Azerbaijani Writer: Novel is aimed at showing repentance for our deeds

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Bloomberg News

 

$13,000 Bounty Offered for Cutting Off Azeri Writer’s Ear

 

 

By Zulfugar Agayev on February 13, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

A party loyal to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev offered $13,000 to any member who cuts an ear off pro-opposition writer Akram Aylisli -- and then rescinded the bounty to avoid an international scandal.

Hafiz Haciyev, leader of Muasir Musavat, or Modern Equality, said he withdrew his directive to the party’s youth organization after being warned by the Interior Ministry.

“We canceled our decision to cut off Aylisli’s ear after pressure from foreign embassies,” Haciyev said by phone from the Azeri capital Baku, without being more specific. “The Interior Ministry also advised us not do so.”

Aylisli’s portrayal of Azeri brutality against Armenians in his “Stone Dreams” novella, which was published in the Russian magazine Druzhba Narodov, has triggered days of government-sanctioned protests outside his Baku apartment and in his native village in the Naxcivan region. Aliyev, 51, who is seeking a third term in elections scheduled for October, stripped Aylisli, a member of the Forum of Intellectuals opposition group, of his People’s Writer honor and accompanying salary.

“This is a government-orchestrated campaign against me,”Aylisli say by mobile phone from Baku. “I’ve started to think about leaving the country. Every day, they speak about me on television, they show people burning my book.”

‘Traitor’

 

The country’s religious authority, the Baku-based Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, issued a statement today calling Aylisli a “traitor” and a “renegade.”

Azerbaijan, the largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union after Russia and Kazakhstan, is still technically at war with Armenia over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke free of Baku’s control after the Soviet collapse in 1991. About 30,000 people were killed and more than 1 million displaced during the war, which left Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent Azeri regions under Armenian control.

Aliyev, an ally of the U.S. and Israel, last year vowed to take back Nagorno-Karabakh, saying Sept. 11 that Azeri citizens“must and will return to their native lands.” Aliyev made the comments less than a month after pardoning an Azeri officer who was convicted of murdering an Armenian officer with an ax while they were attending a North Atlantic Treaty Organization course in Hungary.

Human Rights Watch urged the Azeri government to end the“hostile campaign of intimidation” against Aylisli, saying on its website that it has an obligation to protect him.

“Instead, they have led the effort to intimidate him, putting him at risk with a campaign of vicious smears and hostile rhetoric,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director for the New York-based group, in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at zagayev@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net

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http://www.independent.co.uk/independent.co.uk/images/independent_masthead.png

 

 

 

Bring me the ear of Akram Aylisli! Politician offers £8,000 for attack on writer

 

 

 

 

 

Head of political party offers £8,000 for author's body part over controversial novel

 

Shaun Walker http://www.independent.co.uk/skins/ind/images/plus.png

 

A politician in Azerbaijan has offered a cash reward for anyone who slices off the ear of a controversial writer – the latest twist in an alleged hate campaign waged by the country’s authoritarian government in an apparent attempt to distract attention from internal issues.

 

The author, Akram Aylisli, is in trouble for his novel Stone Dreams, in which he portrayed scenes of violence carried out by Azerbaijanis against their Armenian foes during the riots that accompanied the break-up of the Soviet Union. What appears to be a coordinated campaign has been unleashed against him, with television programmes and official pronouncements railing against the writer.

 

He was expelled from the Union of Writers and had his presidential pension rescinded. His wife and son have also lost their jobs, while protesters have organised book-burnings of his works, held pickets outside his house, and burned effigies of him.

Events took an even more alarming turn when Hafiz Haciyev, the head of a pro-government political party, said his party would pay 10,000 manat (£8,000) for the ear of the author.

“The book was meant to be about conciliation between Azeris and Armenians,” Mr Aylisli told The Independent from Baku. “I realised when I wrote it that it could be controversial, but I didn’t for a minute think that there would be this giant campaign, on a state level.”

Azerbaijan is a bitter foe of neighbouring Armenia, and the two countries fought a war in the early 1990s over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is currently run by a pro-Armenian government. There is still a heavily armed front line of muddy trenches between the two countries, and periodic militaristic rhetoric from both sides.

“If a person has no national spirit, he cannot have a sense of humanity,” said Ali Hasanov, an aide to Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, commenting on Mr Aylisli’s novel. “The Azerbaijani people must express public hatred towards these people.”

“The Azerbaijani authorities have an obligation to protect Akram Aylisli,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead, they have led the effort to intimidate him, putting him at risk with a campaign of vicious smears and hostile rhetoric.”

The campaign comes after a period of unusual civil unrest in the country, as Mr Aliyev prepares to stand for re-election later in the year. Last month, thousands of people attended an unsanctioned rally in Baku over conditions in the military, and later there were violent protests in a provincial town after a minister’s son crashed his luxury car into a local’s more modest vehicle. Although the President still retains the support of the majority of Azeris, analysts say discontent over Mr Aliyev’s authoritarian methods and the rampant corruption of the ruling elite is eroding the regime’s popularity.

“Something is definitely changing in Azerbaijan,” said Emin Milli, a blogger and activist who was released from a 15-day jail sentence for organising unsanctioned rallies last month. “For the first time, thousands of people are coming out to protest. This is the government’s old game to rally support – play the nationalist card.”

[Yervant1]

22:02 14/02/2013 » Miscellaneous

True causes of persecution of Ekrem Eylisli, author of book about massacres of Armenians...

 

 

“Armenian theme” for the Azerbaijani government is zero-risk bond if it wants to divert public’s attention from really serious problems, stated in an interview Analitika.at.ua expert on geopolitics of the South Caucasus, candidate of political sciences Angela Elibegova, commenting on the situation with persecution of Ekrem Eylisli, the author of the book "Stone Dreams" which is about massacres of Armenians.

 

“If you pay attention, the novel that was published in December’s issue of the magazine “Friendship of Peoples”, with the filing of the ruling party caused wide public resonance in Azerbaijan, just as soon as the situation in the country exacerbated because of the unrest in the Ismailli district, and then a chained reaction began. Who in Azerbaijan speaks of “Gyulyargeyt”, Ismayilli, a disproportionate number of deaths in the army, and other acute problems that a couple of weeks ago concerned the public!

 

This story, of course, has another side as well, which is presenting “National leader” Heydar Aliyev in unflattering light and indirect accusation of organizing the Armenian massacres. In the Azerbaijani press they openly speak about the fact that the ruling clan didn’t forgive this impertinent deed committed by the popular writer and winner of various state awards. The representatives of Nakhichevan clan in the ruling elite surely resented more, because the historical events connected with the massacres of Armenians in Agulis, that took place in 1919, are, first of all a problem for them.

 

For decades, the government of Azerbaijan destroyed every trace of presence of Armenians in Nakhichevan systematically. Today, critics of Eylisli have practically trapped themselves. Those who accuse the author of violating the parity in the novel, saying he describes only the atrocities of the Turks against the Armenians in Nakhichevan thereby recognize the fact of the massacre. Those who try to deny the historical facts in the book, refer to sources which say that in the village the Armenians and the Turks lived in peace for centuries, thus contradicting the official position of the Azerbaijani propaganda about fact that the Armenians were resettled in the region only after the Turkmenchay treaty.

 

And of course special attention should be paid at the comments about 12 Armenian churches in Agulis. Part of the active critics denies their existence, supporting their position by saying that there is no need to build so many churches in one village. Though we all know that earlier Agulis was a big city. Another part still recognizes their existence, however argues that the church were not Armenian but Albanian. A question arises with the Armenian historians and ethnologists who repeatedly ask Azerbaijan, “Why in that case Azerbaijanis destroyed 12 churches of Agulis, if they consider themselves the descendants and successors of Caucasian Albania and thus the bearers of that culture?” The answer, I think, is obvious...

 

However, Azerbaijan found an original version for this disposition as well; These “Albanian” churches have been destroyed by the Azerbaijanis in order to prevent anyone of thinking that they are Armenian ones. This comment, in the context of the novel, perfectly fits the current situation where they organize demonstrative “funerals” of the book in a coffin, deprive Eylisli all ranks, publicly burn his works in fire, call on cutting off his ear and deport from the country,” the expert notes.

 

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of his system.

 

After the publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally next his home, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Eylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

 

The leader of the pro-governmental party”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

 

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Aylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

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19:27 14/02/2013 » Society

Thomas de Waal: Azerbaijani authorities speak of thousands of Armenians who would live in Baku but in the same time bait Eylisli

 

 

Ekrem Eylisli’s novel is a brave act for the writer, thinks the famous British journalist, author of “Black Garden-Karabakh,” Thomas de Waal. In an interview with the Azerbaijani service of “Radio Liberty”, he noted that Eylisli wrote the novel "Stone Dreams" not as a politician or journalist but as an artist, as a writer.

 

“He expressed his vision in fiction. He said that “the society in which I live, has also committed wrong things, that’s why we are responsible for it, and it must be recognized,” de Waal noted.

 

Answering the question, how he perceives the outrage in Azerbaijan over Eylisli’s novel, which suddenly broke the taboo by talking about violence of the Azerbaijani side during the conflict, and began to call upon the parties to come to peace, de Waal answered, “This speaks about the fact that the Azerbaijani society is not ready to analyze the history and problems. And the most important thing is that it is a characteristic phenomenon for two sides of the conflict both the Azerbaijani and the Armenian society.”

