culture is that so much as i was about the feeling that i feel like you are given a real profile almost immediately collapse of the soviet union twenty years ago the commonwealth of independent states with its original intent see by many. could have you with this is r.t. live here in the russian capital top stories not half past the hour here in moscow russian billionaire playboy jumps into the presidential race be called broken overs formally announced he'll be running for russia's top job next march the country's third wealthiest person entered the political stage earlier this year when he headed up the right calls political party only to quit over disagreements with other party members. of the central moscow again but this time it's the supporters of the victorious united russia party it follows mass opposition rallies staged

amid claims the results of the parliamentary vote were rigged. talks for greece's second a multi-billion euro rescue package amid skepticism over the efficiency of the emergency measure as also as cracks within the e.u. wide with britain earlier vetoing france and germany plan to create a common fiscal union. and occupy protesters take their rallies to a new level as they bring operations in some of america's west ports grinding to a halt as demonstrations also gather pace in new york where our correspondent reports the police have already started mass arrests. so those are some of your headlines here on the back of the main stories for in about half an hour from now and next we follow the story of another former soviet state azerbaijan to see how the country's developed since the collapse of the u.s.s.r. that's in our special report next here on r.t. . since ancient

times this country has been called the land of fire there are places here when natural gas bursts out from under the earth mixing with most own soil before exploding into flames it's a miracle of nature there's nothing like it anywhere in the world cashews our country is called the land of fire. the first fortress tile as appeared here on the caspian shore in the twelfth century people build the houses inside the walls today this ancient district of baquba is only a nest goes world heritage list how does this not the aura of this place is so amazing it's so easy to spend hours here just breathing this air that blows in from the north of the through the in taking in the scenery the war. since gaining independence and nine hundred ninety one azerbaijan has gone through two difficult

decades it has overcome political turmoil after nearly descending into civil war and built a new basis for its economy. so . to. say. i need you. to know that we had an underwater city there's. no engineers but. they found ancient rocks that. l. dug a sim off a new joe mao and now two of the most well known people in azerbaijan know that. they did it just the. completely self-taught artists managed to exceed all

expectations by taking first price at the euro vision song contest. lately eldar have trouble avoiding fun seeking more to graphs taking pictures with . this goes thank you we have some guests who are on their radios by joni's. stomach so they will fit in the frame. of the day when the azerbaijani duet emerged victorious people flooded onto the streets of back. yes it was a big celebration it would have been really interesting to see how people reacted

in front of their t.v.'s at home when they learned to eat more. protein across the planet to question the world waving the azerbaijani flight from their car sunroofs it was marvelous. we're so happy that. their mission has made its mark. on. the republic of us a by john is located on the southwestern shore of the caspian sea as a version borders russia and georgia to the north on meaning to the west and to the self it separates true the u.s.s.r. ninety ninety one before the break up there was an ethnic conflict with. one of the most tragic events in azerbaijan history was when troops were deployed in the capital back in one nine hundred ninety. of the. the time as a by john had a national liberation movement called the popular front the movement of staged mass

protests around the country seizing government buildings when the situation got out of control the authorities introduced a state of emergency on almost all of us a by john's terror trick on january the twentieth one nine hundred ninety tanks and tobacco to restore order during the turmoil one hundred thirty seven people were killed. there for a laugh or d.s. brother. was among the first victims. after they launched a flare the tanks came in and started firing. the notice that ilham was not by my side and. he went down to the square to meet the tanks rookie he raised his arms up and said but don't fire go he said look and these people are unarmed for god's sake don't shoot. him from was mortally wounded some

time later his pregnant wife took her own life all their relatives have left of them are family photos. for these and this is my brother and theories are at their wedding. it's when i was putting the ring on her finger called so. everyone who died in baquba in one nine hundred ninety is buried at the city's alley of heroes. alofa dia rests next to his wife his mother and brother often come to the memorial cemetery. a son who dreams remains unfulfilled.

every year on the last day of june as a by johnny's commemorate the dead couple. i asked him to leave both who was elected the first president of independent azerbaijan route for two years during his term in office as head of a new state he was faced with many tough problems. i witnessed that period if the bag then all i could think about was how are we going to survive how are we going to pay for green iraq and everything else we were getting from russia ukraine bellerose in kazakstan. we didn't have our own gold or foreign reserves or even a currency of our own and for we had absolutely nothing. today as a by john's international reserves amount to thirty five billion u.s.

