51
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s Spouse
are constantly on the move, and by their very nature their
members would not recognize any borders or confine
themselves to them, formally or in practice.
So far, most disputes pertaining to territory have been
settled. I can say that the relations between the oil emirates
in the Gulf are almost ideal. This was helped to a great
extent by the fact that the roots of the ruling families in
these countries go back to one tribal union.
As I have already said, my husband and I have spent
many years in the countries of the region, but I have not
visited some of them. As to Elman Arasly – in addition
to his post as ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, being simultaneously accredited as a permanent
representative of Azerbaijan before the Organization of the
Islamic Conference – he often represented our Republic
during the many functions held by this Organization in
the various Islamic countries. Moreover, delegated by
his country’s government, he often had meetings with
the leaders of the neighboring states, top political and
economic personalities, financiers and businessmen or
headed delegations at international conferences. In some
cases, when trips were made to the nearest neighbors by
car, I did not miss the opportunity to acquaint myself
with these places of the Kingdom that had previously
been unknown to me. In this manner, I was able to visit
the major parts of the Kingdom, and I can say today
with a great deal of confidence and certainty that I know
this large part of the globe, which is called the Arabian
Peninsula, that is equal in area to Germany, France and
Spain, gathered together. Many people think that the
52
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s
Spouse
Arabian Peninsula is a gigantic stony desert with no water
no plants, no life, extending over an endless expanse
of territory. But it must be said that this is far from the
truth. In fact, the Peninsula is characterized by having a
variety of geographic regions. Geologically, the Arabian
Peninsula is a plateau, with an average elevation above
Red Sea level of 200 meters, slightly slanting from west to
east. Hence, the coast of the Persian (Arab) Gulf is lower
than that of the Red Sea, where the high mountains of
the Kingdom are situated – Al-Sarawat Mountains, the
Hijaz mountain chain, which extend along the western
part of the Peninsula from north to south, while the sharp
fractured slopes draw near to the sea and move away into
the distant continent, thus forming a sand valley near the
sea coast. In some of them, the mountains are interrupted
by deep mountain passes and wide spaces of lava fields
called “harra”. This expanse of territory is not suitable for
agriculture, not even for human life. It is covered with
black burned stones of various sizes that shine on the
rocks under the rays of the burning sun. This natural view,
which is similar to the surface of the moon, extends to
many kilometers, creating an unexplainable and gloomy
feeling of anxiety in the souls of travelers. There has been
no record of active volcanoes in the Arabian Peninsula for
centuries. But the presence of extinguished craters and
lava areas along the coast of the Red sea is an indication
of strong volcanic activity long ago. The lava falling from
the slopes have crept down carrying all that came their
way in their movement from west to east, following the
slanting terrain of the Arabian Peninsula, which is full of