 

“Unfortunately, instead of encouraging Eylisli as brave citizen, they subjected him to pressures, burnt his books. The anger of few people is sensible. However, the fact that Azerbaijani government is heading the campaign launched against Ekrem Eylisli is regrettable. The Azerbaijani government likes to talk about peace, he even recalls how peacefully thousands of Armenians lived in Baku. Unfortunately, the pressure on the writer who bravely comments on the conflict, brings to another impression delivering diverse message,” the expert said.

 

The expert, answering the question how the fact that state TV transmits speech full of hatred against Ekrem Eylisli, the fact that the president of Azerbaijan has deprived him of the title of “National Writer” and the head of one of the pro-governmental parties announced a reward to the one who cuts the writer's ear, influences the international image of Azerbaijan, said that such behavior of Azerbaijani authorities reminded of the scandal that erupted in Soviet period over the novel written by Boris Pasternak “Doctor Zhivago” or the ban over Salman Rushdie’s books.

 

De Waal also noted that the Azerbaijani authorities are likely to think more about the domestic audience, but in our time, such questions do not remain within the borders of the country. And the government should be concerned about the image of Azerbaijan in the whole world. “In all cases, this is a regrettable phenomenon. Ekrem Eylisli presents the tolerant layer of Azerbaijani society. Unfortunately, his voice was not heard,” he said.

 

De Waal said that different arguments can be presented during the debate, about the wounds of war in that number, “However, this debate should be expressed in a polite form, be presented on television, in newspapers. The burning of books, however, is a result of primitivism and ignorance,” the expert said.

 

As De Waal mentioned the OSCE Minsk Group includes in its mandate also the support of those people who call on for peace.

“I am not sure in which format they can do it in case of Eylisli. But I think that any statement made by the OSCE Minsk Group would be just on time, especially when there are threats that endanger the life of Ekrem Eylisli. Perhaps this can be done by the countries co-chairing in the Minsk Group separately. Just as in case of the statement released by the White House about Ramil Safarov,” De Waal stated.

 

The British expert cited example of Azerbaijan’s neighboring country Georgia where a few years ago, the local political analyst Mamuka Arashidze said that probably Georgia should recognize Abkhazia’s independence. His remarks caused outrage among the Georgian society, the TV channels began criticizing him. But this controversy did not go beyond verbal squabbles, no one threatened to kill the politician. De Waal said that Azerbaijan has sometimes to take the example of Georgia which has had the same problem and to see how they react to different opinions there.

 

“Aylisli’s case showed that the society is not ready for peace yet. We can see that in recent years, the process repeats by the same scenario. Co-Chairs come with a plan, but the parties do not consider it acceptable and the process continues, it repeats as if in a vicious circle. Apparently, the main goal has become not so much reaching a peace but prevention of a new war,” Thomas de Waal summed up.

Source: Panorama.am

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH DEMANDS TO STOP WITCH-HUNT AGAINST AZERBAIJANI WRITER AKRAM AYLISLI

 

http://azerireport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3872&Itemid=53

 

MOSCOW. February 12, 2013: The Azerbaijani government should

immediately end a hostile campaign of intimidation against writer Akram

Aylisli. Aylisli recently published a controversial novel depicting

relationships between ethnic Azeris and Armenians in Azerbaijan.

 

Foreign governments and intergovernmental organizations of which

Azerbaijan is a member should speak out against this intimidation

campaign. They should urge the authorities to immediately investigate

those responsible for threats against Aylisli, and to respect freedom

of expression.

 

"The Azerbaijani authorities have an obligation to protect Akram

Aylisli," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at

Human Rights Watch. "Instead, they have led the effort to intimidate

him, putting him at risk with a campaign of vicious smears and

hostile rhetoric."

 

Aylisli, a member of the Union of Writers of Azerbaijan since the

Soviet era, is the author of Stone Dreams. The novel includes a

description of violence by ethnic Azeris against Armenians during the

1920s, and at the end of the Soviet era, when the two countries engaged

in armed conflict. Aylisli told Human Rights Watch that he saw the

novel as an appeal for friendship between the two nations. The novel

was published in Friendship of Peoples, a Russian literary journal,

in December 2012.

 

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a seven-year war over Nagorno-Karabakh,

a primarily ethnic Armenian-populated autonomous enclave in

Azerbaijan. Despite a 1994 ceasefire, the conflict has not yet reached

a political solution. Against the background of the unresolved nature

of the conflict, Aylisli's sympathetic portrayal of Armenians and

condemnation of violence against them caused uproar in Azerbaijan. An

escalating crescendo of hateful rhetoric and threats against Aylisli

started at the end of January 2013, culminating in a February 11 public

statement by Hafiz Hajiyev, head of Modern Musavat, a pro-government

political party. Hajiyev publicly said that he would pay AZN10,000

[uS$12,700] to anyone who would cut off Aylisli's ear.

 

"Azerbaijan's authorities should immediately investigate and hold

accountable anyone responsible for making threats against Aylisli,

and ensure his personal safety," Williamson said.

 

On January 29, officials from the Yeni Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan's ruling

party, publicly called on Aylisli to withdraw the novel and ask

for the nation's forgiveness. Aylisli told Human Rights Watch that

two days later, a crowd of about 70 people gathered in front of his

home, shouting "Akram, leave the country now," and "Shame on you",

and burned effigies of the author. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch

that police were present but made no effort to disperse the crowd. No

damage was done to Aylisli's home.

 

In a speech about Aylisli's book, a high level official from

Azerbaijan's presidential administration said that, "We, as the

Azerbaijani people, must express public hatred toward these people,"

a comment that appeared aimed at Aylisli.

 

During a February 1 session, some members of Azerbaijan's parliament

denounced Aylisli, called for him to be stripped of his honorary

"People's Writer" title and medals, and demanded that he take a DNA

test to prove his ethnicity. On February 7, President Ilham Aliyev

signed a decree stripping Aylisli of the title, which he had held since

1998, and cutting off his presidential monthly pension of AZN1000

[uS$1,270], which he had drawn since 2002. Aylisli learned of the

presidential decree from television news.

 

In the wake of the public vitriol, Aylisli's wife and son were fired

from their jobs. On February 4, a senior officer at Azerbaijan's

customs agency forced Najaf Naibov-Aylisli, Aylisli's son, to sign

a statement that he was "voluntarily" resigning from his job as

department chief. Aylisli told Human Rights Watch his son had received

no reprimands during his 12 years on job.

 

"My son had nothing to do with politics," Aylisli said. "In fact he

always advised me not to write about politics and never agreed with

my political views."

 

On February 5, Aylisli's wife, Galina Alexandrovna, was forced to sign

a "voluntary" statement resigning from her job at a public library,

following an inspection announced several days before.

 

Public book burnings of Aylisli's works, some organized by the ruling

party, have taken place in several cities in Azerbaijan.

 

"The government of Azerbaijan is making a mockery of its international

obligations on freedom of expression," Williamson said. "This

is shocking, particularly after Azerbaijani officials flocked to

Strasbourg last month to tout the government's human rights record

at the Council of Europe."

 

The European Court of Human Rights has issued numerous rulings

upholding the principle that freedom of speech also protects ideas

that might be shocking or disturbing to society. In a judgment handed

down against Azerbaijan, in a case that dealt speech related to the

Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the court said, "[F]reedom of information

applie not only to information or ideas that are favorably received,

but also to those that offend, shock or disturb" (Human Rights Watch).

[Yervant1]

10:48 16/02/2013 » Society

Persecution over Akram Aylisli in Azerbaijan and threats against him brought international condemnation

 

 

Azeri writer Akram Aylisli who is hounded for his 'pro-Armenian' book Stone Dreams telling the truth about the massacres of Armenians in Azerbaijan, brought about international condemnation, the article of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reads.

 

His books have been publicly burnt. He has been stripped of his national literary awards. And a high-ranking Azeri politician has offered $13,000 (£8,400) as a bounty for anyone who will cut off his ear. But 75-year-old Akram Aylisli, one of Azerbaijan's most eminent authors, does not regret having written his short novel Stone Dreams. The book has shocked many Azeris. But could it also prove the first tentative step towards peace with the country's longstanding enemy Armenia?

 

"I knew what I was writing. They say I offended the nation. But I think quite the opposite: I think I have raised my nation up," he told the BBC by phone.

 

"I could predict they would be unhappy. But I could never have predicted such horrors, such as calls for a writer to be killed, or his book to be burnt. It is very sad that our nation is humiliating itself in this way. A country that can burn books will not be respected by the rest of the world," the writer said.

 

BBC says that the book describes Azerbaijan's conflict with neighbouring Armenia through the 20th Century. But it details the massacres of Armenians by Azeris, portraying the tragedy of war from Armenia's perspective.

 

The article says that Azerbaijan is still traumatised by losing both the war in the 1990s and almost 20% of its territory - the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas. So depicting Azeris as perpetrators is shocking enough. To entirely leave out accounts of Azeri suffering is for many unforgiveable.

 

“After the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war in which both sides suffered enormously, with up to 30,000 people killed and a million forced to flee their homes. Today, despite a tenuous ceasefire, the two countries are still locked in conflict, with dozens killed every year,” the article says.

 

However, according to BBC, even some of the book's critics, such as Azeri opposition activist Murad Gassanly, condemn the persecution of its author.

 

"With the exception of ultra-liberal circles, very few people actually liked the book or its message. However, the book burnings, street protests and calls for violence against the author were orchestrated primarily by pro-government circles. There is no freedom of assembly in Azerbaijan - it is impossible to gather and collectively read books, let alone burn them! The fact that these protests were allowed, protected by police and then shown on national state TV suggests that they were orchestrated from the top,” he explained.

