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HATE CAMPAIGN WAGED BY THE COUNTRY'S AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT ATTENTION FROM INTERNAL ISSUES: THE INDEPENDENT
11:32, 13 February, 2013
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: Events took an 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 Independent dwelled on the issue and its consequences currently so
topical in Azerbaijan and records hate campaign waged by the country's
authoritarian government attempt to distract attention from internal
issues, Armenpress reports.
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.
"The book was meant to be about conciliation between Azeris and
Armenians," Mr Aylisli toldThe 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."
"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 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.
11:32, 13 February, 2013
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: Events took an 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 Independent dwelled on the issue and its consequences currently so
topical in Azerbaijan and records hate campaign waged by the country's
authoritarian government attempt to distract attention from internal
issues, Armenpress reports.
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.
"The book was meant to be about conciliation between Azeris and
Armenians," Mr Aylisli toldThe 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."
"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 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.