Jewish Chronicle: Azerbaijan’s energy drives a connection between Jews and Muslims

A long slinky line on a map that travels from Azerbaijan through Georgia and into Turkey is often referred to as the peace pipeline, as its oil frequently ends up in Israel.

The Baku-Tbilsi-Ceyhan Pipeline funnels some 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day across its 1,100-mile expanse, making it an international phenomenon that connects countries to each other through energy, explained Rauf Mammadov, director of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), during the Oct. 6 Lev Society meeting at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Once a part of the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, a 22-year-old country, is bordered on its west by Russia, Georgia and Armenia and on its east by the Caspian Sea. And while it is only a couple of decades old, its GDP was $73 billion in 2013, according to World Bank reports, thanks to its sole major export: energy. It is 10 years younger than SOCAR’s Mammadov and has a strong Muslim identity. Its energy, Mammadov said, connects Jews to Muslims.
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