 

BBC notes that President Ilham Aliyev himself signed the decree stripping Aylisli of his national awards and monthly literary stipend. Ruling party parliamentarians demanded he leave the country or that his DNA be tested to see if he was really Azeri, and not in fact Armenian. And high-ranking government officials called him a traitor, saying "public hatred" was the correct response. Aylisli's wife and son both lost their jobs in state-controlled institutions.

 

“The calls for violence against Aylisli - echoing Iran's notorious fatwa against British author Salman Rushdie - have sparked strong condemnation from abroad,” the article says.

 

“Many analysts believe the vitriol against the author was an attempt by the authorities to divert attention from a wave of anti-government protests, which had swept the country in January. There are signs that increasing numbers of Azeris are dissatisfied with the growing disparity between rich and poor under President Aliyev, who faces an election in October. And members of his government are accused of corruption,” the article says.

 

"It's not unusual for the government to find a common enemy and unite around it," said Giorgi Gogia from Human Rights Watch. "And it's not the first time that freedom of information and free speech are under attack."

 

According to the article at least five journalists critical of Azerbaijan's government are currently behind bars, on what human rights activists describe as trumped-up charges. “And in January two well-respected opposition politicians, one of whom intends to run in October's presidential elections, were arrested, accused of organising anti-government protests. They are being held in pre-trial detention, which in Azerbaijan can last more than a year. If found guilty, they could face years in prison,” the BBC writes.

 

Stifling free speech not only quashes political dissent. The fear is that it could also be harming Azerbaijan's chance of ever making peace with Armenia. “This book tackles the issue which needs to be discussed in society: looking at the past," says Mr. Gogia, who believes Aylisli was extremely brave by being the first high-profile Azeri author to show sympathy towards victims from the other side.

 

"Freedom of speech applies not only to those ideas that are favourable. But even more so to those that shock and offend," he said.

Aylisli believes that peace can only be achieved by kindness, not with anger.

Source: Panorama.am

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20:08 15/02/2013 » Society

Azerbaijan discusses issue on depriving Armenian classic writer Shirvanzade of title of National Writer

 

 

After Ekrem Eylisli, the Azerbaijani author of the novel "Stone Dreams" which is about the massacre of Armenians, was deprived of all state awards on the agenda was put also the issue of depriving Armenian classical writer of, Alexander Shirvanzade of the title of “National Writer of Azerbaijan.”

 

Website AzNews.az, tried to find out the disposition of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia on this issue. Thus, the poet Ilyas Tapdig stated that there is no need to recall the past. “Azerbaijan has forgotten Alexander Shirvanzade and we should not remember him again. His work “Namus” was presented on the Azerbaijani stage for many years. He lived before us. There is no need to reanimate this topic now.

 

Another Azerbaijani poet Musa Yaqub said that at first they should reason why they deprive of the award the first Azerbaijani national writer Alexander Shirvanzade. “He is originally Armenian. You need to reason why and on which basis do you deprive him of the reward. Grigorian was awarded title of national writer as well. Let's not poke into this matter,” the Azerbaijani poet said.

 

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

 

After publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Eylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

 

The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

 

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Eylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

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Turkish historian on Azeri `lynching campaign' against writer Aylisli

 

February 14, 2013 - 15:13 AMT

 

 

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan has launched a lynching campaign against

writer Akram Aylisli, a Turkish historian said.

 

According to Taner Akcam, the author's life is in danger over

nationalist threat. `Dictator Aliyev's regime is taking every effort

to suppress protests, with Aylisli among his main targets.'

 

As the historian further noted, famous Turkish writers and human

rights protectors spoke in Aylisli's defence, among them: Ragıp

Zarakolu, Ahmet Kardam, Aydın Engin, Baskın Oran, Cengiz AlÄ?an, Ufuk

Uras, Zeynep Tanbay.

 

Akcam further accused Aliyev dynasty for 1990s' Armenian pogroms in

Azerbaijan. `Akcam's `Stone Dreams' tells the truth about the events

which occurred both long ago and in the recent past,' Sesonline quoted

the historian as saying.

[Yervant1]

EurasiaNet.org, NY

Feb 14 2013

 

 

Azerbaijan: Writer Buckling Under Strain of Literary Controversy

 

February 14, 2013 - 2:00pm, by Shahin Abbasov

 

 

The furor that erupted over his unconventional take on Azerbaijan in

the early 1990s is taking a toll on writer Akram Aylisli.

 

Aylisli's latest work, titled `Stone Dreams,' shuns a nationalist

viewpoint on events, in particular the conflict between Azerbaijan and

Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, offering instead a

generally sympathetic portrayal of Armenians. Its publication last

December has touched off a full-throttle hate campaign against

Aylisli, a campaign somewhat reminiscent of that unleashed against

Salman Rushdie following the 1988 release Satanic Verses. Aylisli,

along with family members, have been subjected to official

retribution. And, in the most notorious instance of hate-mongering,

Hafiz Haciyev, head of the pro-government Muasir Musavat Party,

offered a 10,000 manat (roughly $12,000) bounty to anyone who cut off

the author's ear.

 

In a February 13 interview with EurasiaNet.org, Aylisli, appearing

exhausted and jittery, said that the harassment, which he described as

the most difficult experience in his life, is forcing him to consider

leaving Azerbaijan. The police, he added, have taken no measures to

protect his family or him from possible physical attacks.

 

`I do not want to leave Azerbaijan. I am 75,' he explained. `I didn't

decide yet, but it looks like I will have to ask for political asylum

abroad. It is sad.'

 

Aylisli's case has raised the question of whether a country like

Azerbaijan is capable of reconciling sensitive episodes in its history

with a constitutional guarantee for freedom of speech. For many in

Azerbaijan, the answer appears to be no. But some aren't willing to

sacrifice free speech at the altar of national pride.

 

While few agree with Aylisli's negative group portrayal, in which

ethnic Azeris harshly treat ethnic Armenians in Baku during the

Karabakh conflict, local human-rights activists, representatives of

opposition parties and ordinary social-network users are speaking out

strongly against the anti-Aylisli campaign.

 

Staging fake funerals for Aylisli's books, burning his works, banning

his plays and urging people to cut off his ear `is not less harmful

for the country' than the novel's `deceitful lampoon' of Azerbaijan's

past, argued popular detective writer Chingiz Abdullayev, president of

the Azerbaijani PEN-Club. `People should not behave this way,' he

added.

 

A small group of young Azerbaijani writers rallied in support of

Aylisli on February 3 to reaffirm his constitutional right to write

what he wants, no matter what it may be. `No one can impose a ban on a

writer, pressure him,' commented 27-year-old writer Gunel Movlud. `It

is censorship otherwise.'

 

The 2012 extradition to Azerbaijan and subsequent official pardon of

Lt. Ramil Safarov for the murder of an Armenian army officer in

Hungary was the event that pushed Aylisli to publish his novel, which,

he said, contains stories `based on real life.'

 

`When I saw the crazy reaction and the artificial fueling of hatred

between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, which went beyond any borders, I

decided to publish my novel,' he said.

 

A writer, he insisted, has the right to express his thoughts in his

novels without their being considered a traitor.

 

But President Ilham Aliyev has treated him as just that. Adding fuel

to the hate-campaign, the president stripped Aylisli of the title of

`people's writer,' and of his pension. Meanwhile, Aylisli's son, Najaf

Naibov, was fired from a senior position in the State Customs

Committee, and his wife, Galina, was dismissed as the head of a

children's public library.

 

Various members of parliament have lambasted Aylisli's work as

treasonous and have called for him to be stripped of his citizenship

-- even though the Azerbaijani constitution bars such a measure.

Others go still further. `Some MPs accuse me of being an `Armenian,''

Aylisli recounted. `Is it a crime to be Armenian? It is racism.'

 

On February 13, Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur *****zade, head of

the Caucasus Muslims Office, a government ally, tossed another dart by

denouncing Aylisli as an `infidel.'

 

The fact that the campaign against Aylisli gained steam only in recent

weeks -- over a month after Stone Dreams appeared in the December 2012

issue of the Russian-language literary journal Druzhba Narodov - leads

some Baku observers to believe that it is intended to distract popular

attention from recent, violent protests in Baku and the regional town

of Ismayilli.

 

A few suggest official displeasure is rooted in Aylisli's less than

flattering depiction of Heydar Aliyev, the incumbent leader's deceased

father. Officially, Heydar Aliyev is venerated as the chief architect

of independent Azerbaijan. `Stone Dreams' features the late president,

who headed Azerbaijan's Communist Party for nearly 20 years during the

late Soviet era, but refers to him only as `the master.'

 

Regardless of whether Aylisli remains in Azerbaijan or leaves, more

controversy could be in the works. Stone Dreams is part of an

envisioned trilogy, the first installment, titled Yemen, was published

in 1990. The last installment, tentatively titled Big Traffic Jam,

hasn't been officially published. But Aylisli, seeking feedback, has

distributed a limited number of drafts in Baku among friends and

colleagues. He declined to discuss the novel's focus, but reiterated

his intent to publish it. A person who has seen a draft told

EurasiaNet.org that the story examines `crimes' allegedly committed

during the 1993-2003 presidency of Heydar Aliyev.

 

Publication of a clear-cut denunciation of the elder Aliyev could pose

an even more severe free-speech test for Azerbaijan than that

generated by Stone Dreams. One literary son of the Caucasus, the

bestselling Russia-based author Boris Akunin, had some words of

advice. `[M]y dear Azerbaijanis,' he wrote in his blog, `Don't you

know that the state ... cannot win in a war with a writer?'

