“Some facts have been distorted in the “Stone Dreams” by Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli,” says historian Argam Ayvazyan, author of a number of works on Armenian monuments of Nakhijevan. According to him, five Armenian translations of the book have been published since 2013, but none has an analytical preface or necessary footnotes.
The book was released in Spanish on May 6 with Argam Ayvazyan’s preface included. The author points to the distortions he found in the book.
The book “Stone Dreams,” in which Aylisli speaks about Armenians with great warmth, refers to the events of 1990 in Baku and the 1919 barbarities against the Armenian population of Verin (Upper) Agulis, found a wide resonance in Armenia.
Aylisli pictures Azerbaijanis that left Armenia as the main perpetrators of the massacre, presenting their actions as a demonstration of revenge, while the atrocities of 1919 are ascribed to Ottoman Turks. Argam Ayvazyan says “Aylisli distorts the facts in both cases. There are proofs that the Armenians pogroms in Baku and Sumgait were organized by the local authorities and representatives of the Azerbaijani population. This was also the case with the 1905, 1918-1919 atrocities in Baku, Shushi and the cities of Nakhijevan, as well as the Armenian-Tatar confrontations and massacres.”
According to the historian, there are a number of mistakes related to historic facts, names of settlements and monuments. “Aylisli says Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet in Agulis, which is an obvious distortion of facts. “The author’s wish to restore friendship between the Armenian and Azerbaijani nations is a frank step, but it’s also necessary to present the history and historic facts exactly,” Ayvazyan said.