Russian PEN-Center opposes the harassment of the writer Akram Aylisli

An international organization  protecting the rights of writers, the Russian PEN-Centre, published an open letter to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to stop the persecution of the disgraced writer Akram Aylisli, reports the BBC.

The authors of the letter believe that, "thoughts and opinions expressed in his novel requiem" Stone Dreams" cannot be used as a pretext to persecute the writer."

The Executive Committee of the Russian PEN-Centre notes that "literary and ethical issues must be addressed in a legal and literary field, and not by administrative methods, such as depriving the writer of awards and titles, etc."

Letters in support of the Azerbaijani writer and chief editor of the magazine "Friendship of Peoples", Alexander Ebanoidze, and the writers Boris Akunin and Andrey Bitov were also published.

 On February 7 Aliyev signed an order to deprive Akram Aylisli  of the title "People's Writer."  A seventy-five-year-old writer was also deprived of his state pension.

 The novel "Stone Dreams", describes attacks on Armenians in Baku in December 1989, has caused a wide resonance in Azerbaijan. The writer is accused of bias in the presentation of historical facts. Recently there have been calls for violence against Aylisli. -0-