 

Editor's note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance reporter based in Baku.

 

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66556

[Yervant1]

13:16 19/02/2013 » Society

Murderer Ramil Safarov's glorification campaign pushed Ekren Eylisli to publish novel about massacres of Armenians in Azerbaijan

 

 

“When I first read that Eylisli was stripped of his rank of national writer and presidential pension, the long queue of those wishing to throw heavier rocks at 75-year-old writer appeared before my eyes at once,” Vitali Sharia writes in his article “Anti-Safarov, or issue of repentance," which was published in Echo of the Caucasus.

 

Touching upon the persecution of Azerbaijani writer Ekrem Eylisli carried out for his novel-requiem "Stone Dreams" the authors confesses that when he typed in a search engine the name of Eylisli, the situation immediately became obvious. There were both an action organized by the youth who "buried writer Ekram Eylisli’s books," carrying the books of the writer in a coffin, and the picket during which they burnt his portraits in front of his house. And in his native village Eylis the villagers burnt his books and demanded to kill him. And as the apotheosis of moral terror one of the community leaders promises to pay about 10,000 euros to the one who would cut off the ear of the aged writer. There were also numerous accusing publications in Azerbaijani media and indignant speeches in parliament.

 

“The statement released by the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan says that Ekrem Eylisli’s works caused righteous anger both within literary circles and the Azerbaijani people,” the author says.

 

In his article Vitali Sharia draws parallels with the persecution of Azerbaijani writer Ekrem Eylisli and events that were held about pardoning Ramil Safarov in Azerbaijan, who hacked to death a sleeping Armenian officer.

 

“A few months ago I was shocked, like many others, by the story when President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on pardoning Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov who had hacked to death a sleeping Armenian officer in 2004, in Budapest with whom he was passing training in the framework of the NATO’s “Partnership for Peace” program, and then a mass glorification campaign of the criminal was held throughout the country,” Sharia says.

 

The author notes that all this was beyond belief, and thus he got engaged in search for materials in the internet that would shed light on maximally all the circumstances of that criminal case and the arguments of those who sympathized Safarov.

 

“But the deeper I went, the more confused I became. It was natural to assume that such a heinous crime of Safarov was pushed by no less monstrous offence from the murdered, such an offence that he could not even wait until morning. (Though, in any case, killing a sleeping man is despicable and cowardly, not a manlike). But no, in fact, the only reasonable explanation, which was made immediately after the murderer was detained, was that the Armenian was smiling in meetings with him. Later some details appeared that seemed to me to be fictitious and designed by the advocate,” the article said.

 

According to the author, there is a possibility that the exaltation and glorification of Ramil Safarov in Azerbaijan finally pushed Ekrem Eylisli to publish his novel written in 2006-2007.

 

Russian political scientist Sergei Markedonov at the “Echo of the Caucasus touched upon the issue of persecution of Azerbaijani writer Ekrem Eylisli. He noted that the creativity of Baku in all that regards the "Armenian question" leaves much to be desired: “It would seem that it is a good reason to show that the government is not fighting against the Armenians, but the manifestations of separatism and radicalism. And stimulation of Aylisli could be a kind of positive message, no, not to Yerevan, but all the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh. After all, official Baku calls them citizens of the Azerbaijani Republic. And about the officials recall the experience of living together when the time comes. However, there was no such a signal.”

 

Touching upon the issue of readiness to come to compromise with the other side, Markedonov noted that the artwork is not an armament race; there is no certain parity there. Books are not a machine or warheads production. “But it is necessary to describe the multi-dimensional reality, for all the wars and conflicts come to an end sooner or later. And such understanding is needed not to answer someone else, but to preserve their professional and civic reputation, which does not necessarily have to join together in a tough confrontation.”

 

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

 

After publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Eylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

 

The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

 

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Eylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

Aylisli Controversy Reveals the True Face of Aliyev Regime

 

http://azerireport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3879&Itemid=48

By Elmar Chakhtakhtinski

 

The controversy around the Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli's recently

published novel "Stone Dreams" came amidst increased political

tensions and social unrest in the country. And although it created a

socio-political storm of its own, the uncivilized and hateful

over-reaction to this book does not collectively represent the

Azerbaijani society. It only reveals the real character of the ruling

Aliyev regime and its minions, unmasking their intolerant, feudal and

reckless nature.

 

Delayed reaction

 

To be sure, Aylisli's work touches upon an extremely sensitive subject

of the still unresolved Karabakh war, with very deep and fresh wounds

on both sides. The book is focused on the horrors that befell the

Armenian victims of the Armenian-Azerbaijani ethnic conflict. However,

terrible atrocities had been committed on both sides. Many argue that

failing to mention thousands of Azerbaijanis massacred by Armenians

and the exile of about a million Azerbaijani refugees distorts the

real narrative. Aylisli's response was that as an Azerbaijani writer

he felt compelled to write about the suffering of Armenians and he

hopes that an Armenian author would write similarly about the tragic

fate of Azerbaijani victims.

 

Regardless of the author's intentions, one can understand why most

Azerbaijanis would strongly disagree with his one-sided portrayal of

the events and the historical background around them. The demeaning

words used by the novel's characters to describe the Azerbaijani

refugees and some other unkind references in the book do not help

either.

 

But to set the record straight: there was no real mass "grass-roots"

outrage over this book in Azerbaijan. It was published in December

2012 in a popular Russian literary magazine and largely went unnoticed

in Azerbaijan. Then came Azerbaijan's "hot January", with an

anti-government uprising in Ismayilli region, a violent economic

protest in capital Baku's Bina suburb and an unusually large rally in

downtown Baku organized by pro-democracy youth groups calling for an

end to killings and abuses of soldiers in the national army. Only

after all these events had shaken the governments control over the

situation, a mass campaign, clearly orchestrated by the authorities,

against Ekram Aylisli and his pro-Armenian book began in all of its

fury.

 

Orchestrated campaign

 

Consider the following facts:

- The party offering a $12,000 reward for cutting the writer's ear is

a well-known pro-government puppet group

- The country's corrupt dictator, Ilham Aliyev, has himself led the

public crusade against the author by issuing a decree that deprives

Aylisli from his highest state awards and a special presidential

pension

- The fascist remarks against the author, such as raising questions

about his ethnic identity, proposals to "check his DNA" to see if he

is an Armenian, calls to strip him of Azerbaijani citizenship and

deport to Armenia, were made by the ruling party's top officials and

its leading members in the parliament

- The authorities fired his wife and son from their state jobs after

the book was published

- It is the same state-controlled media, usually busy demonizing

dissidents and opposition activists and praising the ruling family

members, that now promotes hate and violence against the author

- All book burnings and `protest actions' calling for "death to

Aylisli" were organized by the ruling YAP party's youth movement and

other groups under the government's own patronage and sponsorship

- In Aylisli's own village, in Nakhchivan region, where the local

despot Talibov's henchmen prevent gathering of more than 3-4 people

for any unsanctioned events, the government had to bus in people from

other villages and towns to stage a "protest by the local residents"

against the author

 

All other demonstrations in Azerbaijan, calling for democracy,

freedom, human rights or simply expressing people's dissatisfaction

with the current conditions are always brutally attacked and dispersed

by the police and their participants are beaten, fined and jailed. But

these hateful government-sponsored rallies against the author met no

resistance from the security forces.

 

Without mentioning all of the above facts and without clearly showing

that all the stone-age, hate-filled responses to the novel are

invariably tied to and totally controlled by the ruling Aliyev regime,

any reporting on this issue would be incomplete and misleading.

 

Diversionary tactic

 

There is another, little more subtle but easily recognizable dimension

in this story: the state-sponsored campaign against the writer Akram

Aylisli is diversionary in its character. By stirring hatred around

the book, the government tries to distract attention from the biggest

real problem facing Azerbaijan - the ruling regime itself. Unable and

unwilling for twenty years to answer people's demands to end pervasive

corruption, respect basic freedoms and rights and provide minimal

levels of social justice, the government decided to divert the popular

anger towards the novel's author and the Karabakh issue it touches

upon.

 

Once again, it proves that the ruling regime in Azerbaijan, and

perhaps in Armenia, is not really interested in finding a solution to

the Karabakh conflict. Instead, they use it as a convenient excuse and

hide behind it when their trespasses and faults on all other fronts

become evident. This is done with such consistency that one even

wonders why would this government ever want the perfect cover of

`Karabakh problem', helping it to stay in power, go away?

 

Dangerously reckless

 

The disturbing conclusion is that to save its own power, the Aliyev

government seems ready to gamble with anything it holds in its hands.

 

Any responsible government seriously thinking about the peaceful

solution to the Karabakh issue, where Azerbaijanis and Armenians again

would have to live side-by-side as Azerbaijani citizens, would never

purposefully raise tensions to this degree and promote such level of

public ethnic hatred. That the anti-Aylisli campaign shatters any

hopes for a dialog and reconciliation, apparently, does not seem

bother the authorities at all. Neither do they seem to worry about

destroying the country's already poor international reputation by

pursuing their shameful and backward crusade against a fiction book.

 

Can such a reckless regime be trusted not to risk the renewal of

hostilities, if it sees the military adventure as the only way out of

a domestic revolution?

 

There is a dire need for a decent and responsible government in Baku

that is willing and capable to address the long-lasting issues facing

the nation, including the Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan needs a

leadership that is not pre-occupied with pillaging the country's

riches and that would not sacrifice the country's interests in order

to stay in power. For that, its citizens will have to free themselves

from this utterly corrupt, thoroughly repressive and, as Aylisli

affair revealed, disgustingly intolerant and intellectually barbaric

Aliyev dictatorship.

