In Azerbaijan, customs officers stop oppositionist's books about Stalin's policy

Customs officers in Azerbaijan have not let the parcel with several copies of a monograph on the role of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet-Turkish relations into the country. This is reported by Professor Jamil Hasanli, an author of the book, who heads the oppositional National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF).

Jamil Hasanli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he ordered from the United States several copies of his monograph "Stalin and the Turkish Crisis during the Cold War of 1945-1953", published by Harvard University.

"I ran out of copies, and I asked the publisher to send me four copies. Today, I have got a message from the UPS office reporting that the books were 'detained' at the cargo terminal of the Baku airport. In the very morning, I came to the airport and asked to explain the situation. I was told that the content of the book will be 'examined' and after that they would decide whether to let the books in or not," the historian reported on June 7.

The Professor has noted that the book is purely scientific in nature and is not related to modern reality. "It's not clear who of customs officers will study the 500-page book in English and whether he or she will be able to give a competent conclusion. And in general, why should they examine the book which had been already imported to Azerbaijan earlier, sold by book stores and is stored in the main libraries of the country?" said Jamil Hasanli.

The historian treats the actions of the customs officers as "illegal use of censorship."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.