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U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland and the OSCE Office in Baku condemned the persecution that is carried out against the Azerbaijani writer Ekrem Eylisli, the author of the book “Stone Dreams” which tells the truth about the Armenian massacres.

“We strongly support and believe in respect for freedom of expression. We urge the Azerbaijani Government to uphold its commitments to protect the safety and security of Mr. Eylisli and all of its citizens,” Nuland said at a briefing, the U.S. State Department website reports.

Speaking of the pro-governmental party “Modern Musavat” which threatened to cut Eylisli’s ear, Nuland said that according to her information, the party has now abandoned his intention of cutting his ear, and the police summoned the head of the party for questioning, which is “a right way.”

In its turn, as the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Liberty reported from the OSCE Office in Baku, the letter sent to them by Ekrem Eylisli was telling about the threats of “killings, beating, cutting the ear and burning alive” which he and his family was receiving.

Ekrem Eylisli is national writer (since 1998) 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. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has deprived him of personal pension and the title of National Writer, and accused him of “purposefully distorting the history of Azerbaijan” and “in distorting realities about history of Azerbaijan in an inappropriate way.”