in Greece or Turkey in a bid to diversify the country’s gas supplies.
A gas dispute between Russia and transit country Ukraine in January cut off supplies to Europe, temporarily leaving households without heat in the winter and forcing factories to close.
Bulgaria, the poorest EU nation and a number of other ex-communist East European states, are almost totally dependent upon Russian gas and have no access to alternative import routes.
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov told a joint news conference following the signing that the agreements signed with Baku could, in the future, become part of the Nabucco pipeline project which seeks to pump gas from the Caspian and Central Asia regions to energy-thirsty European markets.
But Parvanov could not be specific about when the Western-backed project would be launched, saying a number of outstanding issues must first be resolved.
“These are, primarily, seeking sources of energy resources and issues pertaining to transit and funding. Azerbaijan reiterated its backing of Nabucco in Prague in May, while transit and funding issues have yet to find their solution.”
The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline, which will run from eastern Turkey to the Austrian capital Vienna, is expected to come online in 2014. Azerbaijan is among the key suppliers for Nabucco which, when fully operational, will carry 31 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
“By delivering gas to Bulgaria, Azerbaijan is essentially turning into the EU’s energy partner,” President Aliyev said.
He recalled that the country’s strategic energy partnership with the bloc began with the signing of a memorandum in 2006. “The documents signed today will provide a basis for further development of our relations,” Aliyev said.
The president noted that the documents signed by Azerbaijan and Bulgaria would assist in expanding cooperation in the gas sector and other countries would join this partnership in the future.
"Azerbaijan has large supplies of gas...and wants to export the gas through better, secure routes," Aliyev said at the signing ceremony. "We are looking for more partners and we hope Bulgaria will help us."
Despite its huge natural gas reserves, estimated at 2 trillion cubic meters, Azerbaijan is expected to increase production to provide much of the gas needed to fuel the Nabucco pipeline only during the second phase of operating the Shahdaniz gas field in the Caspian Sea. According to experts, this is expected to provide some 8-10bn cubic meters of additional gas per year.
The Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions bear strategic importance for the 27-member EU and remain a priority area in its external relations. Located in these regions are such key partners as Russia, Turkey and the countries of the so-called Eastern dimension of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). The regions are a core element in the EU’s energy policy and an important transport corridor between Europe and Asia. From this viewpoint, Azerbaijan is interested in cooperating on supplying oil and gas to European markets with Bulgaria, a key hub located at the crossroads of pivotal energy routes.
Of note, Bulgarian President Parvanov paid a visit to Baku early this year. This was his third visit to Azerbaijan as president, following an official visit in 2004 and a working visit in March 2008. During the last meeting of Presidents Aliyev and Parvanov in Baku, start-up of the Nabuccо project was discussed. At that time, Parvanov told a news conference, “Bulgaria has been instructed to step up the Nabuccо project on behalf of the EU.” The Bulgarian leader also said his country was ready to purchase 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas annually to be delivered to Turkey through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline.
Azerbaijan, however, said last month it would consider alternative routes to Europe because Turkey had offered unacceptable transit terms for gas from the Shahdaniz field for gas produced during the next stage of production between 2013 and 2016.
Baku and Ankara have not yet reached a transit deal.
According to the Bulgarian government, Azerbaijan’s gas could be supplied through existing pipelines crossing Georgia and Turkey; through pipelines under construction that would link Bulgaria with Turkey and Greece; through the Turkey- Greece-Italy (TGI) pipeline; and via Nabucco in the future.
In July, Sofia signed an agreement with Greek natural gas monopoly DEPA and Italy's Edison SpA to link its gas network to the Greek-Italian stretch of the ITGI pipeline.
Azerbaijan may triple oil exports to Ukraine
Baku, AssA-Irada, November 13, 2009
The supplies of Azerbaijani oil to Ukraine’s Ukrtatnafta may rise to 700,000 tons from the current 240,000 tons, says the closed joint-stock company’s president, Pavel Ovcharenko.
“Azerbaijani partners are saying they are ready to supply Ukrtatnafta with
600,000 to 700,000 tons a month,” Ovcharenko told a meeting on industry issues held Thursday by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Kremenchuk, a key industrial city in the Poltava province of central Ukraine.
Ovcharenko noted that Ukrtatnafta recently signed a three-year contract to purchase crude with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, with the minimum monthly bulk of deliveries set at 240,000 tons.
The South Caucasus republic’s oil is being transported to the Ukraine town of Odessa at the Black Sea and, further, to the company’s facilities through Ukrtatnafta’s pipelines.
Ovcharenko said Azerbaijani suppliers’ interest in Ukrtatnafta’s refinery in Kremenchuk is due to what he called their displacement from the European market by Russian rivals, as well as Ukrtatnafta’s reliability as a partner.
Supplies of Azerbaijani crude to the refinery began in early October. Then, Ovcharenko said Ukrtatnafta was seeking to increase its purchases from 240,000 tons to 400,000 tons.
Azerbaijan produces most of its oil from the major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields in the Caspian Sea.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Armenian gov’t refuses to back Garabagh ‘independence’ bill
The Armenian government will oppose a draft law on recognizing the self-proclaimed Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh republic as an independent state. The government, at their meeting last week, rejected the bill submitted by the opposition Heritage parliamentary faction, according to the Armenia Today news agency.
“Recognizing the Upper Garabagh republic is inappropriate for us at this point,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharian said in his address.
The bill was forwarded to the legislature on October 15. The party initially proposed the initiative in 2008, but a majority in parliament blocked its passage.
Upper Garabagh is a historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade. OSCE-brokered peace talks began after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
REGION
Opposition leader hails Sarkisian’s policy on Turkey
An Armenian opposition leader who is a vocal critic of the government has welcomed President Serzh Sarkisian’s efforts to mend ties with Turkey following decades of hostility.
At a recent meeting at the Armenian National Congress, which he chairs, former president Levon Ter-Petrosian voiced support of his bloc for all but one provision of the reconciliation agreement signed by Yerevan and Ankara last month, including those on recognizing present-day borders with Turkey. The Congress disagrees, however, with the plans to research the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire through a joint commission of historians.
Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders on October 10. However, the documents require ratification in both countries’ parliaments to take effect, and Ankara has made clear it could fully normalize ties with Yerevan only after the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict has been settled.
Ter-Petrosian also said his bloc would consider recognizing President Sarkisian’s legitimacy.
The opposition leader, who said the February 2008 presidential election was rigged has, so far, been calling for canceling the election results and holding a new vote. Ter-Petrosian said in June that he would never hold discussions with the incumbent president.
