Baku, city of lights
BAKU — As this column is being written, the voting population (about 4 million out of 9 million nationwide) of Azerbaijan is at the voting polls to elect their president. Ten people are contending for the position, led by the incumbent, Ilham Aliyev, who has served his country for two terms already.
Today our group of journalists from the Philippines invited to observe the election process are visiting a number of voting polls in Baku. There are around 5,000 of these polls across the country. The other day, we were at three of these voting places, one at the University of Politics and Governance, the other, at another university, and the third, at a secondary school. Everything seemed all-go for the elections – voting booths with red curtains for privacy, lists of voters pasted on the walls, indelible ink to be sprayed on voter’s fingers (they don’t use thumbmarks), and men and women full of enthusiasm over the coming electoral exercise. No PCOS machines here — ‘’Thank God,’’ said a colleague.
We had a chance to listen to a number of presidential candidates talk about their platforms at the new, five-star Four Seasons Hotel. The incumbent president was represented by an officer of the Yeni Azerbaijan party, and three challengers spoke their pieces: independent candidate Zahid Oruc; Gudrat Hasanguilyev of the Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, and Araz Alizadeh of the Azerbaijan Social Democrat Party.
Through an interpreter, all three spoke of improving the plight of the Azeris, although from our stand, they are much better off than our countrymen, their poverty rate being only 6 percent of the population, while ours is miserably high. So the opposition candidates have to offer their countrymen a better platter of good stuff than what Aliyev has served them.
The contenders had gone on their campaign binges since September. They had billboards plastered on assigned areas, had used broadcast and television media on free- but- equal- time basis. We were told there was no limit to expenditures. Other enviable claims: no vote-buying, no flying voters, and, most important of all, no election-related violence. The candidates said there was mud-slinging, but voters would know who was lying.
Tonight, just hours after the voting polls have closed, results of the election will be known. With no thanks to PCOS machines.
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Us journalists invited by the Azerbaijan Parliament and the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) had time to visit and appreciate Baku’s tourist attractions. No overly high skyscrapers hog the cityscape – these seem to be the normal indicators of progress. But the massive, concrete office buildings are impressively built, with similar architectural designs. You’d think you were in Geneva, with those buildings, and cobbled streets down through quiet sections. Fountains are aplenty. And as October has descended, the breeze is cold, as we had expected, thankful we had brought along French coats and sweaters and leather jackets that had long been kept in boxes back home.
Our guides, pretty young ladies who took five days off work as interpreters and telecommunication office supervisors and graduate students to attend to us, took us to the Old or Inner City, which is right at the heart of Baku City. A professional tourist guide showed us symbolic slabs of stones – relics of civilization from many centuries ago. We were led to a sunken portion of what used to be an amphitheater, to view where sheiks ate and rested from a long journey.
And then, the Maiden Tower, built in the 12th century, within the Shirvanshahs’ Palace within the Walled City. Also known as Giz Galasi, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments as cultural property. It is one of the most noted landmarks and Azerbaijan’s most distinctive national emblems, and is thus featured in Aseri currency notes of official letter heads. Tales surround the 29.5 m (97 ft) tower. One is that a maiden, said to be the daughter of the Khan of Baku, but found out to be his sister, threw herself off the top of the tower. Another is that the tower had never been taken by force, thus the metaphorical reference to virginity. Some believe that it was once a Watch Tower. Another story is that to escape the enemy, the king and his family went up the tower by way of climbing ropes, and descending on hidden tunnels that led them out to the open and away from their pursuing hunters.
We rode on electric cars, still within the Inner City, and stopped at a small eating place to watch a woman bake dough in a tendir, or stone oven. We munched at the baked bread, and hied off to a restaurant, near our hotel. Sedef restaurant is one of the most beautiful I’ve been to, standing as it did, on water pools. For lunch, we had all sorts of vegetable and herb antipasto, then baked lamb, and yes, vodka and wine — after a drought of the stuff, it was a surprise that Sedef had it in a Muslim city.
Baku is crystal city at night — of course, the country being so blessed with oil and gas resources — its buildings, roads, the Caspian Sea banks are ablaze with colorful lamps and lights. There is yet another stellar attraction — the three flame towers standing an arm’s length away from the Baku Crystal Hall, where concerts such as that by Jennifer Lopez, are held. Acerbaijan is one of the first in the region to have theater and concert performances. The towers, concave-shaped, display splendid color lights that look like flames.
Another gastronomic feast was that held at a restaurant, situated on a hilltop. Plenty of fresh herbs and pomegranates, and banana and pineapple from the Philippines, and grilled chicken and wine from Baku’s vineyards. The one thing we couldn’t do was shop at the fabulous boutiques and shops frequented by the rich and famous, and you can guess why.
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