Truth to be Silenced?

Tweet The Azerbaijani government has decided to kick Radio Liberty and BBC off the airwaves beginning next year. The government says it wants to restrict local broadcasts of international media.

This is a very bad decision.

Radio Liberty and BBC are the only two stations in the country that provide high quality news and information to the people of Azerbaijan. More importantly, these two radio stations are not afraid to speak out about issues -- including corruption and bribery -- issues that would never see the light of day, otherwise, simply because all other stations are either state-owned or too afraid to speak out.

Since I've been in Azerbaijan, dozens of people have told me that the only place that they can get real news that is not tainted by self-censorship or government intimidation is on these two stations.

Personally, I have worked closely with Radio Liberty and have provided news programs to them on a variety of issues -- the government's lack of attention to Internally Displaced Persons, corruption at various levels of government, poor health care and a host of other issues. Radio Liberty did not hesitate to broadcast this material. In fact, it was often the only broadcaster who was willing to do so.

The entire country suffers if Radio Liberty and the BBC are silenced in Azerbaijan. They are the only places to turn -- when citizens want to hear something other than "happy news."

One Way - The Wrong Way

Tweet Traffic is a royal pain in Baku and when the president decides to go somewhere, the traffic situation gets even worse. That's what happened yesterday. All the main streets were blocked for more than one hour -- forcing drivers to make long detours through very narrow streets.

We need to go about seven blocks, but had to make one of those long detours. The driver, Heydar, decided to make the long detour a bit shorter. He pushes down the accelerator on his Mercedes and turns left onto a one way street -- there were three problems: we were going the wrong way, the street was incredibly narrow and the line of cars in front of us stretched on forever.

Heydar laid down on his car horn and proceeded down the street. Not a single driver seemed to think it was out of the ordinary -- they just moved over as much as they could -- and we squeezed by.

After three blocks or so, we finally got off the one-way street, but had to take another one -- and this one went right past the police station. The cops didn't even notice -- we just drove right by them -- they continued talking.

As Heydar explained, drivers feel forced to break the law since there are so many cars and so few streets and alternative routes -- particularly when the president decides to close the streets.

Tweet I met this wonderfully hospitable woman in the village of Kish. She invited us to her house and gave us a huge bag of apples from her orchard.

Round Up

Tweet This shot was taken on a narrow little road near the town of Qax (pronounced Gah), in northeastern Azerbaijan. Scenes like this one are frequent in the countryside -- forcing motorists to slow down and smell the roses...er...goats in this case.

The Fruit Sellers

Tweet These ladies were selling their fruit on a side street in Baku. Fruit sellers are a common sight in the city. The grapes are the sweetest I've ever tasted, particularly the ones grown in the mountains near Sheki -- in northeastern Azerbaijan.

Low Mileage - Real Deal

Tweet

Election Day in Azerbaijan

Tweet
It's election day in Azerbaijan. The day the country re-elects its president Ilham Aliyev. I wandered into a polling place near my office. It was a beehive of activity. My colleagues and I were welcomed -- we met the election officials and the director of the school where the voting was taking place.

There were voters of all ages in the polling station -- including a 90-year old man.

The process looks similar to a US election -- minus the gauntlet of posters and campaigners outside the polling place. The only difference -- and it's a big one -- is that the outcome is a foregone conclusion. The voter shows their identity card -- is issued a ballot -- steps into a curtained booth -- checks off the person they are supporting and then places the ballot in a clear plastic, Tupperware looking -- container.

The election officials asked if we were observers and we said no, but they asked who we were and wrote down the name of our organization. They were extremely friendly to us and to those voting. They were even polite, but firm with a man who wandered in -- reeking of alcohol. As he stumbled toward the registration desk -- he was ushered back out the front door. Perhaps he was told to sober up and come back later.

As voters exit, a local NGO conducts an exit poll of every three voters. The pollsters happily showed us the results so far -- 19 votes for Mr. Aliyev and 1 vote for an opposition candidate.

The only real question is by what margin Mr. Aliyev will win this election. In the days leading up to it, his picture has been pasted on most shop windows -- he's gotten tremendous attention on television -- where he has cut numerous ribbons around the country -- opening new schools, new offices, new roads and new airports.

His opponents, on the other hand, have had very little air time on television and radio. So little, in fact, that many people don't even know the names of the other candidates.

Tweet "Painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight" - Orhan Pamuk

Making Bread -- Azeri Style

Tweet My neighborhood breadmaker has absolutely spoiled me. I guess you could say it started in Tajikistan, when I would go to the local bread maker and he'd hand me piping hot bread through the little window of his shop. It was so hot, I had to wear gloves. He didn't provide a bag.