WORLD
Turkey’s EU bid hinges on ‘genocide’ recognition: Swedish politician
A Swedish party leader has reportedly said that Turkey would recognize the events that happened during World War I as “genocide” against Armenians if it hopes to advance eventually be admitted to the European Union.
The statement was made by Mona Ingeborg Sahlin, the leader of the Swedish ruling Social Democratic Party, Armenia’s public TV channel reported quoting Germany’s Deutsche Welle radio station.
This comes after the Swedish party approved a decision at its annual meeting denouncing the alleged mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule. In its statement, the party also maintained that, besides Armenians, Assyrians faced “genocide.”
Further, it is possible that a ‘genocide” bill would be discussed soon in the Swedish parliament.
Observers note that during the developments in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, Armenians had begun an uprising. They had taken up arms against Turkey and assisted Russia, one of Turkey’s enemies in WWI. To counter these actions, the Ottoman Empire approved a decision to resettle the Armenians. However, the latter claim that their predecessors were subjected to genocide in the process, while Ankara rejects the allegations.
ECONOMICS
Belarus offers Azerbaijan ‘more scalable’ projects
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered Azerbaijan to tackle more scalable joint projects during Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Belarus last week, BELTA news agency reported.
“The strategic task at the present stage is to take on more scalable joint projects both in Azerbaijan and Belarus – even in the current challenging conditions of the world financial and economic crisis, while at times making unconventional decisions. The basis for this has already been created,” Lukashenko said while hosting President Aliyev.
Lukashenko recalled that an agreement had been reached with his counterpart in 2006 to set up production of Belarusian vehicles in Azerbaijan. Presently, Belarusian tractors and MAZ trucks are assembled at the automobile plant in the country’s northwestern city of Ganja.
Lukashenko believes the two countries can further develop their cooperation by manufacturing cranes, elevators and hinged agricultural machinery.
“We have accumulated extensive experience in upgrading industries and are ready to share it with our Azerbaijani friends. We have agreed with the Azerbaijani president to shift from simple forms of trade to establishing joint production in Azerbaijan and Belarus.”
Lukashenko said bilateral trade has increased 11-fold in the past few years, however, the two countries’ potential has not yet been fully met. According to Lukashenko, the figure could be raised to $500 million in the next three to four years.
Bilateral trade turnover exceeded $100 million in 2008, according to official figures.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan and Belarus are enforcing all bilateral agreements reached swiftly and effectively, which increases mutual confidence between the two countries and opens up new possibilities for cooperation.
The president added that Azerbaijani-Belarusian relations are developing very dynamically and efficiently, also noting that bilateral commodities turnover has surged despite the global recession. Aliyev said that, as a result of his official visit to Belarus, the two countries would be able to not only strengthen their partnership, but also to explore new areas of cooperation.
Azerbaijan and Belarus signed six cooperation agreements during Aliyev’s visit. Further, Presidents Aliyev and Lukashenko signed a joint declaration. The documents also included agreements on national security, archiving and an agreement between the two countries’ border services. The sides also agreed to cooperate on youth policy and signed a protocol on collaboration in education in 2009 and 2010.
Azerbaijan and Turkey to raise trade to $1.5bln
Azerbaijan and Turkey plan to increase their trade turnover in the coming years to $1.5 billion, Azerbaijani First Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov said.
"Several years ago, the annual trade between the two countries amounted to $455 million, but now it is over $1 billion," Sharifov noted.
Further, according to Sharifov, the trade turnover has decreased slightly this year due to ongoing global developments, but next year it is expected to increase.
Azeri-Turkish trade amounted to $668.5 million from January-August, according to Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee.
OIL & GAS
Azeri oil output to grow fastest among ex-Soviet states: OPEC
Azerbaijan's oil production is expected to increase by 0.12 million barrels per day to reach a daily output of 1.03 million barrels per day in 2009, the highest growth among the former Soviet republics, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
By the fourth quarter of 2009 OPEC expects the country's oil production to be at 1.07 million bpd.
OPEC said that, in 2010, Azerbaijan's oil output would increase by 0.13 million bpd - to 1.16 million bpd. According to OPEC’s November report, the highest level of oil production in the country would be reached in the fourth quarter of 2010 - 1.23 million bpd.
OPEC said, further, that Kazakhstan's oil production would be 1.53 million bpd in 2009. In 2010, the figure would grow by 0.08 million barrels to 1.61 million bpd, OPEC estimates.
According to the OPEC forecasts, oil production by the former Soviet countries would be 12.9 million bpd in 2009 and a higher 13.11 million bpd in 2010.
In 2009, non-OPEC countries are expected to deliver 50.86 million bpd, with an increase of 410,000 bpd.
Further, oil supplies by non-OPEC countries are projected to grow by 360,000 bpd to 51.23 million bpd in 2010, which is higher by 17,000 than projected earlier, mostly on account of the United States, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Canada, and Kazakhstan.
Deutsche Bank allots $80m loan to SOCAR
Germany’s Deutsche Bank has provided an $80 million collateral-free loan to the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR to finance investment programs, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev has said.
Deutsche Bank’s Ben Dobson said his financial institution was keen on participating in projects with SOCAR. He noted that the bank intends to continue this cooperation in the future and the current initiative marks its beginning.
Hosting a Deutsche Bank delegation last Thursday, Abdullayev pointed out that his company and the German bank have begun joint collaborations.
MISCELLANEOUS
UNICEF: Child mortality high in Azerbaijan
Thirty six out of every 1,000 children in Azerbaijan die under the age of five, the United Nations children's foundation estimates.
UNICEF said in a report last Wednesday that, among the former Soviet republics, only two countries have higher child mortality rates – Turkmenistan (38 per 1,000) and Tajikistan (64 per 1,000).
Among post-Soviet states, the situation is the most encouraging in the Baltic states, with mortality rates in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia reported at 6, 7 and 9 per 1,000, respectively.
The figures are 13 in Russia and Belarus, 16 in Ukraine, 17 in Moldova, 23 in Armenia, 28 in Kyrgyzstan, 28 in Uzbekistan, and 30 both in Kazakhstan and Georgia.
The average child mortality rate in the former Soviet states and central Europe is 23 per 1,000, while the worldwide figure is 65, UNICEF said.
Over 634 million children worlwide die before the age of five. The most alarming figure was reported in Africa – 132 per 1,000, though the percentage of children with retarded growth there fell to 34 percent from 38 percent in 2008, compared to 1990.
More than 90 percent of the developing world's children facing stunted growth live in Africa and Asia, the report said. A third of them -- roughly 60.8 million -- are in India.
UNICEF said that countries with the highest prevalence of stunted growth among children under the age of five include Afghanistan (59 percent), Yemen (58 percent), Guatemala and East Timor (both 54 percent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (46 percent) and North Korea (45 percent).
