Demonstrations in Baku

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?


Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

by Langston Hughes

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Azerbaijan is far from Harlem of Langston Hughes, but today I was thinking about the concepts he expresses in this poem. A friend of mine sent me information this morning about the student demonstrations in Baku.

Here also is a link to the blog of Ilgar Mammamadov. He was one of the first political bloggers in the country, and I see that he was at the protests and is writing about them.

An Azerbaijani friend of mine later explained that the students wanted a day of remembrance for the victims, but the police were trying to control all the expressions of sorrow. I think the authorities are reflexively trying to restrain all spontaneous expressions. At the demonstration, the students were told to disperse. Also, the police interfered with the demonstration - with plain-clothed policemen telling the students to go in one direction, while uniformed cops sent them a different way.

This repressive reaction on the part of the government is part of living in an authoritarian country. All spontaneous action and communication is suspect - even if it is patently non-political. But - by trying to restrain such natural and human impulses - the authorities only will make things worse for themselves. The control will chafe more on the feelings of the people - who know that the government does not represent them - but feel powerless to make any changes.

Interesting - that in one of the news accounts here, the students are quoted as chanting "No terror, no corruption."

While the government may argue that it innocent in this particular terrorism incident, the complaints about corruption certainly hit close to home.

Such government repression can create serious consequences for the people in charge. Think Bloody Sunday, Jan. 22, 1905, when peaceful demonstrators in St. Petersburg were killed by the tsar's police. Or - perhaps more relevantly, think of Qara Yanvar, when 26,000 Soviet troops stormed Baku and killed hundreds of unarmed residents of the city. The killings were followed by stubborn resistance and 40 days of mourning, while the country engaged in a de facto strike. While the intervention by the soldiers was to maintain Soviet power, the opposite occurred. The country declared its independence the following year.

I'm not saying in anyway that the student demonstrations are similar to either of these historical events. But - I do believe that in situations when a population does not feel represented by its government, non-political events can have political consequences that are surprising and seem to be out of proportion.

Murder in Baku

I woke up this morning to read about the shooting in Baku today. Several other blogs from Azerbaijan have noted this event. While sometimes it seems that the population of the United States is inured to such events - which seem to happen almost weekly this spring - in Azerbaijan such crimes are genuinely shocking.

As a foreigner who lived and traveled in the country for a year, I have to say that it seemed to me one of the safest places I've been. Of course, traffic was quite dangerous, but even those drivers were usually not as crazy as they seemed.

I am very sorry that the country now has to experience such tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with my Azerbaijani friends.

Wahhabi

I saw a little item in Day.Az today - about the arrest of Wahhabists in Zaqatala this week. They were arrested in connection with an explosion at a local mosque.

This interested me for several reasons.

First, I am going to Zaqatala next week for my last planned course. A friend had told me about a high level of activity by members of the Wahhabi sect in that area. This seems a little strange to me, because another friend has told me that the atmosphere in Zaqatala is "progressive." Men & women can demonstrate affection publicly.My friend - a Peace Corps volunteer - wears shorts. But - this "progressivism" coexists with a high level of activity by the very conservative Wahhabi sect.

Second, the internal conflicts of Islam are interesting to me. Mysterious because the religion is quite foreign to me, despite the fact that I live now in a Muslim culture. The Wahhabi sect is regarded with some hostility by many Muslim here, because the Wahhabi are seen as extreme, giving Muslims as a whole a bad name. The Wahhabis also have a reputation for violence. And the Washhabis themselves regard the Shia - the dominant sect in Azerbaijan - as apostates.

Perhaps I'll do some interviews once I get to Zaqatala. I'm looking forward to the trip.

Here are a couple of photos from my morning walk today. It really is about the only time when it is comfortable to walk briskly. Even at 8:30 a.m., the temperature was about 30 C (85 F).

Lessons in real estate

Assisting a friend with the search for an apartment took up most of the afternoon and evening. While landlord negotiations can be a bit tedious, I also felt useful because my friend doesn't speak Russian. And it was interesting seeing what sort of apartments are available for such sums of money. Baku is not cheap. The food isn't cheap. The clothes aren't cheap. The real estate isn't cheap. He finally got a very nice one bedroom apartment for 800 manat ($960) a month. Like most places, the common area of the building is quite run-down, but the interior is nicely restored. The building was constructed in 1856, and many of the original fixtures are still in place. Earlier, he had considered a place for what he thought was $1600. Then - the landlady said that she was talking about manat, not dollars. "Everybody does business in manat now. No one works in dollars, because the dollar changes around too much," she said.

Another observation: the real estate agent said the market right now tightening up considerably. Observers for the elections on Oct. 15 are already renting apartments. So are people who have fled the fighting in Georgia.

In the inevitable waiting periods that are part of the process, the real estate agent told us her own tale, of how she lost her own apartment when she took her son to safety in 1990. At the time, violence between Azerbaijanis and ethnic Russian was escalating. She took her son to her parents in Leningrad, where he would be safe. In her absence, a mob broke into her apartment and seized it, destroying the documents that proved her ownership.

Her family never did recover that apartment. But her son is safe - and is now studying to become a dentist.

(Above is a picture of some boys playing soccer (football) in the streets of Baku.)