DISCOVER AZERBAIJAN

[wayhigh]

those are realy cool videos of Azarbaijan

[Xtreminal]

Helicopter shot of the Baku



Source: Myself

[Pablo de la Mar]

Baku is very nice city.

[Jünyus Brütüs]

Is this last shot from 90's?

[nestor morales]

Very beautiful country. Here in southamerica it isn't very known. I knew it was part of ancient USSR, but not more about. It has parts very similar to southern Chile because those big mountains and rainforest.
I thought Azerbaijan was a muslim country such as Uzbekisthan or Tadikisthan, because people dressed like western. I imagined all women dressed in black , but I could see all
they dressed wearing pants,short skirt and men looked very modern too.
It seems there's freedom more than another countries like Iran or Arabia. Well, I want to congratulate for those wonderful pictures and information about different topics.
Regards from Chile and southamerica!

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by nestor morales

Very beautiful country. Here in southamerica it isn't very known. I knew it was part of ancient USSR, but not more about. It has parts very similar to southern Chile because those big mountains and rainforest.
I thought Azerbaijan was a muslim country such as Uzbekisthan or Tadikisthan, because people dressed like western. I imagined all women dressed in black , but I could see all
they dressed wearing pants,short skirt and men looked very modern too.
It seems there's freedom more than another countries like Iran or Arabia. Well, I want to congratulate for those wonderful pictures and information about different topics.
Regards from Chile and southamerica!

Azerbaijan is a secular country and it is not very different from modern christian countries

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by Kafkas

Is this last shot from 90's?

I suppose it is the picture of 2005 or so. Actually there are many changes in that picture and today's view. Many of those buildings are reconstructed or under reconstruction. This fountain is in fence now, they are going to make it musical fountain.

[nestor morales]

Originally Posted by Galandar

Azerbaijan is a secular country and it is not very different from modern christian countries

Very interesant that you just told me. I liked that "secular country" and "modern christian countries". Could you tell me which are others "secular countries" please ? although books teach us they're muslims and because now I 'm a little confused.
Today I learned muslims countries aren't same at all. I had another idea about
those nations, except Turkey.
thanks.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

hey, Nestor

check this out, I'm sure you will appreciate it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMMpIjKJOM

Galandar, how do you embed youtube videos into your posts?

[Xtreminal]

Originally Posted by Dr. Zoidberg

hey, Nestor

check this out, I'm sure you will appreciate it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMMpIjKJOM

Galandar, how do you embed youtube videos into your posts?

You just put the link between this tags

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by nestor morales

Very interesant that you just told me. I liked that "secular country" and "modern christian countries". Could you tell me which are others "secular countries" please ? although books teach us they're muslims and because now I 'm a little confused.
Today I learned muslims countries aren't same at all. I had another idea about
those nations, except Turkey.
thanks.

Don't confuse the meaning of muslim country with secular country. Azerbaijan is a secular country, but the majority of population is muslim - 94%. Turkey is the same way. There are some other scular countries with muslim majority - Albania, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan.

[Xtreminal]

Azerbaijani people are very open minded, not like people in fanatic countries

[nestor morales]

Originally Posted by Dr. Zoidberg

hey, Nestor

check this out, I'm sure you will appreciate it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMMpIjKJOM

Galandar, how do you embed youtube videos into your posts?

It's amazing video. thanks for sharing!

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by Kafkas

Is this last shot from 90's?

That photo is taken a couple of years ago. Many things changed even in two years

[Jünyus Brütüs]

Originally Posted by Galandar

That photo is taken a couple of years ago. Many things changed even in two years

I know, Evevrytime i look the pictures of Baku i see new renovated buildings, newly constructed structures... Even that large building looks far more shiny and everything in that picture is far more developed now. Guys, it seems your country is the fastest developing country in the world.

[nuevo-chicago]

What type of visa requirement is it for American's and other people?

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by nuevo-chicago

What type of visa requirement is it for American's and other people?

I don't know, but the same type if you go to many other countries. I don't think it is such a difficult thing to get the visa

[Iggui]

it reminds me of turkey, even the shape of the tea cups. the little palace you showed earlier reminds me of a turkish palace i visited in crimea (bachiserai? i forget where now). very nice thread. this part of the world has always intrested me. i've always been drawn to those "cultural fault line" areas, where two worlds meet and overlap.

the women look great too . i love their features. it reminds me a bit of some south american women, but with sharper features. good stuff.

if you could, please explain more about that disconnected territory. i know territorial disputes cut both ways, but if you could explain a little more than just "20% of azerbaijan is occupied by armenia" or whatever. thanks.

also, is islamic fundamentalism or extremism on the rise there, as in some other areas which until recently were pretty moderate?

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by Iggui

if you could, please explain more about that disconnected territory. i know territorial disputes cut both ways, but if you could explain a little more than just "20% of azerbaijan is occupied by armenia" or whatever. thanks.

Armenian-azerbaijani karabakh conflict

The current conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1988, when the ethnic Armenians of Karabakh unilaterally declared their independence from Azerbaijan, with the intent of uniting with the Republic of Armenia. At that time, ethnic Armenians comprised about 80 percent of Nagorno-Karabakh. This push by the ethnic Karabakh Armenians to secede from Azerbaijan was instigated by Armenia.

The conflict was escalated by Russia's political and military support of Armenia. Russia is using the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict as part of its long-time policy of "divide and conquer."

A series of Armenian offensives, beginning in 1992 and backed by Russian arms, resulted in the Armenian occupation of almost 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Karabakh and seven other districts. As a result, Azerbaijan is left with approximately 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons.

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Karabakh. A cease-fire was negotiated in May 1994, but despite the fact that Azerbaijan has already made a compromise by stating that it is ready to give a status of high autonomy to NK, and agreed with the safety guarantees for Karabakh on the part of the world community and placing of peaceful forces, all attempts to negotiate a settlement have failed.

[Galandar]

Originally Posted by Iggui

Also, is islamic fundamentalism or extremism on the rise there, as in some other areas which until recently were pretty moderate?

Not really. The percentage or religious population has been risen recently; however religious people are still minority in the azerbaijani society. In addition, most of those who become religious live modern life without any fundamentalist trend.
There are some fundamentalist people in the suburbs of Baku and the city itself, but they hardly exceed 1-3% of the total population.