Low mortality rates were reported in the world’s industrialized nations, including Norway, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
UNICEF also said poor nutrition in the early years of life causes stunted growth and health problems for nearly 200 million children in developing countries.
“Under-nutrition steals a child's strength and makes illnesses that the body might otherwise fight off far more dangerous," UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman was quoted by Reuters as saying.
"More than one-third of children who die from pneumonia, diarrhea and other illnesses could have survived had they not been under-nourished," she said.
POLITICS
Iran cancels visas for Azeris
Iran has unilaterally canceled visa regulations with neighboring Azerbaijan, according to the Iranian state-run TV channel’s website.
The country’s cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal by the Foreign Ministry. Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rahimi has forwarded the decision to the ministry for enforcement.
Of note, Iranian officials have lately begun hinting in statements about the need to bilaterally cancel visa regulations. Numerous statements were made immediately following a cool-down in Turkey-Azerbaijan relations prompted by the signing and discussion in the Turkish parliament of the October 10 agreement on reopening Turkey’s border with Armenia, Azerbaijan’s long-time foe.
Iranian diplomats immediately sensed the timing was right for a political rapprochement with Azerbaijan, with which Tehran’s relations have been far from warm. Baku has not reciprocated Iran’s overtures toward better ties, and there are quite a few reasons for that, according to observers. In its statements, Iran has always supported Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while in practice it has been doing just the opposite – by backing Armenia, which is responsible for occupying Azerbaijani territory. Moreover, Baku, which is developing relations with European institutions, has been rather cautious in expanding its friendship with Iran, a foe for the powerful West.
It appears that Azerbaijan’s caution has not subsided today, otherwise, Baku would have easily reciprocated Tehran’s move.
However, Baku said it would consider canceling visa regulations with Iran in line with Azerbaijan’s interests.
“If the Iranian side offers Azerbaijan to consider the possibility of canceling visas on our end, we will review the proposal and a decision will be passed based on our national interests,” according to Elkhan Polukhov, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
Polukhov added that visa regulations with Iran have already been simplified and there are no problems with Iranian citizens’ obtaining visas to Azerbaijan.
Political analyst Rustam Mammadov told the Russian-speaking Zerkalo newspaper that Azerbaijan definitely should not cancel visa regulations with Iran, saying the measure would cause “huge trouble.”
“We have already amply suffered from Iranians’ coming to Azerbaijan and have seen nothing good from that. Smuggling of drugs, the advent of Iranian Mullahs – all this is adversely affecting our country. Just imagine what would happen if the borders were transparent based on the “from one house to another” notion. A big menace – that’s what will happen. So, I am opposed to canceling the visa regime, especially because our treasury may be hit hard by this.”
According to Mammadov, Iran is overpopulated and is “trying to get rid of a part of its population by sending it to Azerbaijan.”
But another analyst, Zardusht Alizada, countered that visa-free travel poses no threat to Azerbaijan.
“What threat comes from the Mullahs? Essentially, $50 [an approximate cost of an Azerbaijani visa] is not that much money for Iranian Mullahs, so, visa regulations are not a hurdle for them at all. And if they wanted to, they would have long come here anyway,” said Alizada.
The pundit believes bilateral canceling of visas, actually, has some benefits for both sides.
“On the contrary, both us and them will have a good opportunity to visit each other’s countries, become acquainted closer with the culture and everyday life. For instance, Iran is a very ‘cheap’ country, so Azerbaijanis would be able to afford taking recreational tours,” Alizada said.
Iran had long been considered relatively sealed off to foreign nationals. A number of observers note that fees for entry visas in many countries have often been the main obstacle for tourists, turning Iran into one of the countries with high visa costs. However, the situation began to change in the late 1990s. In 1999 the Islamic republic cancelled visa regulations with six Arab Gulf states, paving the way for increased travel by citizens from neighboring states.
The inflow of Azerbaijani tourists is now anticipated as well. Iran attracts Azerbaijanis not only with its cultural and religious proximity, but also by the fact many relatives of Azerbaijanis live in the neighboring country. Also, it is quite possible that Azerbaijani entrepreneurs will seek to do business in Iran.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government said it also plans to cancel visa regulations with Azerbaijan. Turkey’s Sabah newspaper quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying at a meeting of the ruling AK Party that a preliminary agreement had been reached with Baku to that end. He noted that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is expected to pay a visit to Turkey during which an agreement on canceling the visa regime will be signed.
But Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry, said he was unaware of a planned visit by Mammadyarov. He emphasized, however, that visa regulations between the two countries were on the agenda. According to Polukhov, the consular offices of Azerbaijan and Turkey’s Foreign Ministries held consultations on the issue as early as this past summer and the matter is currently under consideration by Azerbaijani government agencies.
Under current bilateral regulations, Turkish diplomats are allowed to enter Azerbaijan without visas, while rank-and-file Turkish citizens receive visas free of charge. As for Azerbaijani citizens, they are entitled to visa-free stay in Turkey for a period up to 30 days.
Azeri minister sues paper editor – report
Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has reportedly filed a libel lawsuit against lawyer and newspaper editor Eyyub Karimov.
Karimov, editor in chief of Femida 007, a newspaper that covers crime and legal issues, is accused of libeling the ministry by publishing articles that claim organized crime is rising in the country.
Usubov has demanded that Karimov be arrested.
Usubov’s representative in the case, Alirza Habilov, told RFE/RL that articles published in the Azadlig and Femida 007 local newspapers libeled Usubov and his staff.
But Karimov says the stories, which he published after the arrest of former Interior Ministry official Haji Mammadov, merely criticized the ministry and are not libelous.
OIL & GAS
Azerbaijan, Iran agree on gas supplies
Azerbaijani and Iranian energy companies signed a memo in Baku last week on supplying the South Caucasus republic’s gas to its southern neighbor beginning in 2010. The price of gas was not specified.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR and the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC). An agreement on the deliveries is expected by the end of 2009.
SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said at least 500 million cubic meters of gas would be delivered to Iran annually during the initial stage.
“In the past, 10 billion cubic meters of gas was imported to Azerbaijan from Iran through existing pipelines. After the infrastructure is put in order, the volume of gas transported to Iran will be increased,” Abdullayev said.
He said the price of exported fuel would be close to world levels and determined based on a special formula.
The two countries are linked with the 1,474 kilometer Gazi-Muhammad-Astara (Azerbaijan)-Bind-Biand (Iran) pipeline that has annual capacity of 10 billion cubic meters. The Azerbaijan section of the conduit is 296 km long. The route is a section of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran pipeline, which was commissioned in 1971.
