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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on Thursday to deprive Akram Aylisli’s personal pension of the President of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani information agency “Trend” reports.

As Ilham Aliyev’s decree said, the decision was accepted “taking into consideration numerous public appeals”. The decree of Azerbaijani President says that the writer has “deliberately distorted the history of Azerbaijan in his work full of slander.”
By another presidential order Ekrem Eylisli is deprived of the honorary title of the “National Writer.” Eylisli is accused of “abusing the high confidence of the people towards him, distorting the realities connected with the history of Azerbaijan in a way which is inappropriate to Azerbaijani writer.”

Eylisli himself, commenting on the decision of the President of Azerbaijan told the “Turan” news agency saying: “I am ssorry for such decisions that are being taken in the State the Constitution of which guarantees freedom of speech. I have no wish to talk about it anymore.”

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer and Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, holder of the highest order of Azerbaijan “Istiglal” (2002) and the order of “Shokhrat” for his outstanding merits in the literature of Azerbaijan. Recently, on the website of Russian magazine “Friendship of Nations” was published his novel titled “Stone Dreams” in which the author describes the massacres of Armenians in Baku in 1990 and in Nakhichevan in 1919. The author in his novel speaks positively about the Armenian people and their culture.

After the publication of the novel, Eylisli was exposed to severe pressures in Azerbaijan; the pro-governmental youth held rally next his home, his issue was discussed in the parliament of Azerbaijan, MPs suggested to burn his books and to deprive him of citizenship and deport from Azerbaijan. Many people “blamed” Eylisli in his Armenian origin, etc.