I am in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. I am here as a guest of the US embassy to meet with an variety of delegations in the art, journalist and diplomatic community. On friday and exhibition of my cartoons opens in a local gallery. The visit has been a interesting introduction to the fascinating area north of Iran known as The Caucusus.

 Baku is a sprawling capital city in a country that has the fastest growing economy in the world. Oil plays a major part of this country’s revenue although it has a rich agricultural region in the west. In 1910, Azerbaijan supplied half of the world’s oil and is likely to be a major player in the field of energy in the years to come. As a result the downtown area is growing increasingly prosperous. Much of it westernized with copious Mercedes, BMW’s and Nissans as well as stores such as Tommy Hiflinger, Boss and McDonalds. There is construction everywhere which is a sign of the booming economy (though locals are first to complain that without zoning laws, beautiful old buildings are being bulldozed to make way for scores of uninteresting tower blocks).

The old city (where I am staying) is packed with narrow lanes, beeping cars and cosmopolitan pedestrians. It is quite impressive with medieval walls surrounding much of it. UNESCO recently declared the Old City as one of its select “World Heritage Sites”.  

Although this is a Muslim country you wouldn’t know it from Baku (with the exception of the calling of prayers echoing through the cobbled streets several times a day). It is a very secular society which is more reminiscent of Italy than it is of Iran.  Outside of Baku is another story… less cosmopolitan but still not devout as its neighbor to the south.

The landscape is dry and uninteresting. The port very industrial but the Caspian Sea is enormous and visible from many places. Azerbaijan does not have much in the way of beaches (Turkey is The Place to go for that) but it does have one thing… WIND.

 

The wind has been gusting each day and all day since the moment I arrived. This, I am told is the permanent state of affairs. Baku is the original “Windy City”.  The winds off the Caspian Sea continuously engulf the city. The residents are used to the blustery environment and claim this keeps the city tolerable in the heat of the summer. They may have a point as the weather has been quite pleasant.  

I will talk tomorrow about my meetings with the locals.