So far, Azerbaijan has signed agreements on selling natural gas with Georgia, Turkey and Russia.
At first glance, observers might ask why Iran, which is rich in hydrocarbon reserves exceeding Azerbaijan’s many fold, needs Azerbaijani gas, especially in such insignificant volumes? Most likely, Tehran is employing a political move made earlier by Russia which, despite its possessing huge reserves, has also purchased gas from its southern neighbor.
In mid-October, SOCAR and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom signed an agreement to purchase Azerbaijani gas. Azerbaijan will tackle gas exports in January. At least 500 million cubic meters would be exported to Russia next year.
Also, SOCAR is in talks with Turkey on exporting Azerbaijani gas for a new price. To date, the country has been paying $120 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Georgia had imported gas for the same price until January 2008. According to unofficial sources, the neighboring South Caucasus republic currently pays $180.
Azerbaijan produces most of its gas from the giant Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea.
CULTURE
Azeri artist’s works to be displayed in New York
Chelsea’s Agora Gallery in New York City will feature Baku artist Emin Guliyev. The Metamorphosis exhibition is scheduled to run from November 20 through December 11.
With the tactile and seductive rendering of the human form present in the two dimensional works of Emin Guliyev, it should come as no surprise that the artist comes from a background in sculpture. Introducing the warmth of color and shading to his figurative drawings and paintings, Emin imparts softness and sensuality to works usually conceived in his mind. By working without a model, Emin relies solely on his emotions and impressions to guide his artistic decision making. Without distraction, he fully connects to the work, ensuring the harmonic integrity of each unique composition. Working outside his traditional realm of sculpture, Emin is free to experiment with dramatic visual movement and artistic gesture, communicating his true dexterity as a visual artist and expressive soul.
The Azerbaijan-born artist’s work has been widely exhibited throughout Eastern Europe.
Metamorphosis dives into a vast cauldron of fiery inspiration. We see the humanity behind the form, we find joys, fears, intrigue, and power. There is an expanse of inventive styles, as elemental forms and dynamic figures transform the desire for understanding into action in the same manner of the early explorers. To make the unknown, known: to see what lies over that horizon.
Featured artists also include Fabrizio Andriani, Chritch, Joo Han, Michael Indorato, Marcela, Brian Reed, Marina Reiter, and Jane Sandes.
Agora Gallery is a fine arts gallery located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea art galleries district that was established in 1984 and is famous for showcasing a spectacular array of talented artists from around the world and around the corner, while providing quality and original art to collectors. The gallery also publishes ARTisSpectrum Magazine, a bi-annual magazine that is distributed to museums, galleries, art institutions and art schools around the world. It provides artists, collectors, museums, galleries, art organizations and enthusiasts with access to the work of internationally talented emerging and mid-level artists as well as feature articles, reviews and interviews. Agora Gallery is also the sponsor of Art-Mine.com, one of the most comprehensive resources available worldwide to view and purchase fine art from emerging, mid-level and well-established artists.
Int’l groups criticize conviction of young bloggers
The sentencing of two Azerbaijani bloggers to prison terms on charges of hooliganism has raised concerns among international organizations.
Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, described the convictions as political.
"These new imprisonments cement Azerbaijan's image as the pre-eminent jailer of journalists in the OSCE region. Five journalists are currently in prison, several of them on clearly trumped-up charges following organized provocations and unfair trials," Haraszti claimed in a letter to Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov posted on the OSCE website.
A Baku court last week sentenced Emin Milli, 30, an ANTV Online TV blogger and coordinator in the youth organization Alumni Network, to two and a half years in prison, while video blogger Adnan Hajizade, 26, was sentenced to two years in prison.
The two bloggers were arrested after a brawl at a restaurant in Baku this past July. According to law enforcement agencies, they assaulted two other men. But the opposition and their supporters claim the arrest was due to their critical writings on the internet.
"The severity of the sentences for these young bloggers and other journalists who have criticized the authorities, including the President and the Interior Minister, is self-revealingly political," Haraszti alleged.
The journalists imprisoned in Azerbaijan also include Eynulla Fatullayev, the editor-in-chief of the Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani-language daily Gundalik Azerbaijan newspapers, and Ganimat Zahid, the editor of opposition newspaper Azadlig. The two are serving prison terms on charges such as posing a terror threat, tax evasion and hooliganism.
"I hope that the appeals court will reverse the decision and release Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade as soon as possible. This will demonstrate to the international community that Azerbaijan takes seriously the OSCE media freedom commitments it has taken upon itself," Haraszti said.
Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, said in a statement that he was “concerned about the very harsh sentences” imposed on the two bloggers. Jagland noted that, shortly before the July incident which resulted in their imprisonment, the two young people produced a satirical YouTube video in which they implicitly criticized the government. “This sequence of events will have an inevitably chilling effect on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.”
“The authorities should very critically review their attitude towards media and civil society and public criticism in general, and bring it in line with their obligations as a member of the Council of Europe and a party to the European Convention on Human Rights,” the statement said.
The OSCE Office in Baku maintained that, in the opinion of a number of OSCE states, “certain procedural requirements were not fully complied with” in the court case of the two bloggers.
“The office looks forward to the issuance of the reasoning of the judgment soon and anticipates thorough appeal proceedings to be carried out in full independence and fairness, in line with applicable domestic legislation and international standards,” Bilge Cankorel, head of the OSCE Office in Baku, said in a statement.
The European Union presidency said it “regrets that the trial proceedings did not reflect due process” and believes that the court decision may further undermine the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.
“The presidency recalls that Azerbaijan has committed itself to the principles of democracy, good governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights when joining the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as in the context of its relationship with the European Union.
“The presidency reiterates that the European Union is willing and ready to assist Azerbaijan in developing its democratic institutions, while offering the prospects of a deeper bilateral relationship within the framework of the Eastern Partnership,” the EU presidency said.
The US State Department has called the court’s decision "a step backwards for Azerbaijan’s progress toward democratic reform." It criticized what it described as "the nontransparent investigation, closed-door hearings, and disproportionate legal charges," claiming they "raised concerns about the independence of the police and the judiciary as well as about restrictions on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan."
Gunter Nooke, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office said in Berlin that, with the convictions of Milli and Hajizade, there are allegedly “two new political prisoners in Azerbaijan.”
“It seems that in all the talks conducted at bilateral level by the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe regarding the events surrounding the two young men, Baku only pretended that it would see to a transparent and fair trail,” Nooke suggested.
PARLIAMENT
MP offers to postpone parliament poll
A lawmaker from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party has suggested postponing the parliamentary election scheduled for 2010.
