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New York Times
Feb 14 2013
Could the Kardashians Enter Baku Even If They Really Wanted to?
By PETER SAVODNIK
Last weekend, the magazine published my article with the print
headline, `If They Build It, Will the Kardashians Come?' The story,
about Baku's ambition to become a new hub for the global 1 percent,
focuses on Khazar Islands, a $100 billion megadevelopment being built
on the Caspian, and the headline flicks at the development's target
audience - celebrities and, mainly, people who want to be celebrities
- while touching on the unavoidable globalizing and liberalizing
effect this sort of project will have.
Some readers, however, took issue with the headline. After all, Kim
Kardashian claims Armenian heritage, and the Azeris and Armenians have
a particularly complicated relationship. (It has been barely 20 years
since they were killing each other over Nagorno-Karabakh.) The
question was raised, quite literally: even if she wanted to, could Kim
Kardashian actually come to Baku?
One one level, if Baku has any shot at becoming the city it wants to
be, there are going to be Armenians there. Anyway, Armenians are
scheduled to compete in the 2015 European Games, which Baku is
hosting. If Baku's bid for the 2024 Olympic Games prevails, there will
probably be Armenians there, too. There will be Armenian race-car
drivers who compete at the Formula One race track planned for Khazar
Islands, and there will be Armenian musicians who play at its symphony
hall, and there will probably be Armenian investors who see the value
in building a big, flashy development on the Caspian. Kim Kardashian
may even swing through to promote her new line of pumps or clutches or
skin scents or whatever. This is on top of the 30,000 Armenians,
according to Kenan Guluzade, the former head of marketing for Khazar
Islands, who live in Baku.
But these assumptions shouldn't belittle the tensions that still exist
between Azeris and Amernians. The first time I asked Ibrahimov about
the Armenian question, we were in the back of his Rolls, and he said:
`Armenian people cannot buy here. I will never sell to Armenian
people. My generation will never forget.' That's what he's supposed to
say - it's what the state wants him to say, because it distracts
Azeris from the problems facing Azerbaijan like poverty and a lack of
potable drinking water by focusing on the shared enemy that is
Armenia. But as he spoke, it was unclear if Ibrahimov really cared.
On Saturday, two days after the story was posted online, I circled
back to the question of Armenia. I asked Ibrahimov whether he would
ever welcome the Kardashians or any other wealthy Armenians who wanted
to visit his megadevelopment. This time, I had to communicate with him
through his assistant, Nigar Huseynli, who's 23 and always nervous.
Huseynli told me that this would require some discussion and that her
boss would reply as soon as possible. She also asked if I wanted a
photo. Twenty-four hours later, Ibrahimov had still not gotten back to
me, and I e-mailed and then called Nigar in Baku, and she said he
would reply very soon. She seemed put off by the question, and I asked
her what she thought. `Azerbaijani nation has always been peace loving
and has been in peaceful relations with its neighbors,' she said. `I
hope that in the near future our lands' - Nagorno-Karabakh, now
controlled by Armenia - `will be returned by peace negotiations.'
Perfect Soviet-propaganda-speak - a sign that Azerbaijan may not look
like it used to but, underneath all the glass and steel and neon
lights, it is still an authoritarian state. But one that's now open
for big business.
Kim Kardashian's spokesmen, in New York and Los Angeles, did not
respond to requests for comment.
.http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/could-the-kardashians-enter-baku-even-if-they-really-wanted-to/
Feb 14 2013
Could the Kardashians Enter Baku Even If They Really Wanted to?
By PETER SAVODNIK
Last weekend, the magazine published my article with the print
headline, `If They Build It, Will the Kardashians Come?' The story,
about Baku's ambition to become a new hub for the global 1 percent,
focuses on Khazar Islands, a $100 billion megadevelopment being built
on the Caspian, and the headline flicks at the development's target
audience - celebrities and, mainly, people who want to be celebrities
- while touching on the unavoidable globalizing and liberalizing
effect this sort of project will have.
Some readers, however, took issue with the headline. After all, Kim
Kardashian claims Armenian heritage, and the Azeris and Armenians have
a particularly complicated relationship. (It has been barely 20 years
since they were killing each other over Nagorno-Karabakh.) The
question was raised, quite literally: even if she wanted to, could Kim
Kardashian actually come to Baku?
One one level, if Baku has any shot at becoming the city it wants to
be, there are going to be Armenians there. Anyway, Armenians are
scheduled to compete in the 2015 European Games, which Baku is
hosting. If Baku's bid for the 2024 Olympic Games prevails, there will
probably be Armenians there, too. There will be Armenian race-car
drivers who compete at the Formula One race track planned for Khazar
Islands, and there will be Armenian musicians who play at its symphony
hall, and there will probably be Armenian investors who see the value
in building a big, flashy development on the Caspian. Kim Kardashian
may even swing through to promote her new line of pumps or clutches or
skin scents or whatever. This is on top of the 30,000 Armenians,
according to Kenan Guluzade, the former head of marketing for Khazar
Islands, who live in Baku.
But these assumptions shouldn't belittle the tensions that still exist
between Azeris and Amernians. The first time I asked Ibrahimov about
the Armenian question, we were in the back of his Rolls, and he said:
`Armenian people cannot buy here. I will never sell to Armenian
people. My generation will never forget.' That's what he's supposed to
say - it's what the state wants him to say, because it distracts
Azeris from the problems facing Azerbaijan like poverty and a lack of
potable drinking water by focusing on the shared enemy that is
Armenia. But as he spoke, it was unclear if Ibrahimov really cared.
On Saturday, two days after the story was posted online, I circled
back to the question of Armenia. I asked Ibrahimov whether he would
ever welcome the Kardashians or any other wealthy Armenians who wanted
to visit his megadevelopment. This time, I had to communicate with him
through his assistant, Nigar Huseynli, who's 23 and always nervous.
Huseynli told me that this would require some discussion and that her
boss would reply as soon as possible. She also asked if I wanted a
photo. Twenty-four hours later, Ibrahimov had still not gotten back to
me, and I e-mailed and then called Nigar in Baku, and she said he
would reply very soon. She seemed put off by the question, and I asked
her what she thought. `Azerbaijani nation has always been peace loving
and has been in peaceful relations with its neighbors,' she said. `I
hope that in the near future our lands' - Nagorno-Karabakh, now
controlled by Armenia - `will be returned by peace negotiations.'
Perfect Soviet-propaganda-speak - a sign that Azerbaijan may not look
like it used to but, underneath all the glass and steel and neon
lights, it is still an authoritarian state. But one that's now open
for big business.
Kim Kardashian's spokesmen, in New York and Los Angeles, did not
respond to requests for comment.
.http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/could-the-kardashians-enter-baku-even-if-they-really-wanted-to/