World's best airport in a country with best camouflage skills

So The Jakarta Post published this list of 13 best airports in the world. It is awesome to see Azerbaijan's new international airport featured on the list, and I am not surprised our media outlets picked up on the story.

What is however interesting is that how Azernews does not mention much about tourism stats or the point Jakarta Post makes about the importance of airports:

According to Citylab, airports play a crucial role in economic development as it moves people. The number of passengers and flights is said to be related to economic output, wages and income. Fortunately, more and more airports are being upgraded and modernized, giving comfort to passengers and supporting a country's economy.

According to the most recent stats, as shared by the Ministry of Culture, a total of 1.8million tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2017. The highest number of tourists are from Russia, followed by Georgia, Iran, Turkey, UAE, and others.   

And yet, our own citizens prefer going to neighboring Georgia for holidays such as New Year. The close distance, lower prices, friendly environment are certainly important in this decision. Even though Azerbaijan Tourism Association disagrees. It is not the low prices that attract Azerbaijani tourists but the closeness of the country. I think we should ask Azerbaijanis who travel there. I am sure price, quality and diversity would certainly have something to do with it. It is also easier to travel to Georgia as there are no visa requirements and although Azerbaijan is working to improve its visa handling through notorious ASAN service we are yet to see the results and impact on the country's tourism industry.

Now back to the discussion of economic development and the role of the airports. Y'all know about levels of corruption in Azerbaijan so who knows how much money was swept under the carpet during the construction of this airport. And since Y'all know all about how "caring" our leadership is towards its people, I don't have to tell you that the only economic development that can be a topic of discussion in Azerbaijan, is the economic wealth of the ruling family and its closest. 

Independence of institutions are nominal and all of the power is vested within the executive. The imitation of the multiparty system has been stellar even though those who are familiar with the country are aware that this is indeed an imitation and tolerance only extends to those parties who are supportive of the regime and its policies. Within such carefully built system, it is not surprising that the country's economy is and its capital is divided among families and the rumors of vibrant economic development are just rumors (or perhaps they are affecting state coffers only while leaving the general public out). 

According to this report, while in developed countries GDP per capita aligns with the average salary level, in Azerbaijan, the GDP per capita is almost 10 times the average salary. 

So while its great that Azerbaijan's international airport made it into the ranking, it would be grand to see the local media cover the economic development aspect with a bit more realistic analysis but then, if Azernews did that, it is likely it won't be around and available to its readers which is the case with a number of other independent and opposition media. But that's another blog entrance. 

Now, while I recommend visiting my beautiful home, I suggest staying away from glitz and glamor that sometimes can be too much and visit the countryside, go hiking in the mountains and enjoy the delicious national cuisine. And bear in mind that there are many hidden stories of struggle, poverty, and corruption on the streets of the City of Winds. 

Azerbaijanis' holidays

Most recent article I wrote for Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso. You can follow the link or read the full article here.

Azerbaijanis' Holidays

'Caucasus Triangle'

Few days ago, I was in Brussels for work. My visit coincided with the II Youth Convention on Volunteering that you can read more about here. Held at the main entrance of the EU Parliament, Convention hosted more than 1500 young people. 

I was lucky to participate at one of the workshops held on the last day of the convention. It was a film screening of a short documentary about the Caucasus prepared by a talented and bright woman Letizia Gambini. The documentary looks at youth, media, and democracy processes in all three Caucasus countries- Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. I was there as a guest speaker to talk about currently pressing issues, gender rights, youth rights and etc. after the movie ended. It was a fruitful discussion as we talked about issues ranging from human rights violations to gender equality, visa issues and more.

Overall, this trip to Brussels showed me how little is known about the Caucasus let alone its issues. Strange and ironic in a way especially since we vest so much hope in these higher European institutions for support and understanding and yet it is only a small fraction that is aware of the issues, problems, and difficulties these countries are facing. 

There is so much more that needs to be done to raise more awareness and attention to our region...

Trip to Georgia

Last week, I was in Telavi/Georgia at a four- day retreat for an event called Model Caucasus Parliament (MCP). I was there as co- facilitator and gave a short presentation (case study) on the topic of putting online media tools to use when it comes to campaigning. For those who are familiar with Model UN, MCP was something similar, except with less countries- three to be precise and less people as well. 

The idea behind MCP is "to generate interest/knowledge in parliamentary democracy among young people in the region, as well as bringing up generation of capable and dedicated leaders who will shape peaceful and prosperous future for the South Caucasus".  

The theme of this particular event focused on campaign management (there was already one event held, there will be one more event following which there is going to be simulation with some of the best participants of all three of these events). There were several guest speakers who gave presentations on various aspects of campaign management. One of my personal highlights was the speaker who told the story of Obama campaign and how it was planned.  

There was another highlight of the trip, and that was a visit to a village- Karajala- 15 minutes outside of Telavi, populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis. 

A little bit about the village:

According to the locals the population of the village is around 8,000 people (Wikipedia says between 8 and 10,000). All are ethnic Azerbaijanis who have lived there for several generations. They speak in Azerbaijani but with a dialect- they all use Georgian as well, so it is more of a mix. 16- year- old son of the village head says there are maybe 3 or 4 Georgian families. 

The education given at the local school at first (1937) was in Turkish and Azeri but since 1996 it has been in Georgian.  The ex- school principal says the quality of education is weak though things have been changing with Saakashvilli. "Friendship among nations emerged" says the principal and so gradually things got better. 

In general people are happy with the life style in the village. Some of the women even said that it is better than in other surrounding villages. “Economically condition is fine. Telavi has 24 villages, and we are the ones who pay highest taxes because people who live here do trade and have better and more income than others. But it is the infrastructure- roads- that are bad”, says the principal of the school.  He also added that they don’t have constant water, which explains water “pit- stops” on the sides of the road.

“The local municipality is useless. The man who is in charge is a baker from Baku and he doesn’t even know how to write an official letter”, says the principal.

Impressions: 

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I thought at best, there would be some nice shots and maybe few interviews. Well, it was more than that. 30 minutes into the visit, a woman, whom we (me and journalist Onnik Krikorian) tried to interview told of a wedding that is taking place just five minutes from where we were standing. 

The front yard of the house was crowded with people- neighbors, relatives who came to help. This was just the preparation; the wedding was to take place later in the evening and that was the only the girl’s wedding (according to Azerbaijani traditions there are two weddings- girl and boy, the boy’s wedding is the actual wedding). It all looked like well- planned team work- men were setting up the tables, while women were busy preparing food and washing the dishes. 300 guests were expected to come. 

Several hours into chatting with locals, we got invited to the wedding itself, which was the ultimate experience. There is a slide show presentation that can be watched at:http://frontlineclub.com/blogs/onnikkrikorian/2009/09/an-unexpected-visit-to-an-azeri-village-wedding.html

Looking back at that day, I catch myself smiling, remembering all the tiny details of those few hours spent at the village and of course, MCP- great initiative and an opportunity to meet great people...