 

The Azerbaijani state propaganda machine and its Western apologists,

mainly consisting of lobbyists, paid "experts" and some sold-out

politicians and diplomats, have been for a long time selling a fake

image of the Aliyev regime as a "tolerant, pro-western, reliable US

ally'. The scandal around Aylisli's "Stone Dreams" blows into dust

this fairy-tale. Hopefully the US government and policymakers will

take a due notice.

 

Elmar Chakhtakhtinski is a chairman of Azerbaijani-Americans for

Democracy (AZAD), a non-profit US organization promoting support for

democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan.

[Yervant1]

KAMAL ALI: AFTER HITLER'S FALL AZERBAIJAN WAS THE FIRST COUNTRY TO HOLD MASS POLITICAL ACTION OF BURNING BOOKS

 

http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/02/19/qyamal-ali/

19:10 19/02/2013 " SOCIETY

 

After many years of Hitler's overthrow, Azerbaijan was the first and

the second country to implement mass political burnings of books in

Europe. First was held in Baku and the second in Eylisli's village,

in Nakhichevan, the Kamal Ali says in the article published in

Azerbaijani news agency "Turan".

 

"In any case, I do not know other bonfires of books," well known

historian Aydin Balaev raises the theme of book bonfires in his

article, "Further developments in Germany came to confirm Heinrich

Heine's correctness, who even in 1821 warned that "the country that

burns books will burn also people." And soon concentration camps with

gas chambers appeared, where not books but human beings were burnt,"

the journal says.

 

He also notes that the U.S. State Department and the "Human Rights

Watch" made quite expected anti-Azerbaijani statements, and that they

should expect more political documents in that style.

 

The author notes that the saying "backhanded service" is not correct

in this case, because one doesn't need to be that smart to predict

catastrophic anti-literary campaigns. "The son, daughter and wife

of the writer were fired from work; the writer was deprived of his

awards and titles. They should finally calm down. But then the formal

anti-national actions went on which disgraced the state," he writes.

 

The author notes that Azerbaijan has no public executions. "But do

not hurry to present yourselves as civilized citizens because from

propagated media threats of mutilation till its implementation is

one step only," he writes.

 

"Perhaps, the initiators of anti-Azerbaijani hysteria that Azerbaijan

passes through today think that the only possible reaction towards the

undesirable novelist is cutting off his ears, revenging by punishing

the family members, depriving of religion, titles and prosecution,"

the publication says.

 

Kamal Ali mentioned that last week, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar

Mammadyarov said that "discussions around Ekrem Eylisli's book will

not blow to prestige of Azerbaijan."

 

"His words contain another message; the country's image has already

been blown, and now the government has another task to deny what

happened. Many publicists say that our country was harmed by the

smear campaign of the novel itself. I guess those who initiated this

campaign agree with this idea as well. Though, these people may have

other goals. However, they managed to divert public attention from

the pressing social problems caused by mass protests in the capital

and the provinces," the article said.

 

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist

of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan "Istiglal"

(2002) and the order of "Shokhrat" for his outstanding merits in the

literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine

"Friendship of Nations" was published his novel titled "Stone Dreams"

in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku

in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks

positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel

"Stone Dreams" also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani

President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

 

After publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures

in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of

his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan,

MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and

deport from Azerbaijan. Many people "blamed" Eylisli in his Armenian

origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of

personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of

"purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan" and "in distorting

realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way."

 

The leader of the pro-governmental party "Modern Musavat" Hafis Hajiyev

announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut

the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media,

the politician was "warned" by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan

about the illegality of such appeals.

 

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned

persecution of Eylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities

to fulfill their obligations.

[Yervant1]

16:49 21/02/2013 » Society

‘‘Yeni Musavat’’: Ekrem Eylisli was to be recognized as mentally incompetent for his ‘‘malicious’’ novel

 

 

Azerbaijani oppositional newspaper "Yeni Musavat" published a scandalous analytical article “Two serious mistakes of authorities made in Eylisli’s case”, which within a few hours provoked a new resonance and was removed from the website of the newspaper.

 

“Can Eylisli live in Azerbaijan under such psychological pressure, safely walk in the city or drive to his native town Eylis?,” the newspaper says and notes that the authorities have put themselves and their people in a problematic situation in front of the world community and Armenians by their propaganda.

 

It is noted that in Eylisli’s case the Azerbaijani authorities had made two serious mistakes. Firstly, the government was to have the writer up on the mat and explain the fallacy of his disposition. “The government was to persuade the writer in a harsh manner to refuse his own work. It’s strange how could a “creative person" with such a malicious mindset be able to stay out of the attention of the state.” This is the power that controls even the personal records of the oppositionists. This is the major fault of the authorities in “Aylisli’s” case,” the newspaper said.

 

Secondly, the article notes that the second serious mistake of the authorities was that they didn’t inflate the theme of malicious novelist being mentally ill. "The government was to act logically and to establish an independent medical commission in order to create a view on Eylisli’s mental condition… May be it’s not that late yet…” the newspaper writes, hinting at the necessity of giving Ekrem Eylisli certificates of being mentally incompetent.

 

In this regard, the newspaper Bizim Yol notes that the article has been removed from the site on the same day and chief editor Rauf Arifoglu said that it does not reflect the views of the editorial. The newspaper quotes writer Seymour Baijan, who has commented on the scandal about the article in Yeni Musavat.

 

“In fact, the campaign against Eylisli didn’t start with of his novel “Stone Dreams”, but because of his book “The Great jam.”

Some say that the persecution began to draw the attentions. The others say that it is all done for the presenting the Azerbaijanis barbarians in the international arena, who burn books, cut ears of the writers. In this very way they want to show that “this people do not need democracy,” but a “strong hand.” Everything is possible. As for the article of “Yeni Musavat”, it turns out that a commission may be formed because of any unfavorable article, declare man insane and close the issue,” the writer stated.

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

 

After publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Eylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

 

The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

 

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Eylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

TURKEY HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS TO ALIYEV: END LYNCHING CAMPAIGN!

 

February 20, 2013

 

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)-Four Turkish human rights and anti-racism

groups sent a letter to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

urging him "to urgently put an end to the lynching campaign against

Ekrem Eylisli" for his positive portrayal of Armenians.

 

Ekrem Eylisli The Armenian Weekly publishes the text of the letter

in full.

 

***

 

Mr. Ä°lham Aliyev

 

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

 

Baku, Azerbaijan

 

Dear Mr. President,

 

We, the defenders of human rights in Turkey and supporters of fight

against racism, nationalism, and hatred, are appalled by and deeply

concerned with the aggressive campaign and threats of violence

against the writer Ekrem Eylisli in your country. The only crime

committed by your fellow citizen Ekrem Eylisli, whose security is

your responsibility, is to have defended in his recent novel the

solidarity of peoples.

 

As the Human Rights Watch has declared in its global press release,

Eylisli has been targeted with an increasingly aggressive campaign of

enmity and defamation, further endorsed by official spokespersons and

the media, only because he has written a novel in which he has chosen

not to represent Armenians as an object of hatred. Since January 31st,

the said transgressions have included protests in front of his house,

insults and threats, and book-burning.

 

Notorious for her racist views, member of Azerbaijani parliament

Melahat İbrahimkızı has accused Eylisli of offending not only

Azerbaijan but the entire Turkish nation, thus sending a message to

Turkey and provoking the same campaign of hatred against Armenians

in Turkey.

 

Eylisli's family too has been subjected to retribution: His son

Necep Naibov, employed by the Ministry of Customs, and his wife

Galina Alexandrova, a library director, have been dismissed without

just cause.

 

The lynching campaign has reached its peak with the pro-government

Moderna Musavat Party leaders putting a reward of ten thousand Manat

on Ekrem Eylisli's ears.

 

And you, Mr. President, in your capacity as the higher most leader

of the state of Azerbaijan, have endorsed and even encouraged threats

against Eylisli's life by signing the presidential decree on Eylisli's

divestiture of the title "Writer of the People" and on the termination

of his entitlement to pension.

 

We are the defenders of human rights and opponents of racism,

discrimination, and hate in a country where, throughout its history,

writers have fallen prey to unsolved cases of murder, or left to

rot in prison. Ours is a country where those who express diverse

views remain under constant threat. We know well how the racist,

nationalist, and discriminatory state politics have driven the masses

to the streets and turned individuals into murderers, even of their

own neighbors. We have lost many in such attacks, but we also bear

witness to the fact that the people will not be silenced by oppression.

 

At the same time, we have seen firsthand how your state and the rulers

of the Republic of Turkey have joined endeavors in inciting enmity

among their peoples against Armenians. The hateful slogans against

Armenians in the "Hocalı Protest" in Taksim Square, Istanbul, are

still ringing in our ears; the banners bearing the words "You are

all Armenians, you are all bastards" are still before our eyes. As

a result of our opposition, those carrying these banners have been

charged and indicted. For us, the defenders of rights and opponents

of racial hatred in Turkey, opposing enmity against Armenians and

diverse ethnic and religious identities is a foremost duty.

 

As the proponents and defenders of peace, democracy, and justice,

of solidarity of the peoples and equal coexistence, we invite you, Mr.

 

President, to use your office and enlist all your subordinates to

urgently put an end to the lynching campaign against Ekrem Eylisli.

