BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A respected Azerbaijani author has been stripped of his pension and national honors for “insulting the dignity” of his country with a novel that describes Azerbaijanis attacking Armenians.

Akram Aylisli’s “Stone Dreams,” set during the wake of a bitter war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, drew protests after its publication for its sympathetic depiction of Armenians. The Azerbaijani government has long laid all the blame for the war on Armenia.