Aydin Hasanov said in parliament Friday that significant funding has been allocated from the state budget to pay for elections, adding that spending so much on elections is unnecessary at a time of an economic crisis.
Hasanov recalled the amendments introduced to the laws on the prosecutor’s office and the Ombudsman, as well as the Constitution, suggesting tabling legislative elections in Azerbaijan until its Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict with Armenia is resolved.
“As a country that is in a state of war, we can amend laws. I am now offering to postpone parliamentary elections. Various proposals are made here [in parliament] on meeting the people’s social needs. So, let the 50 million manats [$62.5 million] designated for the elections be spent on the social security of the population,” Hasanov said.
Hasanov added that the lawmakers currently represented in parliament are “the worthiest sons of their nation.”
The statement was met by lawmakers with an ironic round of applause.
Under Azerbaijan’s Constitution, if military operations prevent holding parliamentary elections, the terms of the Milli Majlis’ members are to be extended pending the end of warfare. The decision must be approved by the Constitutional Court following an appeal from the government agency in charge of holding elections.
The last parliamentary election took place in 2005 and the next vote is scheduled to be held in the fall of 2010.
ECONOMICS
First barter company launched in Azerbaijan
The first-ever barter company, Azbarter LLC, has begun operating in Azerbaijan. The company seeks to research the needs of businesses and assist in the purchase and sales of goods and services through trade exchanges.
Khayal Mammadkhanly, Azbarter founder and president, says members of the organization will conduct exchanges of commodities and services without using cash. According to Mammadkhanly, companies will now be able to sell goods via barters, buy their required goods and pay for services without having to spend cash, wasting time and storing their products.
Global barter trade currently amounts to $400 billion a year, according to a report of the International Reciprocal Trade Organization (IRTA), the group that promotes equitable standards and governmental relations for the world barter industry.
Azersun Holding to build tea factory in Georgia
Azerbaijan’s Azersun Holding plans to open a tea factory in the Georgian capital Tbilisi at a cost of $2 million, a company executive says.
Alkhan Alizada said the Baku-based company has developed a long-term strategy to develop the tea-producing industry in Georgia. In the initial stage, Azersun Holding will build a factory with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons of tea that will employ 30 people.
OIL & GAS
Azerbaijan signs deal to supply gas to Bulgaria
Azerbaijan turning into EU energy partner
Azerbaijan has signed an agreement to export natural gas to Bulgaria which will result in Azerbaijan being recognized as a European Union energy partner.
The two countries signed the two documents on energy cooperation during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Sofia on Friday.
The documents included a memorandum between Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Industry and Energy and Bulgaria’s Ministry of Economy and Energy. Also signed was a Memorandum of Understanding on transporting natural gas between Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR and Bulgaria’s state-owned gas operator Bulgartransgaz, a subsidiary of Bulgargaz.
Under the cooperation memo signed by the two countries’ energy ministries, at least 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be annually supplied to Bulgaria beginning in 2011-2012, allowing the Eastern European country to boost its energy security and diversify hydrocarbon supply routes, Bulgarian media reports.
Further, according to the agreements, SOCAR and Bulgartransgaz are to set up a joint venture. The company will explore the possible delivery of gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, including both finding supplies for the quota that Bulgaria will be entitled to receive through the Nabucco gas transit pipeline and the transit of Azerbaijan’s compressed gas by tankers through the Black Sea.
If the project is created, Bulgaria would not have to build a liquefied natural gas terminal. Following the Russia-Ukraine gas crisis earlier this year, the Bulgarian government considered pushing for building such a terminal in Greece or Turkey in a bid to diversify the country’s gas supplies.
A gas dispute between Russia and transit country Ukraine in January cut off supplies to Europe, temporarily leaving households without heat in the winter and forcing factories to close.
Bulgaria, the poorest EU nation and a number of other ex-communist East European states, are almost totally dependent upon Russian gas and have no access to alternative import routes.
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov told a joint news conference following the signing that the agreements signed with Baku could, in the future, become part of the Nabucco pipeline project which seeks to pump gas from the Caspian and Central Asia regions to energy-thirsty European markets.
But Parvanov could not be specific about when the Western-backed project would be launched, saying a number of outstanding issues must first be resolved.
“These are, primarily, seeking sources of energy resources and issues pertaining to transit and funding. Azerbaijan reiterated its backing of Nabucco in Prague in May, while transit and funding issues have yet to find their solution.”
The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline, which will run from eastern Turkey to the Austrian capital Vienna, is expected to come online in 2014. Azerbaijan is among the key suppliers for Nabucco which, when fully operational, will carry 31 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
“By delivering gas to Bulgaria, Azerbaijan is essentially turning into the EU’s energy partner,” President Aliyev said.
He recalled that the country’s strategic energy partnership with the bloc began with the signing of a memorandum in 2006. “The documents signed today will provide a basis for further development of our relations,” Aliyev said.
The president noted that the documents signed by Azerbaijan and Bulgaria would assist in expanding cooperation in the gas sector and other countries would join this partnership in the future.
"Azerbaijan has large supplies of gas...and wants to export the gas through better, secure routes," Aliyev said at the signing ceremony. "We are looking for more partners and we hope Bulgaria will help us."
Despite its huge natural gas reserves, estimated at 2 trillion cubic meters, Azerbaijan is expected to increase production to provide much of the gas needed to fuel the Nabucco pipeline only during the second phase of operating the Shahdaniz gas field in the Caspian Sea. According to experts, this is expected to provide some 8-10bn cubic meters of additional gas per year.
The Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions bear strategic importance for the 27-member EU and remain a priority area in its external relations. Located in these regions are such key partners as Russia, Turkey and the countries of the so-called Eastern dimension of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). The regions are a core element in the EU’s energy policy and an important transport corridor between Europe and Asia. From this viewpoint, Azerbaijan is interested in cooperating on supplying oil and gas to European markets with Bulgaria, a key hub located at the crossroads of pivotal energy routes.
Of note, Bulgarian President Parvanov paid a visit to Baku early this year. This was his third visit to Azerbaijan as president, following an official visit in 2004 and a working visit in March 2008. During the last meeting of Presidents Aliyev and Parvanov in Baku, start-up of the Nabuccо project was discussed. At that time, Parvanov told a news conference, “Bulgaria has been instructed to step up the Nabuccо project on behalf of the EU.” The Bulgarian leader also said his country was ready to purchase 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas annually to be delivered to Turkey through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline.
Azerbaijan, however, said last month it would consider alternative routes to Europe because Turkey had offered unacceptable transit terms for gas from the Shahdaniz field for gas produced during the next stage of production between 2013 and 2016.
