Azerbaijan tries to recast oil-flush Baku as Caspian Dubai
YIGAL SCHLEIFER
ARTICLE (February 14 2010): Two adjacent building sites in the capital of Azerbaijan may be the most potent symbol of the dramatic changes taking place in this oil- and gas-rich country. In one lot, workers are tearing down a ramshackle building that until recently served as a kind of vertical refugee camp, home to impoverished families that fled Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region that was occupied by Armenian forces in 1994.
Directly behind the demolition site, meanwhile, a massive new park and cultural centre is rising, anchored by a striking, undulating building designed by the London-based "starchitect" Zaha Hadid. Hadid's project is only one of several ambitious architectural projects that are either in the planning stages or are being built in this ancient city on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Flush with revenue from their energy resources, Azerbaijan's leaders appear to be intent on giving Baku a glossy, petrodollar- fuelled makeover similar to the one given to some of the cities in the Gulf. In 2009, petroleum and gas sales brought in 15 billion dollars into the Azeri government's budget, up from 491 million dollars in 2001. And up until the recent global financial crisis, the Azeri economy was growing at a rate approaching 30 percent.
"There is a vision that this could be another Dubai," says a western diplomat based in Baku. "Between architectural projects, art and fine living, there is a vision that this could be a destination." The grand buildings that were built during Baku's first oil boom in the early 20th century, are being restored and refurbished, derelict neighbourhoods are being torn down and cranes operating at new construction sites crowd the skyline.
On a hill overlooking the city, near Azerbaijan's parliament building, an audacious hotel project is springing up. Made up of three massive curved towers that will have tapered points, the whole thing, when completed, is supposed to resemble a giant flame.
Beyond allowing them to commission ambitious architectural projects, Azeri officials say their oil and gas wealth is also providing the country with increased political heft. "We are defining our own course. We know what we want," says Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, in an interview with the German Press Agency dpa.
"Energy resources are very important for our national security, for our sovereignty and for our moving towards being a regional player." But there is a dark side to the story. Foreign and domestic observers charge the government of President Ilham Aliyev - whose father, Heydar, a KGB and Communist Party strongman who ruled Azerbaijan after the breakup of the Soviet Union - with moving the country in an increasingly autocratic direction.
Journalists who oppose the government complain of harassment, while some have also been jailed. Since the beginning of 2009, the government has banned from the national airwaves foreign radio broadcasters such as the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty.
And in a case that has drawn international condemnation, two young bloggers who were outspoken critics of the government were recently sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, charged with "hooliganism" after they were drawn into a brawl that their supporters charge was government orchestrated.
"The trends in democracy are not good," says the Baku-based diplomat. "The deeper, harder to read area of concern is the lack of voices. The mass media is either government owned or government friendly. There is essentially only one voice here. That's just not healthy for the long-term strength of democracy here."
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's quest to remake Baku could be put to the test by economic realities. Although construction continues on some of the city's major projects, the global economic crisis has left many building sites idle. And while gleaming new buildings are going up, the country is struggling with an unemployment rate that is estimated by economists at 20 percent (the official rate is 1.9 percent), while the average teacher's salary stands at a meagre 250 dollars per month.
"The Azeri economy is like a patient in a vegetative state - the oil and gas is providing it with artificial respiration," says Gubad Ibadoglu, chairman of the Economic Research Center in Baku. "If you take that away, the patient will die. Our economic growth indicators are not sustainable."
But Sabit Bagirov, director of the Baku-based Center for Economic and Political Research, says he believes the government will continue with its push to remake Baku, regardless of the financial challenges. "It will be difficult to turn this place into Dubai," Bagirov says. "But [the country's leaders] want to use this opportunity to leave their mark on history."
Azerbaijan tries to recast oil-flush Baku as Caspian Dubai
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