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 Pashazade, 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