Azerbaijan’s rise in the shadow of war

Baku The new milestone on the Silk Road, which has been China’s flourishing route to Europe for almost a decade, evokes images of the entrance to the underworld. The expressway from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku meanders 65 kilometers from the south through heat and boulder fields, accompanied by oil pumps and rusted oil platforms on the shore of the Caspian Sea, until “Baki Limani” appears on the horizon, the port of the Eastern Caucasus founded 120 years ago. Republic.

The strong sea wind is still whirling the dust over the quay there, and there is a smell of salt, ship’s diesel and lubricating oil. The rusted train ferry “Akademik Hasan Aliyev”, in which an entire freight train is to disappear in a few minutes, has long since seen better days after 36 years of service.