Alekper Aliyev, commonly known as Ali Akbar (born in 1978), is an Azerbaijani writer. Alekper attended a public school in Baku but after the eighth grade, he continued his sec- ondary education in Turkey. In 1996, he was admitted to Marmara University and graduated with a degree in journalism in 2000. He continued to work in Turkey as the head of the communications department and translator at the Kaknus publishing house. Alekper’s works mainly deal with the taboos in Azerbaijani society. He has written seven novels to this day and is also the editor-in-chief of the Kultura.az website.
In 2009, Akbar published a book entitled Artush and Zaur, a homosexual love tale between an Armenian and an Azerbaijani who felt apart after Nagorno-Karabakh War. The book became highly controversial and was banned in bookstores in both Armenia and Azerbaijan which for the past two decades have been bitter rivals due to the ongoing ethnic conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and where homosexuality is still highly stigmatised.

ARTUSH AND ZAUR (Excerpt from the novel)

Vyacheslav Sapunov raised his hand and told about his trip to Armenia three years ago, about pork kabab he ate in a sanatorium on the bank of Sevan. His words infuriated Azer- baijani pupils. At the mention of pork, Mirsaleh from a sayyid family felt unwell and Samed Faigovich let him go to the loo and throw up. At that, the Azerbaijan-Armenian confronta- tion came to the end, because the bell rang.

Samed Faigovich gave a deep sigh and walked out of the classroom slowly. Pupils followed him. It was the midday break and everyone was doing their own business. Some of the guys were smoking in secluded corners, others chased after girls, treated them to cocoa and sandwiches in the school cafeteria, excellent pupils recited poems dedicated to girls. Zaur pushed Artush into biology room and latched the door.

He, who had always been the most handsome man on earth to Zaur, was now purple with fury and shame. Artush’s lips were trembling, he was on the point of crying.
‘You must be strong, Artush,’ Zaur said. ‘Don’t pay attention to them. You’ll see, everything’s going to be fine and even better than before.’

‘No need to comfort me, Zaur. Nothing’s going to be fine. Dad explained it all to us yesterday. The Armenians started a real attack. Blood has already been shed in Karabakh and Armenia. They hide it from us. Moscow hides everything.’

Translated into English by Esmir Serov