This weekend I am in Baku, Azerbaijan. Inside the city walls which in many places are still standing after 800 years the city seems like an ancient fortress. People talk of the city being in Asia inside the city walls and being surrounded by Europe outside the city walls. It certainly feels that way when you drive through streets that remind me of Paris and enter the gates of the old city which brings to mind Muscat in Oman.
I have been in places like this before. Syria, for example, is a mix of East and West, Christian and Muslim, Europe and the Arab world. These places are full of ancient and world shaping history. That’s certainly true of the Asia inside and Europe outside of Baku. The other influence in the city is the Soviet times and before them the times of the Russian empire. All of this creates an amalgam that is hard to categorise for the typical western traveller. But, of course, the people who live here don’t think like that, this is just their city.
The modern oil business was started in Baku. The Russian Empire gave concessions to develop the oil industry to many famous names in the middle of the 19th century. People like the Nobel brothers (yes, the same people who invented dynamite and the prizes given every year to various world luminaries), the Rothschilds, and others brought western capital to the area and began extracting oil. Driving around yesterday past some of these old concessions made me think that little has changed since at least in these old developed areas.
If you want to take pictures that prove that the oil industry is polluting the planet bring your camera to Azerbaijan. It is shameful. In these older developed areas from the soviet times the industry has blighted the earth. Some might say that Macro Polo wrote of how the rocks oozed oil around Baku, but I have a feeling that Marco was not writing of the large sludge pits of industrial waste that scar the earth. As someone who works in the industry and is happy and proud to do so I understand that if this is all you see of the oil business then you cant be happy.
Luckily I am here to visit our new facility where we employ many local Azerbaijanis. They are bright, astute and eager to have a career in the oil industry. It is a pleasure to be around people who have such enthusiasm and talent. Also, importantly, our facility is in contrast to the old industry. It is a safe and pleasant place to work. I am glad that we are making a difference in the lives of many in the local community. The new oil industry in Baku is sophisticated and complex. And still highly prolific. The local oil company here is an affiliate of BP and apparently 5 of the 10 most productive oil wells BP has in the world are here in Azerbaijan.
Last night I had dinner in the old city while the local imman called the faithful to prayer. Baku is 96% Muslim (mostly Shia so you do not see the traditional Arab dress here) and 4% various forms of Orthodox Christian. Certainly there is no visible Christian presence here. In these situations I am always comforted by God’s word to Elijah.
Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel - all whose knees have not bowed down to the Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.
Wherever I go I am comforted by the fact that God has those who have not bowed to the Baal and who are praying for the city or country in which I travel. Sometimes I am part of that seven thousand.