Azeri bread is just as good. These breads have amazing flavor -- it's probably the way breads in the United States used to taste -- when everything was baked locally without preservatives.

The breads are baked in a hot tandoor oven -- as you can see from the photos -- the bread is slapped on the sides of the wall of the oven and is done in less than five minutes.

If I make it home before finishing off the loaf -- I often put cheese and tomatoes inside -- close it up and savor the flavor!

Post-War Georgia

Tweet
I was in Georgia last week, some four weeks after what the Georgians are calling the Russian War. I traveled to Gori -- the hardest hit of Georgian cities and found little evidence that the Russians had been there. The Georgians have moved quickly to repair the damage -- particularly to the old Soviet apartment buildings that were hit by Russian artillery. I did see a store front window with a large bullet hole in it, but otherwise, few obvious physical signs that the Russians had been there.

The locals told me that the Russians looted the computers in the banks and that the contents of Stalin Museum, located in Gori along with his home, had been carted off to Tbilisi for safe-keeping. Everything was back in place at the museum by the time I arrived -- including Stalin's eery death mask -- which had to be viewed by candlelight since the electricity was off. (Not related to the war.)

In the countryside, there was more physical evidence of the Russian presence. Oddly, the Russians had burned whole mountainsides of forests. Local people told me that helicopters hovered over the mountains and dropped firebombs onto mountainsides. They said some 3000 acres of forests had been burned. The mountainsides were charred black. It seems illogical to burn the mountains, but several locals told me the Russians did it because they could -- and wanted to show their power and superiority. One local trail guide in Borjomi National Park said simply -- "the Russians are cruel."

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili continues to have the support of his people, but there are those who are beginning to question whether his moves against the Russians were a wise move. As one person told me, South Ossetians had begun to talk about rejoining Georgia before the war, but she says she now doubts that will happen any time soon.

There have been no protests agains Saakashvili since the war. Those I spoke with felt that would simply play into the hands of the Russian Government -- which has called the Georgian leader a "corpse."

On the Waterfront - Baku

Tweet

All Night Cola on Fountain Square - Baku

Tweet

Facebook Follies

Tweet A friend sort of broke up with her boyfriend after he hacked into her Facebook account and deleted it. He was angry that she had men friends and he'd just moved to another country and apparently felt threatened. She decided to test his loyalty.

My colleague created another Facebook account, used a different name and found some photos of an attractive woman -- using those photos for her profile and photo album. Next, she invited him to be her friend.

He took the bait.

Over the next few days, he proceeded to tell "her" all about herself -- not realizing he was chatting with his old girlfriend. She let it ride for a few days til the other day when he informed her that he'd found the girl of his dreams. She was furious and wound up telling him that the girl of his dreams was actually her -- his old girlfriend.

I expect this story will have a happy ending once the storm blows over.

Take Out the Garbage

Tweet One of my students is doing a story about garbage. Many places in Baku have regular garbage pickups, but many don't. It's those places that this young reporter is focusing on. She's been to a bunch of garbage piles in the last two weeks, talking with those living near these rubbish heaps as well as health officials and others -- including an official with the sanitation department.

My student told me that the interview with the official went really well, but then at the end, he tried to slip her the equivalent of 25 US dollars if she would forget about the story. As she described this incident to me, I could see and feel her surprise in her voice. She had never experienced anything like this before. She refused the money and told him "you should be ashamed." Her story should be finished next week. We hope to get it on the air -- at least on the web. Stay tuned.

Banana-less Split

Tweet
I was surprised last week when I happened to see that my favorite Indian restaurant had a banana split on the menu. I ordered one. It came in a long slender dish with three scoops of ice cream, finely crushed nuts, chocolate syrup, a cherry on top -- and fried bananas along the edge. It was absolutely delicious and I vowed to order another one the next time I visited.

Last evening, I returned with three friends and at the end of the meal, three of us ordered the banana split. We were excited about the fried bananas and one of my friends described how she had attempted to fry bananas once -- but she wound up with a severely burned banana and a room full of smoke. I assured her that this place knows how to fry bananas.

A few minutes later, the waiter brings out the desserts -- each of us looks down at our dishes and are amazed that there are no bananas. Everything else is there, but no bananas in the banana split.

I reminded the waiter that we ordered banana splits. He replied "this is the banana split." But where is the banana? "It's there," he replied. But where? "This is a banana split," he said. Ok, we were going in circles. Finally, he said in a very serious voice: "This is our NEW banana split."