 

Leaders who have incited peoples to transgressions of racist hatred,

who have condoned such transgressions or turned a blind eye to them,

have come to be known in history as a disgrace, whereas the memory

of those who strive for peace will forever live to honor humanity.

 

HELSINKI CITIZENS ASSOCIATION

 

SAY STOP TO RACISIM AND NATIONALISM INITIATIVE

 

HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION TURKEY

 

ASSOCIATION FOR FACING HISTORY

[Yervant1]

AZERBAIJANI NOVELIST VILIFIED FOR HIS CALL FOR RECONCILIATION

 

Los Angeles Times

Feb 19 2013

 

Angry mobs have threatened Akram Aylisli and burned his books because

his latest novel, 'Stone Dreams,' calls for compassion for Armenians.

 

By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times

 

February 19, 2013, 6:49 p.m.

 

MOSCOW - His books were burned by a mob in Azerbaijan's second-largest

city. His wife and son have lost their jobs. A crowd in a small town

demanded that his blood be tested to establish his true ethnicity. The

nation's president stripped him of his honorary title as "the People's

Writer." And an infuriated mob under his window made threats against

his life and told him to leave the country.

 

Akram Aylisli, 75, says the treatment he has received since publication

of the Russian translation of his latest book, "Stone Dreams," defies

even his own literary imagination.

 

The book describes outbreaks of ethnic violence in Azerbaijan, then a

Soviet republic, in the waning days of the Soviet Union. Subsequently,

at least 30,000 ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis died in four years

of fighting over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where

Armenian troops are still stationed.

 

"My book has nothing to do with politics," Aylisli said in a phone

interview from his home in Baku, the capital. "It simply calls upon

both Armenians and Azerbaijanis to repent for their past sins and

try to turn over a new leaf in the history of their centuries-old

relationship."

 

Instead, since the Russian translation of the book was carried in

the December issue of the Friendship of Peoples journal - published

in Moscow - Aylisli's life has been a living hell.

 

On Feb. 7, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued two decrees

stripping the author of the honorary title of the People's Writer,

awarded in 1998. He also deprived Aylisli of a monthly stipend of

about $1,270.

 

"In this novel written in a style alien to the spirit of our people,

the author tries to form an anti-humane image of the Azerbaijani people

and unjustifiably to blame them for acts contradictory to universal

human values, distorting the essence of the Armenian-Azerbaijani

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, painting black our distant and recent past,"

says one of the decrees.

 

A Russian literary editor said he doubted that Aliyev and protesting

Azerbaijanis had even read the book.

 

"This book in a most humane way tries to study the nature of such an

ugly phenomenon as inter-ethnic hatred and certainly possesses none

of the qualities attributed to it in Aliyev's decree," said Leonid

Bakhnov, head of the prose department at the Russian journal.

 

"The whole story with Aylisli reminds me of the harassment campaign

against [Russian Nobel laureate Boris] Pasternak in the late 1950s,

when thousands of people who had never even seen a single paragraph

from 'Doctor Zhivago' published abroad were made to come out and

publicly condemn it."

 

Aylisli said that his son Najaf, a senior customs officer, was

pressured into quitting his job on Feb. 4. The next day, the writer's

wife, Galina, was forced to leave her longtime position as a library

director.

 

Dozens of residents of Aylisli's hometown, Aylis, the main setting

for the book, were shown on television denouncing the author and

demanding that his blood be tested. Within days, a mob in the main

square of Ganja burned hundreds of volumes of Aylisli's books.

 

Then in Baku, the head of the pro-presidential Modern Musavat Party

confirmed that he had offered the equivalent of $12,700 to anyone who

cut off the author's ear. The party "decided that any punishment will

be insufficient for Aylisli; that is why it is necessary to cut off

his ear," the politician told the Turan news agency.

 

"I feel like a victim of Stalinist trials, and frankly I am afraid to

venture out the door these days," Aylisli said. "They stand outside

my window and scream at the top of their throats that I am a traitor

and that I must die or leave the country."

 

Leila Yunus, director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy,

a Baku-based think tank, said the anger had been whipped up by

authorities to deflect attention from the country's problems.

 

"In the course of the recent months we have seen many mass rallies

across the country protesting against corruption and lack of democracy

and demanding President Aliyev's resignation," she said in a phone

interview. "Aylisli was chosen by the authorities as a new enemy of

the people to confuse protesters and make them vent some of their

accumulated anger and frustration on the innocent author."

 

Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights

Watch, said in a statement on the group's website that instead of

protecting the author, the Azerbaijani government had "led the effort

to intimidate him, putting him at risk with a campaign of vicious

smears and hostile rhetoric."

 

In "Stone Dreams," Aylisli calls on his compatriots to have compassion

for Armenians, given the hardship they have suffered over the

centuries.

 

"If a single candle were lighted for every murdered Armenian, the light

from these candles would be brighter than that of the moon," says

a key character in the novel. "This nation was tired and exhausted

from the violence but they never stopped building their churches,

writing their books and raising arms to heaven appealing to their God."

 

"Apparently his call was heard but grossly misinterpreted," editor

Bakhnov said. "But nevertheless, one day they will be obligated to

erect a monument for him."

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-azerbaijan-author-20130220,0,5700620.story

[Yervant1]

TURKISH PUBLISHER TO RELEASE THE WORKS OF ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI AUTHORS IN ONE BOOK

Alisa Gevorgyan

 

"Radiolur"

17:34 22.02.2013

 

The joint publication of the "Stone Dreams" by Azerbaijani author Ekrem

Eylisli and "Artsatagir" authored by Armenian writer Levon Javakhyan

will be released at the initiative of famous Turkish publisher Ragib

Zarakolu, Director of the Begle publishing house, publicist Sargis

Hatspanyan told reporters today.

 

Following the recent threats to Ekrem Eylisli, Levon Javakhyan decided

to call on the Turkish intellectuals to protect the Azerbaijani author,

stressing that any support by Armenians could be even more harmful

to Eylisli.

 

In response to the call of the Armenian writer, Ragib Zarakolu

addressed an open letter to PEN International, urging them to support

Eylisli.

 

Recall that a novella by the Azeri author that portrays ethnic

Armenians sympathetically provoked an uproar in Azerbaijan, with Azeri

lawmakers denouncing the work and protesters burning the author's

portrait outside his house.

 

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed decrees stripping writer

Ekrem Eylisli of presidential pension and the honorary title of

People's Writer of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

[Yervant1]

OPINION: TRAITORS ARE AXED IN AZERBAIJAN

 

http://www.a1plus.am/en/politics/2013/02/27/hrayr-ulubabyan

05:02 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

 

The pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait was the continuation of Turkey's

ideology of creating the Turan, the Great Turkish Empire, says Hrayr

Ulubabyan, co-author of "Genocide, Publicity, Sumgait" book.

 

Mr Ulubabyan is unable to restrain his resentment every time he speaks

about the Sumgait Massacre.

 

"They organized demonstrations to instill hatred in the local

population against Armenians. Everything was done openly with extreme

cruelty," Ulubabyan told reporters on Feb. 27.

 

Gevorg Danielyan, Board Chairman of the Center of the Constitutional

Law, says Armenians should make the struggle for the recognition of

the Sumgait pogroms more unified and conscious.

 

Mr Danielyan cannot understand the excitement caused by Stone Dreams, a

short novel written by Azerbaijan's most eminent writer Akram Aylisli.

 

"Those who have read the book did not understand its true meaning.

 

This is another trick of Azerbaijan's diplomacy. I do not believe

that the writer is really subjected to harassment because traitors

are usually axed in Azerbaijan," he said.

 

"Stone Dreams" describes the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia,

detailing the massacres of Armenians by Azeris and portraying the

tragedy of war from Armenia's perspective.

 

It tells the story of two Azerbaijani men and their efforts to protect

their Armenian neighbours during the Sumgait and Baku pogroms in the

closing years of the Soviet Union.

 

The leading character of the book, an Azerbaijan actor, is in coma;

he had been beaten up for his efforts to help an Armenian old man

from the hands of an angry mob.

[Yervant1]

17:21 28/02/2013 » Society

Ekrem Eylisli author of scandalous novel about Armenian massacre titled ‘‘Stone Dreams’’ decided to leave Azerbaijan

 

 

Scandalously famous Azerbaijani author Ekrem Eylisli, who became known for his publication of novel titled "Stone Dreams", expressed his desire to leave for Turkey for permanent residence.

Ekrem Eylisli told about his desire to Turkish media, as the Azerbaijani information agency “Haqqin.az” reports. “Many things happened in Azerbaijan: my works are not printed, my plays are not performed. My future life here becomes impossible. I made the decision to leave my fatherland and to live in fraternal Turkey. I think, I can feel myself comfortable only there. However, for this I will need the invitation of the Turkish side,” said Azerbaijani writer who had undergone a persecution.

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

 

After publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Eylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

 

The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

 

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Eylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

http://asbarez.com/App/Asbarez/images/asbarez_01_460x101.jpg

 

Friday, March 1st, 2013

 

 

It’s Time to Expose Azerbaijani Transgressions

 

 

 

http://asbarez.com/App/Asbarez/eng/2013/03/9DC323D8-2984-448A-BEE3-AF5707E82EE1_w640_r1_s_cx0_cy9_cw77.jpg

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev

BY HRANT APOVIAN

“If a single candle were lighted

for every murdered Armenian,

the light from these candles would be

brighter than that of the moon.”

