by Steve Hollier.
On the 18th October 1991, two significant events took place, one was the start of Operation Julin in the United States and the other was the foundation of the modern state of Azerbaijan.
The End of the Cold War
Operation Julin was the name given to the final series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States. On that date, a bomb codenamed Lubbock was detonated at the Nevada nuclear test site to “ensure the safety of U.S. deterrent forces”.President George Bush Sr. later declared a testing moratorium on October 1st 1992 that has continued to this day. This was the last gasp of Cold War sabre rattling, and it is significant that the beginning of the end took place at the same moment the Republic of Azerbaijan was declared.
Michail Gorbachev could see that the writing was on the wall for the USSR when he took over the reins of power in 1985. On the 11th March that year, he was elected General Secretary by the Politburo. Significantly, Gorbachev was the first leader of the Soviet Union born after the revolution of 1917, leading him to have a very different perspective on the nature, scope and potential of his society.
Although implemented for the best of reasons, Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reconstruction) led to the accelerated dissolution of the Soviet Union and the opening up of old wounds effectively suppressed by the heavy hand of communism over more than two generations.
- Freedom Square Baku 1990
The Origins of Modern Azerbaijan
Civil unrest and intercultural tensions were apparent in many regions across the Soviet Union including the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan. These tensions finally led Gorbachev to undertake military deployments in an attempt to quell what he saw as the unjustified behaviour of the Azeri people. This culminated in Soviet soldiers firing on Azeri civilians in 1990. A running battle took place in Baku between local people and armed soldiers over several days, leading to the deaths of more than one-hundred men, women and children. These events are now known as Black January and helped reinforce calls for independence and secession.
Later that year, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan SSR dropped the words “Soviet Socialist” from the title, adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan Republic and restoring the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to national use.On 18 October 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence that was affirmed by a nationwide referendum in December that year, when the Soviet Union was officially dissolved. (For more information on these events see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Soviet_Socialist_Republic)
The Soviet Inheritance
Upon independence, the newly created state was faced with many problems inherited from the defunct Soviet Union. These included a sharp decline in the levels of economic production, hyperinflation, growing levels of unemployment and an ongoing conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh that ultimately grew into a war between the two new states.
Between 1992 and 1993 Azerbaijan had three governments with opposing views on the direction in which the country should develop and a serious land war. Unsurprisingly this had dire consequences on the stability of the infant democracy. At this point, former chairman of the Azerbaijan KGB, Polit Bureau member and leader of Soviet Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev returned to power as President of the democratic republic. In May 1994, a ceasefire was brokered by Russia that is still in force today and the huge task of economic and social reconstruction could finally begin.
Oil is the Answer
From the first days of independence, it was understood by the Azeri leadership that the way to address the underlying social and economic problems besieging Azerbaijan had to be through the effective exploitation of the oilfields. The problem was that with a minimum of investment from the Soviet Union after the development of “Oily Rocks” in the 1950’s, these were in a run-down state and production levels were falling year-on-year. Furthermore, Russia still considered Azerbaijan within its “sphere of influence” and was against the involvement of any Western companies in the future development of its oil and gas fields.
After a complex series of negotiations, the Azeri, Chirag and deep-water Gunashli (ACG)-International Contract No. 1 was signed by President Heydar Aliyev and a number of international companies on the 20th September 1994. Because of its potential reserves then estimated at 6 billion barrels (950,000,000 m3) of oil, this project has become known as the “Contract of the Century”.
Since that time there have been numerous new discoveries including the Shah Deniz field in 1999. This is recognised as being one of the largest gas field finds in recent decades and has transformed Azerbaijan into a major producer. More recently on 9th September 2011, a French energy company announced another major gas discovery in the Absheron field 100 kilometres offshore from Baku.According to Wikipedia, the field is estimated to contain around 300 billion cubic metres of gas, boosting Azerbaijan’s gas reserves from 2.2 to 2.5 trillion cm.
After 1995, Azerbaijan has been marked by a booming oil-based economy with growth rates well above the world average. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan, its Mountains, Forests and People
In the final analysis, Azerbaijan is defined neither by its politicians nor its oil industry, but by its land and people. It is a country of astonishing diversity with snow-capped mountains, temperate forests, both natural and manmade lakes. It contains nine of the world’s eleven climatic zones making it one of the most environmentally diverse countries in the world. You can still find Caucasian leopards prowling pastures on the tree-line, Caucasian antelope in the Shirvan National Park, wolves and bears in the upper ranges of the forests and both eagles and hawks patrolling the coastal fringes and mountains.
The first snow of Winter on Baba Dag
Mugham, the national musical form is strong across the country; any night of the week you can feast on orchestral music, opera, or ballet; attend exhibitions of the visual arts in Baku or just sit on the bulvar drinking tea as the sun sinks slowly behind you. You can be astonished by vigorous Leski dancing in the North of the country or can purchase colourful Talysh socks in Southern mountain villages. Wherever you travel in Azerbaijan you can find colour, warmth and friendliness.
Clearly, there is still much that remains to be done but on the eve of a significant anniversary it is time to celebrate and raise a glass to Azerbaijan, land of fire!
