Foreign journalists are becoming more active in the light of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. An observer of Radio Svoboda Oleg Kusov has recently visited Baku and described his impressions.
An interview was made after a report on Azerbaijani flag in Baku by a correspondent of the radio station Farid Arifoglu. The flag was lifted 162 meters above the ground. The flag is 100x70 meters in size.
Kusov visited Baku in mid-April. He noted that Azerbaijan is using its economic benefits to solve political problems. The Eurovision Song Contest is both a political and musical affair. The USSR viewed Azerbaijan as a source of fuel.
Kusov emphasized rich history, cultural and music traditions of Azerbaijan. He reminded about such notable figures as Kara Karayev, Rashid Beybutov, Pold Bul-Bul Ogly. Modern Azerbaijan is trying to present itself to Europe as a state with rich cultural traditions.
President Ilham Aliyev is trying to give Azerbaijan a new image. Kusov admitted that he did not visit Baku for 7 years and saw a totally different city when he arrived. Soviet cars disappeared and many foreign vehicles arrived. The population is satisfied with the government. Highlands had excellent football fields, the International Airport of Qabala is the fifth in the country. Kusov said that he visited the Ivanovskoye Village inhabited by Russians of old Christian tradition.
The government of Azerbaijan and Russia has similarities, he goes on. They are based on economic prosperity and welfare, basing on raw materials. Another problem is democratic freedom. But Azerbaijani authorities allow human rights activists and opposition to express views freely. People trust Ilham Aliyev and trusted Heydar Aliyev. The country was in hunger and collapse in the 1990s, there was the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Azerbaijan had only one pipeline running through the North Caucasus, but it was blocked in Chechnya. Some presidents left Azerbaijan to Moscow or Nakhchivan. But Heydar Aliyev used the chance to stabilize the country using oil resources, by building a pipeline built from the west to Georgia and Turkey. It brings profit to Azerbaijan today.