Baku and Ankara have not yet reached a transit deal.
According to the Bulgarian government, Azerbaijan’s gas could be supplied through existing pipelines crossing Georgia and Turkey; through pipelines under construction that would link Bulgaria with Turkey and Greece; through the Turkey- Greece-Italy (TGI) pipeline; and via Nabucco in the future.
In July, Sofia signed an agreement with Greek natural gas monopoly DEPA and Italy's Edison SpA to link its gas network to the Greek-Italian stretch of the ITGI pipeline.
Azerbaijan may triple oil exports to Ukraine
Baku, AssA-Irada, November 13, 2009
The supplies of Azerbaijani oil to Ukraine’s Ukrtatnafta may rise to 700,000 tons from the current 240,000 tons, says the closed joint-stock company’s president, Pavel Ovcharenko.
“Azerbaijani partners are saying they are ready to supply Ukrtatnafta with
600,000 to 700,000 tons a month,” Ovcharenko told a meeting on industry issues held Thursday by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Kremenchuk, a key industrial city in the Poltava province of central Ukraine.
Ovcharenko noted that Ukrtatnafta recently signed a three-year contract to purchase crude with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, with the minimum monthly bulk of deliveries set at 240,000 tons.
The South Caucasus republic’s oil is being transported to the Ukraine town of Odessa at the Black Sea and, further, to the company’s facilities through Ukrtatnafta’s pipelines.
Ovcharenko said Azerbaijani suppliers’ interest in Ukrtatnafta’s refinery in Kremenchuk is due to what he called their displacement from the European market by Russian rivals, as well as Ukrtatnafta’s reliability as a partner.
Supplies of Azerbaijani crude to the refinery began in early October. Then, Ovcharenko said Ukrtatnafta was seeking to increase its purchases from 240,000 tons to 400,000 tons.
Azerbaijan produces most of its oil from the major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields in the Caspian Sea.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT
Armenian gov’t refuses to back Garabagh ‘independence’ bill
The Armenian government will oppose a draft law on recognizing the self-proclaimed Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh republic as an independent state. The government, at their meeting last week, rejected the bill submitted by the opposition Heritage parliamentary faction, according to the Armenia Today news agency.
“Recognizing the Upper Garabagh republic is inappropriate for us at this point,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharian said in his address.
The bill was forwarded to the legislature on October 15. The party initially proposed the initiative in 2008, but a majority in parliament blocked its passage.
Upper Garabagh is a historical Azerbaijani territory. Armenians were settled there in the early 19th century. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict over the mountainous region for over a decade. OSCE-brokered peace talks began after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
REGION
Opposition leader hails Sarkisian’s policy on Turkey
An Armenian opposition leader who is a vocal critic of the government has welcomed President Serzh Sarkisian’s efforts to mend ties with Turkey following decades of hostility.
At a recent meeting at the Armenian National Congress, which he chairs, former president Levon Ter-Petrosian voiced support of his bloc for all but one provision of the reconciliation agreement signed by Yerevan and Ankara last month, including those on recognizing present-day borders with Turkey. The Congress disagrees, however, with the plans to research the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire through a joint commission of historians.
Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders on October 10. However, the documents require ratification in both countries’ parliaments to take effect, and Ankara has made clear it could fully normalize ties with Yerevan only after the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict has been settled.
Ter-Petrosian also said his bloc would consider recognizing President Sarkisian’s legitimacy.
The opposition leader, who said the February 2008 presidential election was rigged has, so far, been calling for canceling the election results and holding a new vote. Ter-Petrosian said in June that he would never hold discussions with the incumbent president.
WORLD
Turkey’s EU bid hinges on ‘genocide’ recognition: Swedish politician
A Swedish party leader has reportedly said that Turkey would recognize the events that happened during World War I as “genocide” against Armenians if it hopes to advance eventually be admitted to the European Union.
The statement was made by Mona Ingeborg Sahlin, the leader of the Swedish ruling Social Democratic Party, Armenia’s public TV channel reported quoting Germany’s Deutsche Welle radio station.
This comes after the Swedish party approved a decision at its annual meeting denouncing the alleged mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule. In its statement, the party also maintained that, besides Armenians, Assyrians faced “genocide.”
Further, it is possible that a ‘genocide” bill would be discussed soon in the Swedish parliament.
Observers note that during the developments in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, Armenians had begun an uprising. They had taken up arms against Turkey and assisted Russia, one of Turkey’s enemies in WWI. To counter these actions, the Ottoman Empire approved a decision to resettle the Armenians. However, the latter claim that their predecessors were subjected to genocide in the process, while Ankara rejects the allegations.
ECONOMICS
Belarus offers Azerbaijan ‘more scalable’ projects
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered Azerbaijan to tackle more scalable joint projects during Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Belarus last week, BELTA news agency reported.
“The strategic task at the present stage is to take on more scalable joint projects both in Azerbaijan and Belarus – even in the current challenging conditions of the world financial and economic crisis, while at times making unconventional decisions. The basis for this has already been created,” Lukashenko said while hosting President Aliyev.
Lukashenko recalled that an agreement had been reached with his counterpart in 2006 to set up production of Belarusian vehicles in Azerbaijan. Presently, Belarusian tractors and MAZ trucks are assembled at the automobile plant in the country’s northwestern city of Ganja.
Lukashenko believes the two countries can further develop their cooperation by manufacturing cranes, elevators and hinged agricultural machinery.
“We have accumulated extensive experience in upgrading industries and are ready to share it with our Azerbaijani friends. We have agreed with the Azerbaijani president to shift from simple forms of trade to establishing joint production in Azerbaijan and Belarus.”
Lukashenko said bilateral trade has increased 11-fold in the past few years, however, the two countries’ potential has not yet been fully met. According to Lukashenko, the figure could be raised to $500 million in the next three to four years.
Bilateral trade turnover exceeded $100 million in 2008, according to official figures.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan and Belarus are enforcing all bilateral agreements reached swiftly and effectively, which increases mutual confidence between the two countries and opens up new possibilities for cooperation.
The president added that Azerbaijani-Belarusian relations are developing very dynamically and efficiently, also noting that bilateral commodities turnover has surged despite the global recession. Aliyev said that, as a result of his official visit to Belarus, the two countries would be able to not only strengthen their partnership, but also to explore new areas of cooperation.
Azerbaijan and Belarus signed six cooperation agreements during Aliyev’s visit. Further, Presidents Aliyev and Lukashenko signed a joint declaration. The documents also included agreements on national security, archiving and an agreement between the two countries’ border services. The sides also agreed to cooperate on youth policy and signed a protocol on collaboration in education in 2009 and 2010.