dollars the country gets its money from hydrocarbon exports it is estimated that the oil and gas supplies here will last for one hundred years. the outskirts of baquba home to the world's largest oil and gas terminal to have permission to open the pipe. it transports caspian oil to the mediterranean through the back to tbilisi j. han pipeline it is a boon for both as a by john and the european consumers of the other end who buy caspian oil. this is the b.b.c. pipeline which starts at sangatte shall go through georgia and stop in turkey. and this is the biggest pipeline in the caspian regio with the capacity of one point two million barrels a day. this is commonly acknowledged that azerbaijan owes his successful

oil and gas development to the so-called contract of the century. it was signed in one nine hundred ninety four by then president gaydar father of the present leader of azerbaijan. he invited about a dozen of the world's largest oil and gas corporations including b.p. exxon new coiled and amoco to develop as a by john's oil fields in the caspian sea nowadays azerbaijan is number one in the commonwealth of independent states in terms of per capita vesper. the feel if it was for the for the government is doing all it can these days for oil development and production and transportation. so as to cater to multiple customers which you as a result we have great prospects to do with the. german reporter hands you can

bet has lived and worked in azerbaijan for twenty years he has witnessed all the changes bolton day as advisor john has gone through. as. the men's income and so solving income like that. what it can do. to put. forth. in business and. policy. one of us advised john's major interest is in foreign investment and seeks to provide favorable conditions for foreign businesses in the city of gebal a three hundred kilometers north of back to the piano factory can be found. coming from a family of piano makers hands left the rink has shifted the production of his time on a belt and pianos from germany to azerbaijan he claims his business is the largest

of its kind in all of asia. this model piano for one twenty one upright piano we have two hundred thirty strings more or less. every strain is different as the other the length and diameter and is made by hand. built man used to be a european brand for over one hundred years until hans left rink left his home country for azerbaijan and took his entire business with him. if you are here to hurt her you know the work to us about on the other method automatically will think you know this because as my grandmother used to say always if you say in this case as i bow tongue they have to say be either and the belt one piano.

well. science technology innovation all the list of elements from around russia we've got the future covered.

up. downtown back on the caspian sea used to lap alongside the capitals full trust an old city until it eventually withdrew leaving the fortress malls exposed every day the keeper of his architectural relic crimes danger fortifications that have enjoyed sieges. get the snuggle up morning to venus wall was erected in the twelfth century by shocks aton the first who did a lot to fortify the city inner city book who remained an impregnable fortress that even the monk will spill to conquer in the thirteenth century new mothers yet that was when the mungo lama encountered the so-called liquid fire which the defenders of back would douse their enemies heads with it took scientists a couple of centuries to figure out that it was simply burning oil. here's you moving it is the new here we can see the openings that we're used to poor oil down

the wall. with you then the entire wall would be engulfed in flames and it would be impossible to climb out of the. old back who is considered a cultural treasure and is protected by unesco. when not for use the look of the city changes dramatically as cafes and live music halls open. music thomas says come head to enjoy azerbaijan's very own brand of jazz the music combines eastern tunes with elements of the western musical tradition. just evolved enough by john in the one nine hundred thirty s. it was privity to in the soviet times but today it is she very popular once more.

on government it brings harmony through on it puts you in a certain mood under folks many colors through that we give each person hears the music in different ways masturbation he's considered just their own it's their national music styles of the. same day was brought to back when he was a child twenty years ago his family fled from the atrocities of the night go to make our buck war. according to baquba records almost one million azerbaijanis were forced to flee back on domania. the ticking time bomb of the nagorno-karabakh conflict started with the dawn of the soviet union when armenia and azerbaijan became part of the us has sung for a long time there was no question about who controlled the region the war between the two states over nagorno-karabakh started at the end of the nineteen eighties

after most come loose and its grip on the republics today nagorno-karabakh remains on recognized its main parties and amin is control but azerbaijan still considers nagorno-karabakh part of its territory. in time the refugees managed to settle down in their new homes. but. i remember the time when we arrived here we lived in her condition that there were two families to a house but we believed that we would get help and i want to thank the country providing us with a good home. to follow you by. even though most refugees have managed to settle down they still hope to return home someday. but neither their matter how good it may be here

