Nationalism rears its always ugly head again, as Azerbaijani author Əkrəm Əylisli (Akram Aylisli) published a novel -- Daş yuxular ('Stone Dreams') -- that some locals have taken (great) offense to because they think he's way too soft on/forgiving of their favorite neighborhood and historical arch-enemy/convenient whipping-boy, Armenia.
Published in Russian translation -- read it for yourself -- in Дружба народов (yes, 'Friendship of the People'-magazine ...) in December, the ugliness has been stirred up for a while now, and now has begun to come to a boil.
At this point, Əylisli has been deprived -- by presidential decree ! -- of his honorary title of People's Writer of Azerbaijan ("as a person, staining this title") and the writer's pension he's been getting from the government since 2002 has been cancelled. Əylisli's son, a customs official, has apparently been 'asked' to resign. A production of one of Əylisli's plays has been cancelled. A parliamentarian has suggested stripping him of his citizenship. And now they've started burning his novels in protest. (Yeah, it's always a great sign -- constructive dialogue in its purest form ! -- when they start with the book-bonfires .....)
Oh, yes: and it's been reported that a ... generous offer has been made by Hafiz Hajiyev: 10,000 AZN to anyone who would cut off Akram Aylisli's ear.
Hafiz who ? Apparently he's the head of the: "pro-government party Modern Musavat" ..... (And, no, he apparently hasn't been arrested or charged for his illegal-even-in-Azerbaijan offer.)
At Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Daisy Sindelar offers a good overview, noting that In Azerbaijan, Anger At An Author, But Not Necessarily At His Argument
In CRS, at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting Maharram Zeynalov also has a good overview, in Azerbaijani Writer Accused Over "Disloyal" Novel -- with hair-raising observations such as that his wife has also been fired from her job:
At this point, Əylisli has been deprived -- by presidential decree ! -- of his honorary title of People's Writer of Azerbaijan ("as a person, staining this title") and the writer's pension he's been getting from the government since 2002 has been cancelled. Əylisli's son, a customs official, has apparently been 'asked' to resign. A production of one of Əylisli's plays has been cancelled. A parliamentarian has suggested stripping him of his citizenship. And now they've started burning his novels in protest. (Yeah, it's always a great sign -- constructive dialogue in its purest form ! -- when they start with the book-bonfires .....)
Oh, yes: and it's been reported that a ... generous offer has been made by Hafiz Hajiyev: 10,000 AZN to anyone who would cut off Akram Aylisli's ear.
Hafiz who ? Apparently he's the head of the: "pro-government party Modern Musavat" ..... (And, no, he apparently hasn't been arrested or charged for his illegal-even-in-Azerbaijan offer.)
At Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Daisy Sindelar offers a good overview, noting that In Azerbaijan, Anger At An Author, But Not Necessarily At His Argument
In CRS, at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting Maharram Zeynalov also has a good overview, in Azerbaijani Writer Accused Over "Disloyal" Novel -- with hair-raising observations such as that his wife has also been fired from her job:
"They sacked my wife in a very strange way -- they accused her of having books by Armenian authors in her library. Where else should they have been ? And anyway, they were talking about books that weren't by Armenian authors," he said.For an example of the official 'arguments' contra Daş yuxular, see, for example, the head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration's Social and Political Department Ali Hasanov's remarks, asking vital questions such as:
How can one flatter other people and slander his own people to present himself as the bearer of human values ?There's been limited international outrage about this to date, but that can't last long (I hope).