Azerbaijan and Turkey to raise trade to $1.5bln
Azerbaijan and Turkey plan to increase their trade turnover in the coming years to $1.5 billion, Azerbaijani First Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov said.
"Several years ago, the annual trade between the two countries amounted to $455 million, but now it is over $1 billion," Sharifov noted.
Further, according to Sharifov, the trade turnover has decreased slightly this year due to ongoing global developments, but next year it is expected to increase.
Azeri-Turkish trade amounted to $668.5 million from January-August, according to Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee.
OIL & GAS
Azeri oil output to grow fastest among ex-Soviet states: OPEC
Azerbaijan's oil production is expected to increase by 0.12 million barrels per day to reach a daily output of 1.03 million barrels per day in 2009, the highest growth among the former Soviet republics, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
By the fourth quarter of 2009 OPEC expects the country's oil production to be at 1.07 million bpd.
OPEC said that, in 2010, Azerbaijan's oil output would increase by 0.13 million bpd - to 1.16 million bpd. According to OPEC’s November report, the highest level of oil production in the country would be reached in the fourth quarter of 2010 - 1.23 million bpd.
OPEC said, further, that Kazakhstan's oil production would be 1.53 million bpd in 2009. In 2010, the figure would grow by 0.08 million barrels to 1.61 million bpd, OPEC estimates.
According to the OPEC forecasts, oil production by the former Soviet countries would be 12.9 million bpd in 2009 and a higher 13.11 million bpd in 2010.
In 2009, non-OPEC countries are expected to deliver 50.86 million bpd, with an increase of 410,000 bpd.
Further, oil supplies by non-OPEC countries are projected to grow by 360,000 bpd to 51.23 million bpd in 2010, which is higher by 17,000 than projected earlier, mostly on account of the United States, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Canada, and Kazakhstan.
Deutsche Bank allots $80m loan to SOCAR
Germany’s Deutsche Bank has provided an $80 million collateral-free loan to the Azerbaijani state energy firm SOCAR to finance investment programs, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev has said.
Deutsche Bank’s Ben Dobson said his financial institution was keen on participating in projects with SOCAR. He noted that the bank intends to continue this cooperation in the future and the current initiative marks its beginning.
Hosting a Deutsche Bank delegation last Thursday, Abdullayev pointed out that his company and the German bank have begun joint collaborations.
MISCELLANEOUS
UNICEF: Child mortality high in Azerbaijan
Thirty six out of every 1,000 children in Azerbaijan die under the age of five, the United Nations children's foundation estimates.
UNICEF said in a report last Wednesday that, among the former Soviet republics, only two countries have higher child mortality rates – Turkmenistan (38 per 1,000) and Tajikistan (64 per 1,000).
Among post-Soviet states, the situation is the most encouraging in the Baltic states, with mortality rates in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia reported at 6, 7 and 9 per 1,000, respectively.
The figures are 13 in Russia and Belarus, 16 in Ukraine, 17 in Moldova, 23 in Armenia, 28 in Kyrgyzstan, 28 in Uzbekistan, and 30 both in Kazakhstan and Georgia.
The average child mortality rate in the former Soviet states and central Europe is 23 per 1,000, while the worldwide figure is 65, UNICEF said.
Over 634 million children worlwide die before the age of five. The most alarming figure was reported in Africa – 132 per 1,000, though the percentage of children with retarded growth there fell to 34 percent from 38 percent in 2008, compared to 1990.
More than 90 percent of the developing world's children facing stunted growth live in Africa and Asia, the report said. A third of them -- roughly 60.8 million -- are in India.
UNICEF said that countries with the highest prevalence of stunted growth among children under the age of five include Afghanistan (59 percent), Yemen (58 percent), Guatemala and East Timor (both 54 percent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (46 percent) and North Korea (45 percent).
Low mortality rates were reported in the world’s industrialized nations, including Norway, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
UNICEF also said poor nutrition in the early years of life causes stunted growth and health problems for nearly 200 million children in developing countries.
“Under-nutrition steals a child's strength and makes illnesses that the body might otherwise fight off far more dangerous," UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman was quoted by Reuters as saying.
"More than one-third of children who die from pneumonia, diarrhea and other illnesses could have survived had they not been under-nourished," she said.
POLITICS
Iran cancels visas for Azeris
Iran has unilaterally canceled visa regulations with neighboring Azerbaijan, according to the Iranian state-run TV channel’s website.
The country’s cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal by the Foreign Ministry. Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rahimi has forwarded the decision to the ministry for enforcement.
Of note, Iranian officials have lately begun hinting in statements about the need to bilaterally cancel visa regulations. Numerous statements were made immediately following a cool-down in Turkey-Azerbaijan relations prompted by the signing and discussion in the Turkish parliament of the October 10 agreement on reopening Turkey’s border with Armenia, Azerbaijan’s long-time foe.
Iranian diplomats immediately sensed the timing was right for a political rapprochement with Azerbaijan, with which Tehran’s relations have been far from warm. Baku has not reciprocated Iran’s overtures toward better ties, and there are quite a few reasons for that, according to observers. In its statements, Iran has always supported Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while in practice it has been doing just the opposite – by backing Armenia, which is responsible for occupying Azerbaijani territory. Moreover, Baku, which is developing relations with European institutions, has been rather cautious in expanding its friendship with Iran, a foe for the powerful West.
It appears that Azerbaijan’s caution has not subsided today, otherwise, Baku would have easily reciprocated Tehran’s move.
However, Baku said it would consider canceling visa regulations with Iran in line with Azerbaijan’s interests.
“If the Iranian side offers Azerbaijan to consider the possibility of canceling visas on our end, we will review the proposal and a decision will be passed based on our national interests,” according to Elkhan Polukhov, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
Polukhov added that visa regulations with Iran have already been simplified and there are no problems with Iranian citizens’ obtaining visas to Azerbaijan.
Political analyst Rustam Mammadov told the Russian-speaking Zerkalo newspaper that Azerbaijan definitely should not cancel visa regulations with Iran, saying the measure would cause “huge trouble.”
“We have already amply suffered from Iranians’ coming to Azerbaijan and have seen nothing good from that. Smuggling of drugs, the advent of Iranian Mullahs – all this is adversely affecting our country. Just imagine what would happen if the borders were transparent based on the “from one house to another” notion. A big menace – that’s what will happen. So, I am opposed to canceling the visa regime, especially because our treasury may be hit hard by this.”
According to Mammadov, Iran is overpopulated and is “trying to get rid of a part of its population by sending it to Azerbaijan.”
But another analyst, Zardusht Alizada, countered that visa-free travel poses no threat to Azerbaijan.