homeland is then it's always better for a person to be where he was born. i miss my homeland. despite the fact that twenty years of posts i'm ready to return there right now. the new go no karabakh conflict was frozen in one nine hundred ninety four after the two sides signed a cease fire in the idea of came to power peaceful negotiations started and the leader of managed to secure a cease fire zim in the president also tried to resolve the conflict peacefully conflict this movie all in a bunch of. the negotiations between us by jan ona media are still ongoing with the help of russia but the parties have not yet signed a peace treaty on the going to come back. in a feature vanno thomas republic is six hundred kilometers to the west of baquba one

can only get to this as a bunch of enclaves surrounded by other countries but playing the highway across some menial has been closed while traveling never iran is far too long and expensive for. the hitch of an autonomous republic is located in the southern part of the trans caucasus it is a landlocked azerbaijan enclave bordering on mania turkey and around the republic's population amounts to four hundred thousand people the republic is actively trading with iran and turkey archaeologists say to the republic's capital of the he chavan is one of the oldest cities in the east the first mention of the city dates back to fifteen thirty nine b.c. . former president of azerbaijan. of was born here there is a street a square and a museum and his own. if they don't believe in his

son it'll come more always together. there was his advisor home followed in his footsteps. in two thousand and three shortly before his death gaydar removed his candidacy from the presidential list in favor of his son is. not far from our lives family estate is situated one of those lambs most sacred places as a coffee. it is even mentioned in the qur'an thousands of pilgrims from many countries come here to pray. for.

looks of people visit this shrine that they want to feel close to our. people make their wishes here and ask god to make them come true. the keeper of the old city is coming from back to up to northern azerbaijan he is to meet with archaeologists. who has made a number of important discoveries. since you saluted we heard you found some new things new we can you show them to us we are always finding new things. is conducting an excavation in the ancient city of. the city used to be the capital of caucasian albania a state that emerged on as a territory in the fourth century b.c. . in the car this is a burial site who was this man this man was a citizen of i don't know what he did we know he was a christian as he is buried in accordance with christian rights that the good i say

this man is my ancestor our youth you know yes absolutely. artifacts found in god could be similar to those in the ancient back who fortress archaeologists assure the people have lived here since the bronze age. ancient people living on the territory of us and by john were particularly respectful towards fire a source of light and heat plumes of gas have been burning here for centuries there was a place not far from baquba which is called burning mountain it slopers covered the tunnel flames it is not only land that burns and as a pleasure the temperature of the water to meet the ground can reach seventy degrees it is used for treating people. in the miracle of nature there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world our

country is called the land of fire even our water burns because it contains a lot of sulfur this water can treat many illnesses particularly bone diseases like osteoporosis. and. t. plantations can be found three hundred kilometers to the south from back near the iranian border not far from the city of len qur'an five hectares of land belonging to fama. his family has been in the tea business for fifty years now. so now we start gathering tea. please make sure that the tea leaves comply with the same standards. to growing in the south of us by jan is a priority industry according to local scientists the t. grown on this land is chemically different to other kinds of tea it contains lots

of time it essential oils and caffeine. but the committee growing process requires a lot of effort including irrigation and fertilizers it's an industrial roman yana good and the final product depends on how well it has been taken care of. after their collected the tea leaves are processed at the factory once the leaves are dried and they're sort of taken by hand the result is different sorts of tea. we collect the three most tender leaves from the top of each plant we then use those leaves to make of ok. and now as you can see i'm in the process of sorting to leave. after they're processed the tea will be packed and is then ready to be drunk gov lusterless. the

village of sat on the outskirts of baquba the family of famous carpet we've heard over drinks azerbaijani tea every day even though she is ninety one years old she still remembers weaving carpets that were given as presents to kremlin officials. as you can see we cover the teapot with a towel it comes out stronger that way a very good mix thanks to that this tea can help us stomach or spared her problems the important thing though is that it gives you energy and puts you in a good mood. the minute version is grandmother of the family she is passing on her knowledge of carpets to her grandchildren and their children minute verse ten year old granddaughter rock shunned guy over also wants to wave azerbaijani carpets when she's older but right now she's still a beginner. how to see

a grandmother. by journey carpets are different from all other kinds of carpets and color they are produced differently too. in the old times as a by johnny carpets were called solid gold and priced accordingly even today the price of some handmade carpets can be as high as several thousand dollars. threaded the needle here. on the wall did i do it right the end of the needle and you pull it down. nowadays citizens of azerbaijan's capital enjoy walking by the city sea front. one side you can see the old fortress from the other oil platforms and caspian sea

. here the past on the present have merged together fluidly. the education bill egypt feel any.

way i emulate.