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1/6 When Akram Aylisli wrote "Stone Dreams", where he depicts Baku and Sumgayit pogroms against Armenians, he received an incredible amount of backlash from the public. It also cost him his title and pension. The main criticism seemed to be the extensive coverage of attacks
2/6 against Armenians, with no mention of Armenian offences towards Azerbaijanis. Some argue that although this criticism is reasonable, Aylisli could not have written about something he did not witness just to "balance out" the narrative. It was not his intention to begin with.
3/6 Chingiz Guseynov named the novel "Azerbaijani repentance" and said how "Armenian repentance" equivalent by an Armenian author could have been beneficial for both nations. He even argued such tandem could be nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for courage. https://vestikavkaza.ru/interview/CHingiz-Guseynov-o-literaturnom-shedevre-Akrama-Aylisli.html
4/6 Likewise, journalist Albert Akopyan stated that the Armenian intelligentsia must write about the Armenian crimes against Azerbaijanis. "About hundreds of Azerbaijani and Kurdish villages left nameless. About Azerbaijani families leaving Armenia https://echo.msk.ru/blog/kosmopletov_aristarhh/1010386-echo/
5/6 through snow-covered mountains. About Khojaly. About disturbed souls remaining in their houses. Is it not scary, living with this?" Akopyan also mentions his grandfather coming from an Azerbaijani-populated village in Armenia Garabulag, which was later renamed.
6/6 With "Stone Dreams", Aylisli took a big step towards acknowledging crimes against Armenians regardless of context and reasons for these attacks, sacrificing his career in the process. Unfortunately, we have not seen the same step from the Armenian side yet.