“What threat comes from the Mullahs? Essentially, $50 [an approximate cost of an Azerbaijani visa] is not that much money for Iranian Mullahs, so, visa regulations are not a hurdle for them at all. And if they wanted to, they would have long come here anyway,” said Alizada.
The pundit believes bilateral canceling of visas, actually, has some benefits for both sides.
“On the contrary, both us and them will have a good opportunity to visit each other’s countries, become acquainted closer with the culture and everyday life. For instance, Iran is a very ‘cheap’ country, so Azerbaijanis would be able to afford taking recreational tours,” Alizada said.
Iran had long been considered relatively sealed off to foreign nationals. A number of observers note that fees for entry visas in many countries have often been the main obstacle for tourists, turning Iran into one of the countries with high visa costs. However, the situation began to change in the late 1990s. In 1999 the Islamic republic cancelled visa regulations with six Arab Gulf states, paving the way for increased travel by citizens from neighboring states.
The inflow of Azerbaijani tourists is now anticipated as well. Iran attracts Azerbaijanis not only with its cultural and religious proximity, but also by the fact many relatives of Azerbaijanis live in the neighboring country. Also, it is quite possible that Azerbaijani entrepreneurs will seek to do business in Iran.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government said it also plans to cancel visa regulations with Azerbaijan. Turkey’s Sabah newspaper quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying at a meeting of the ruling AK Party that a preliminary agreement had been reached with Baku to that end. He noted that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is expected to pay a visit to Turkey during which an agreement on canceling the visa regime will be signed.
But Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry, said he was unaware of a planned visit by Mammadyarov. He emphasized, however, that visa regulations between the two countries were on the agenda. According to Polukhov, the consular offices of Azerbaijan and Turkey’s Foreign Ministries held consultations on the issue as early as this past summer and the matter is currently under consideration by Azerbaijani government agencies.
Under current bilateral regulations, Turkish diplomats are allowed to enter Azerbaijan without visas, while rank-and-file Turkish citizens receive visas free of charge. As for Azerbaijani citizens, they are entitled to visa-free stay in Turkey for a period up to 30 days.
Azeri minister sues paper editor – report
Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has reportedly filed a libel lawsuit against lawyer and newspaper editor Eyyub Karimov.
Karimov, editor in chief of Femida 007, a newspaper that covers crime and legal issues, is accused of libeling the ministry by publishing articles that claim organized crime is rising in the country.
Usubov has demanded that Karimov be arrested.
Usubov’s representative in the case, Alirza Habilov, told RFE/RL that articles published in the Azadlig and Femida 007 local newspapers libeled Usubov and his staff.
But Karimov says the stories, which he published after the arrest of former Interior Ministry official Haji Mammadov, merely criticized the ministry and are not libelous.
OIL & GAS
Azerbaijan, Iran agree on gas supplies
Azerbaijani and Iranian energy companies signed a memo in Baku last week on supplying the South Caucasus republic’s gas to its southern neighbor beginning in 2010. The price of gas was not specified.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR and the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC). An agreement on the deliveries is expected by the end of 2009.
SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said at least 500 million cubic meters of gas would be delivered to Iran annually during the initial stage.
“In the past, 10 billion cubic meters of gas was imported to Azerbaijan from Iran through existing pipelines. After the infrastructure is put in order, the volume of gas transported to Iran will be increased,” Abdullayev said.
He said the price of exported fuel would be close to world levels and determined based on a special formula.
The two countries are linked with the 1,474 kilometer Gazi-Muhammad-Astara (Azerbaijan)-Bind-Biand (Iran) pipeline that has annual capacity of 10 billion cubic meters. The Azerbaijan section of the conduit is 296 km long. The route is a section of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran pipeline, which was commissioned in 1971.
So far, Azerbaijan has signed agreements on selling natural gas with Georgia, Turkey and Russia.
At first glance, observers might ask why Iran, which is rich in hydrocarbon reserves exceeding Azerbaijan’s many fold, needs Azerbaijani gas, especially in such insignificant volumes? Most likely, Tehran is employing a political move made earlier by Russia which, despite its possessing huge reserves, has also purchased gas from its southern neighbor.
In mid-October, SOCAR and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom signed an agreement to purchase Azerbaijani gas. Azerbaijan will tackle gas exports in January. At least 500 million cubic meters would be exported to Russia next year.
Also, SOCAR is in talks with Turkey on exporting Azerbaijani gas for a new price. To date, the country has been paying $120 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Georgia had imported gas for the same price until January 2008. According to unofficial sources, the neighboring South Caucasus republic currently pays $180.
Azerbaijan produces most of its gas from the giant Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea.
CULTURE
Azeri artist’s works to be displayed in New York
Chelsea’s Agora Gallery in New York City will feature Baku artist Emin Guliyev. The Metamorphosis exhibition is scheduled to run from November 20 through December 11.
With the tactile and seductive rendering of the human form present in the two dimensional works of Emin Guliyev, it should come as no surprise that the artist comes from a background in sculpture. Introducing the warmth of color and shading to his figurative drawings and paintings, Emin imparts softness and sensuality to works usually conceived in his mind. By working without a model, Emin relies solely on his emotions and impressions to guide his artistic decision making. Without distraction, he fully connects to the work, ensuring the harmonic integrity of each unique composition. Working outside his traditional realm of sculpture, Emin is free to experiment with dramatic visual movement and artistic gesture, communicating his true dexterity as a visual artist and expressive soul.
The Azerbaijan-born artist’s work has been widely exhibited throughout Eastern Europe.
Metamorphosis dives into a vast cauldron of fiery inspiration. We see the humanity behind the form, we find joys, fears, intrigue, and power. There is an expanse of inventive styles, as elemental forms and dynamic figures transform the desire for understanding into action in the same manner of the early explorers. To make the unknown, known: to see what lies over that horizon.
Featured artists also include Fabrizio Andriani, Chritch, Joo Han, Michael Indorato, Marcela, Brian Reed, Marina Reiter, and Jane Sandes.
Agora Gallery is a fine arts gallery located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea art galleries district that was established in 1984 and is famous for showcasing a spectacular array of talented artists from around the world and around the corner, while providing quality and original art to collectors. The gallery also publishes ARTisSpectrum Magazine, a bi-annual magazine that is distributed to museums, galleries, art institutions and art schools around the world. It provides artists, collectors, museums, galleries, art organizations and enthusiasts with access to the work of internationally talented emerging and mid-level artists as well as feature articles, reviews and interviews. Agora Gallery is also the sponsor of Art-Mine.com, one of the most comprehensive resources available worldwide to view and purchase fine art from emerging, mid-level and well-established artists.
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