Akram Aylisli

When the world starts to expose and vilify the State of Azerbaijan as a country rife with human rights abuses, as a promoter of massacres in its country, as an aggressor, and a warmonger, a state that imprisons opposition members and journalists, then one can finally believe that decency in foreign policy takes a front seat to considerations for Azeri oil.

The latest chapter involving human rights abuses and creating popular turmoil in Azerbaijan involves an Azeri writer who was stripped of his honorary title as “the Peoples Writer” awarded in 1998. He is being harassed and vilified for writing a book where he reveals Azeri massacres of Armenians. He had the courage to write that “This nation – Armenia – was tired and exhausted from the violence but they never stopped building their churches, writing their books and raising arms to heaven appealing to their God.”

Transgressions by Azerbaijan date back to and started when Stalin awarded Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh, an Armenian enclave for centuries. During the years of occupation the people of Nagorno Karabakh were subjected to abuses, massacres, and a policy of extermination and depopulation to rid the enclave of its ethnic population.

This policy culminated in a series of Armenian massacres within Azerbaijan, notably in Sumgait, when the people of Nagorno Karabakh opted for independence during the fall of the Soviet Union.

The massacres in Sumgait and other cities in Azerbaijan, which the world chose to ignore were followed by a protracted war against the people of Nagorno Karabakh and which was started by a fierce aerial bombardment of population centers.

Four years later, after mass destruction and the infliction of 30,000 lives lost, Azerbaijan lost the war that it started. The OSCE (Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group comprised of the USA, Russia, and France is trying to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict based on the right of self determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan is actively sabotaging and blocking any peaceful resolution, becoming more and more intransigent during the negotiations.

This is evidently a ploy by Azerbaijan to buy time, in the mistaken belief that with time, it will gain legitimacy in the quest to reconquer Nagorno Karabakh.

This is based on an Azerbaijani government sanctioned grand design to:

First: Rearm, spending a large portion of its oil revenue building a better military machine. Azerbaijan is buying billions worth of armaments from Russia, The USA, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, and Israel, outspending Armenia five to one.

Second: Instilling hatred towards Armenians worldwide in its people. Extraditing Sapharov, an Azeri officer who had murdered an Armenian officer in cold blood during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) training event, and welcoming him as a national hero.

Third: Mounting a massive diplomatic campaign against Armenia, accusing it of occupying Azeri lands, massacring Azeris in Khochalu, where its inhabitants were granted safe passage out by Armenian forces before attacking it. Azerbaijani propaganda is depicting the conflict as a Muslim – Christian strife. This resulted last month, in an anti-Armenian declaration by the Islamic Conference in Cairo, Egypt.

Fourth: Constantly violating the cease fire agreement across the Azerbaijan – Nagorno Karabakh front, as well as the Azerbaijan – Armenia front and refusing to remove snipers and initiating border incursions that have so far killed many Armenian defense soldiers and civilians.

Fifth: Targeting the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh as well as the Armenian Diaspora worldwide, by vilifying our nation as the aggressor and occupier with a systematic misinformation campaign. This includes promoting anti Armenian sentiments and presenting the conflict as an infringement on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. An anti-Armenian White House petition was linked to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a project headed by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev’s multibillionaire wife, Mehriban Aliyeva.

Sixth: Conditioning a thaw in Armenia – Turkey relations and lifting of an embargo on Armenia by Turkey on a favorable resolution for Azerbaijan on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. This is one major reason Turkey reneged on its commitment on the ill fated Armenia – Turkey Protocol agreement.

Seventh: Threatening to down civilian passenger aircraft if the airport in Nagorno Karabakh is put into operation, to forcibly halt planned commercial flights to Nagorno Karabakh.

Eighth: Trying to organize the Azeri Diaspora and spending millions with public relation firms to legitimize and propagate an official misinformation campaign worldwide orchestrated and funded by the government of Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, the threat of war is having an effect on the civilian population of Nagorno Karabakh, which is trying to rebuild a war ravaged country and has established a viable democratic government. Belligerent declarations threatening war by both Azeri civilian and military officials are constant. However, the West is reluctant to chastise the government of Azerbaijan, and is exercising a policy of appeasement. This emboldens the Azeri government to be more intransigent and to test the will and physical resilience of Nagorno Karabakh defense forces.

Furthermore, the world does not realize and the governing clique in Azerbaijan cannot conceive, that this is a very dangerous course that it is following. If Azeri forces were to attack, the push-back by Nagorno Karabakh and Armenian forces would result in enormous loss of life, destruction of the oil industry, turmoil in the Caucasus, and can conceivably result in more territorial losses for Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have to take Azeri threats very seriously. To rely on the West to restrain Azerbaijan is futile. If Azerbaijan continues in its present course of action, blocking a peaceful resolution of the conflict by grossly miscalculating the success of the military option, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh should seriously consider pulling out of the negotiations and more actively pursue the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh as an independent nation.

After all, time may be on the side of Azerbaijan. Its massive military buildup is becoming seriously ominous to a dangerous extent. The millions spent on its propaganda machine are beginning to have an effect, by distorting historical precedent. This should remind us that the West will not always side with the righteous and can at any time abandon the people of Nagorno Karabakh to their fate.

 

http://asbarez.com/App/Asbarez/images/us.pngEnglish

http://asbarez.com/App/Asbarez/images/am.pngArmenian

[Yervant1]

17:34 08/03/2013 » Society

Al Jazeera: Human rights situation in Azerbaijan is deteriorating at an alarming rate

 

 

While the international community continues to engage in business as usual with oil-rich Azerbaijan, the country is quickly losing claim to any remaining pretence that it is a democracy. Azerbaijani civil society is under attack at unprecedented levels, as the government wages a vicious campaign to silence its critics, American-British human rights activist currently based in London Rebecca Vincent writes in an article in Al Jazeera.

 

In particular, the Azerbaijani authorities seem intent on punishing those who exposed human rights problems in the country during the period of increased international media attention ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest and Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Rights groups warned of potential retaliation once this attention had faded. They turned out to be right.

 

“Over the past few months, the Azerbaijani authorities have been scrambling to silence all critical voices in the country - including mine,” the author says and notes that in a highly unusual move, in December, the authorities revoked my residence permit while I was travelling outside of the country, preventing me from returning to my home in Baku and effectively separating my family ever since. No official explanation has been given, but diplomatic negotiations confirmed that the action was politically motivated.

 

According to her in the run-up to Eurovision and the IGF, she worked with a wide range of international and local human rights organisations that were publically critical of Azerbaijan's record on issues such as freedom of expression and internet freedom, including through two reports that were banned from being distributed at the IGF. But my work with a new local campaign, Art for Democracy, which had launched just a week earlier in a December 11 event, seems to have been the clincher. Art for Democracy seeks to use all forms of artistic expression to promote human rights and democracy in the country.

 

“Since December, the human rights situation in the country has deteriorated at an alarming rate. In January, authorities responded to an unrelated series of anti-government protests in Baku and other regions.” the author writes.

 

At the same time, authorities appeared to support protests against the author Akram Aylisli following his publication of Stone Dreams, a novel covering the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from a perspective his critics allege is sympathetic to Armenia. Pro-government groups held pickets in February calling Aylisli a traitor and burning his book. “Authorities have also started taking steps to eliminate any chance of a free and fair presidential election in October,” the article said.

 

Republicanist Alternative (REAL) movement presidential candidate Ilgar Mammadov is in pre-trial detention, facing up to 10 years imprisonment on politically motivated charges of organising mass disorder and violently resisting police.

 

“Despite this rapid deterioration, the international community has hardly taken note. The support promised to Azerbaijani activists by IGF participants has certainly been lacking,” Vincent writes. She recalls that European politicians directly contributed to the downward spiral by failing to support a resolution on political prisoners in Azerbaijan in a January 23 vote at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - a move that the Azerbaijani authorities clearly interpreted as carte blanche to continue arresting persons for politically motivated reasons.

 

“To top it all, as recently as February 20, the European Union enhanced a Memorandum of Understanding on Energy with Azerbaijan, signaling once again that in realpolitik, oil trumps human rights,” the human rights activist writes.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

19:53 13/11/2013 » Society

Akram Aylisli: I did not write my novel ‘‘Stone Dreams’’ for Armenians but for Azerbaijanis

I would be morally broken, if I had thought that I am somehow humiliating the Azerbaijani people, in an interview with the “Russian Reporter” portal stated Akram Aylisli, prominent Azerbaijani writer and author of a book about the Armenian massacres called "Stone Dreams". The article said that Akram Aylisli met with a reporter on the street: "He was a short, stout man, kind of cozy, in a jacket. You would never think that he was walking there around knowing that they would pay $12,000 for his ears."

Replying to a question whether he was afraid of walking at the streets, the writer said, "Frankly, I barely decided to stay, my heart is not so good. I have lived till 75 and I can give my life to the one who needs peace, human warmth, good relations between neighbors. "

Akram Aylisli, passed his hand over the modestly furnished apartment and noted that his family would not like to lose all its possessions. "For them rapprochement of nations is an abstract notion. For me this matter is a life and death matter, if I die without seeing these two nations together, then I do not want to die like that. When I wrote, I thought to myself, I will not publish it yet. And then I decided, no matter how costly it will be, we should still oppose the things that still happen. The man, who came into this world, must give to the world what God has given to him," he said.

Replying to the question whether it was necessary to go into politics Aylisli noted that "apparently this story was to happen." "Without this persecution the book would have no effect. This, apparently is not depending on me, on the authorities, the life itself is constructed in this way. According to the physics law too, the action appears only when there is counteraction. Though, I was surprised from all of this. The most surprising is that the Armenians now treat us much better than it was before this humble thing," the writer said, noting that he wrote the book not for the Armenians but for the Azerbaijanis.

