Rustam Ibrahimbekov: They Fight With Me Because I Am For Free Civil Society

The Oscar-winner filmmaker and screenwriter, teacher of the Russian State Cinematography Institute, Rustam Ibrahimbekov gave a lengthy video interview to the Nastoyaschee Vremya (Nowadays) channel, responding to the organizers and participants of the propaganda campaign against him and about the film The Caucasian Trio.

Ibrahimbekov confirmed that the script of the film The Caucasian Trio, shot three years ago, was written on the real history of an Azerbaijani family, in which the stepfather grew the son of his wife, born of the first Armenian husband. The boy became an actor, moved to Moscow, where his real father found him and insisted on changing his name to his native Armenian one. The actor had to return to Baku in order to change his name. What is happening is perceived by the actor's family, in which he grew up, as a betrayal. A feature film has been built around the real story, which did not interest anyone in Azerbaijan for three years.

The TV program"s host compared the propaganda against this movie in Azerbaijan with the year 1937 in the USSR.

Rustam Ibrahimbekov called the Azerbaijani presidential aide Ali Hasanov the organizer of the campaign, which requires others to blame the screenwriter without seeing the movie. "Yielding and surrendering to the authorities, the "cowardly" film critic Salayev was "a friend of Ibrahimbekov, whom he helped," and the second critic, who wanted to move forward, "entered the Russian State Cinematography Institute with the help of Ibrahimbekov." "The struggle with me lasts for several years because I criticize the authorities in Azerbaijan, and I say that for the normal existence of any state there should be civil society in it," Ibrahimbekov explained. He created the Forum of Intelligentsia, which ceased to exist under the pressure of the authorities.

The screenwriter once again clarified his position, which condemns the leadership and nationalist circles of Armenia for fomenting the conflict around Karabakh, which Ibrahimbekov considers Azerbaijan's territory. But what is happening cannot be a reason for the indiscriminate accusation of all Armenians, especially since Azerbaijanis and Armenians get along outside their countries. Ibrahimbekov believes that one should think about the future when the two people will again live in friendship, and not create an image of bloodthirsty Azerbaijanis.

Ibrahimbekov explained his participation in the presidential elections in Azerbaijan as a presidential candidate. He summoned the opposition leaders to speak together in the National Bloc. He succeeded in this and in response to that the opposition leaders put forward a condition of Ibrahimbekov's appearance as a presidential candidate. He had to agree to that so that the politicians did not separate. Ibrahimbekov applied to withdraw from Russian citizenship in order to run for presidency, but the Russian authorities made it clear that the procedure would be very long. Ibrahimbekov suggests that delaying the procedure for renouncing Russian citizenship was the result of a request from Baku. Then Ibrahimbekov proposed Jamil Hasanli as his candidate, and a part of the oppositionists immediately left the National Council. So spoke the screenwriter.

He spoke highly of Jamil Hasanli and his participation in the presidential elections.

Answering the question about the relationship with the family of President Ilham Aliyev, Ibrahimbekov remembered how Heydar Aliyev did not follow those who organized a propaganda campaign against Rustam and Maksud Ibrahimbekov about one famous film. Heydar Aliyev invited them to him and made it clear that he was stopping the sweeping campaign. Years later, Rustam Ibrahimbekov visited Heydar Aliyev in a Moscow clinic when a campaign against the former First Secretary of the Central Committee of Azerbaijan"s Communist Party was launched in Baku. But Ilham Aliyev does not condemn the campaign against Rustam nowadays.

"A lot depends on the authorities. If they feed their energy and strength through conflicts, sometimes initiating them, it is a separate issue. If the government is strong and self-confident enough, it tries to maintain civil consent in the country and skillfully governs the nation... Heydar Aliyev was an outstanding politician... I was one of those who signed a letter to Heydar Aliyev with a request for his return to power. When Ilham Aliyev came I was glad, as a politician with great experience in business and not in politics came... Before 2007-08 we had good relations... But after the press organized a scandal around my statement about Armenians and the situation with rights in the newspaper Izvestia, the relationship deteriorated," Ibrahimbekov explained.

He believes the campaign unleashed against him is required by officials who pretend to be active, but whose activity is useless. Another version of the struggle between official Baku and the playwright is the intention of the authorities to start a fight with the National Council of Opposition Forces.

Rustam Ibrahimbekov expressed admiration for the fact that Nikol Pashinyan came to power in Armenia without blood. He is also satisfied with the quality of the films shot by young filmmakers in Azerbaijan not with the help of the state, but "contrary to" its will.