Commenting on the opinion that by his book he had "insulted" the people of Azerbaijan the writer said, "If I doubted that I have somehow humiliated my people, I would, probably, be broken myself. They want me to say two good words about the Armenian and three about the Azerbaijanis. I had no other worries to keep the balance of opinion! I describe a person, how he perceives. A mentally frail man, who is almost at the edge of madness from this life. He also suffers terribly because he still remembers what he had been told in his village. "

The writer noted that his book is a tragedy of man, when all around him are against his state of mind against his view to the future.
"Brothers, let us recognize that we have done bad things! Only then we can expect for something good. God knows what they did not say: let's see Akram’s blood, though they knew perfectly well that I'm a thoroughbred Turk. That I would like to receive a Nobel Prize. Have I brought goods to a market? But the most annoying thing was that they were saying all of these on behalf of the people. Some cabinet rat teaches me what the people think," he said.

According to the writer, if a referendum is held in Azerbaijan, the vast majority will be for establishment of good relations with the Armenians. If ideologists firmly say that it is necessary to establish good relationships - in the evening, the people will think differently, he said.

"As a child I have heard only good things from my grandmother, mother and uncle about the Armenians. Those who have never seen the Armenians are much more nationalist than those who lived together with them. Rarely anyone would say a bad word – those are half-baked ideologists, not normal, villagers. In villages there have been such demagogues too, Shukshin has described them perfectly," said the writer.

Commenting on the correspondent’s words that "the country has gone crazy and people do not want to understand anything," Aylisli replied, "The man embitters if he by some sense feels the truth, but has to accept the lie for truth."

He also noted that Aliyev is not the owner of the lands; he is only the oil boss. "We fight with the Armenians for the land, while no one needs this land. It turned out that this is not what people wanted to fight for. What to do, perhaps the God or Shaitan needed this, I do not know," concluded the writer.

Akram Aylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

After publication of the novel, Aylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Aylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Aylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

19:07 15/11/2013 » Society

Akram Aylisli: I have always been for peace between Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples

"I personally do not consider Armenians my enemy. I have repeatedly stated that I'm concerned with the existing situation, and I have always stood for peace between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples. I'm not afraid! The authorities have already deprived me of the “People's Writer” title and have pressed on my family, and I am afraid of nothing anymore. My time has passed, and now the most important thing for me is the establishment of peace between our peoples," said the famous Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli to portal" Haqqin.az ", commenting on his interview given to the "Russian Reporter."

Aylisli stated once again that the Azerbaijanis are fighting against the Armenians for a land which nobody needs. "Truly, at present attitude towards the land acquires different meaning. That’s why I said that the tension between the nations does not depend on the fact whom this land belongs to, and the problem here is much deeper. I believe that the Azerbaijanis and Armenians will live in peace again, if the politicians do not disturb them," he said.

As stated in the material Aylisli does not consider himself an Azerbaijani patriot.

"Where have you seen a patriot writer? He should write whatever he suggest his mind and heart. Creative people should not be inherent to nationalism and patriotism. Did you know what Jalil Mamedkulizade wrote in one of his articles in the journal "Molla Nasreddin" about the Armenians? In 1909, he wrote that after he visited the Armenian village Aylis, he saw the joy in people's faces, cleanliness of streets, civilized people, and on returning to Azerbaijani villages, he saw only weeping and torture. Why nobody accuses Jalil Mamedkulizade for the lack of patriotism and does not dismantle his statue? Because he's a great writer and he wrote what he saw and as he saw," he said.

Akram Aylisli denied also the rumors that he allegedly expects to win a Nobel Prize, as the writer Orhan Pamuk once did. "I do not write my books for prizes or titles, but for the sake of my Azerbaijani readers. And that's my opinion. Someone may disagree with it, some not, and I'm not forcing anyone to read my books and I am ready to hold a civilized debate with everyone, but not with those who simply organizes attacks at a bazaar level," he said.

Akram Aylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.

After publication of the novel, Aylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Aylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”

The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.

The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Aylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

THE "RESURRECTED" AKRAM AYLISLI TO TAKE AZERBAIJANI MASS MEDIA TO COURT

by David Stepanyan

http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=385FB5D0-92FB-11E3-BC600EB7C0D21663
Tuesday, February 11, 12:02

The known Azerbaijani writer, the author of the smash novel "Stone
dreams", Akram Aylisli, is going to take Azerbaijani mass media
to court.

To note, yesterday Azerbaijani mass media informed about Aylisli's
death. His novel "Stone dreams", telling about the Baku massacre of
the Armenians and published in the Russian magazine "Druzhba narodov"
caused a lot of noise and hysteria in Azerbaijan. On February 7,
2013, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a presidential
decree that stripped Aylisli of the title of "People's Writer" and
the presidential pension.

"I am going to punish all those who disseminated such disinformation
and take them to court. I did not die, I am alive", - the 77 year
old writer said when replying Azerbaijani journalists' calls.

[Yervant1]

AZERBAIJANI WRITER AKRAN AYLISLI'S "STONE DREAMS" ONE OF THE BESTSELLERS IN ARMENIA

19:04 21.02.2014

Alisa Gevogyan
Public Radio of Armenia

In the course of one year Armenpress news agency has been compiling the
weekly bestseller list based on studies conducted in seven bookstores
in capital Yerevan. The agency summed up the results of the past year
today. The winners received certificates from Armenpress.

Romanian Armenian writer Varujan Vosganian's "Book of Whispers" and
Azerbaijani writer Akran Aylisli's "Stone Dreams" were named the
bestsellers of the year. The Armenian edition of the "Memories of
My Melancholy Whores" by Gabriel Garcia Markes was the most demanded
translation of the year.

"Antares" won the publisher of the year award. Levon Ananyan's "The
Mother Tongue Lesson" was named the winner on the best children's
work of the year.

President of the Union of Writers Edward Militonyan welcomed the
initiative, noting that it helps popularize the works by contemporary
authors.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/02/21/azerbaijani-writer-akran-aylislis-stone-dreams-one-of-the-bestsellers-in-armenia/

[Yervant1]

18:34 19/03/2014 » SOCIETY

Aylisli: During Karabakh war I visited all military units and saw how many deserters there were

The other day Azerbaijani news agency APA published an interview with Akram Aylisli, who has been nominated to Noble Peace Prize by a group of public figures leaving in different parts of the world.
It is noteworthy that this interview is very similar to another one Aylisli gave a day before to the Radio Free in Khadija Ismailova’s program “After work”. There is only one exception: in the interview published by APA some ideas were voiced that “Armenian lobby won’t be able to come close to the individuals” who have nominated him for Noble Peace Prize. As well Aylisli gives laudatory comments about the former president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, whose character is criticized in his work “Stone Dreams”.
“When I met Elçibey I begged him not to build a state in time of war, we have to do something to establish a ceasefire. I wrote about this in the press too. If there was no such strong politician and diplomat as Heydar Aliyev, it would have been difficult to come to that solution,” Aylisli said in an interview with APA.
Meanwhile in an interview with “Hafta.az” Aylisli rejected the information disseminated in Azerbaijani media that he has been nominated to Noble Prize by Armenians. “Nomination is not carried out by the people, but by a group of prominent public figures,” said Aylisli and confessed that there is an Armenian among the signatories whom Azerbaijani writer doesn’t know personally.
Akram Aylisli as well noted that while comparing Noble laureates with contemporary Azerbaijani writings it becomes obvious that there are no writings in Azerbaijan that correspond to that level.
In an interview with Radio Free Aylisli notes that he has written “Stone dreams” based on the stories of his parents and relatives and that when he was a child those stories left an indelible impression on him. “I’ve written my book on the bases of real-life stories of how this or that man, a child and so on were killed or slaughtered,” Aylisli said.
Speaking of Turkish writer Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk , Aylisli noted that in his novel "Snow" Pamuk tells about Turkish nationalism – the reason of the Armenian and Kurdish problem.
“Here we see the following: the return of Karabakh by military means- the state ideology. This is the result of persuasion and work of politicians. Writer’s task is never to reconcile with the policy of hostility between two nations. Even as a deputy I said that bad peace is better than war. I even said that if you so badly wish for war create a squad comprised of your sons and relatives and go to war, we will come behind you. Everyone accused me stating that the concept of homeland is not imprinted in my heart and soul but on my tongue. I regret that the concept of homeland is on the tongue of the majority of my nation. One still needs to seek for people among them who carry homeland in their soul. TV shows a mother who is ready to send all her ten boys to die in the name of motherland. However, during the war I visited all the military units and saw how many deserters were there,” Aylisli noted.
Aylisli as well noted that in his story about the slaughter of Armenians in Nakhijevan in 1919 he tells the truth not for the sake of peace but for the sake of truth itself. “I described the real, true events,” he noted.
Akram Aylisli is national writer (since 1998) and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture. The novel “Stone Dreams” also contains criticism over the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev and the tyranny of the system created by him.
After publication of the novel, Aylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally in front of his house, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Aylisli in his Armenian origin, etc. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”
The leader of the pro-governmental party ”Modern Musavat” Hafis Hajiyev announced that he would pay about 10 Euros to the one who will cut the ear of the writer. Only after the intervention of the media, the politician was “warned” by the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan about the illegality of such appeals.
The U.S. Department of State and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned persecution of Aylisli in Azerbaijan and called on the authorities to fulfill their obligations.

Source: Panorama.am