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Daily Star, Lebanon
Sept 3 2012
Budapest summons Baku envoy over pardon of Armenian's killer
September 03, 2012 01:18 AM
YEREVAN/WASHINGTON/BUDAPEST: Hungary summoned the ambassador to
Azerbaijan Sunday to protest at Baku's decision to pardon a soldier
found guilty of murdering an Armenian soldier and extradited last week
by Budapest.
`Hungary finds it unacceptable and condemns the pardoning of Ramil
Safarov,' Foreign Ministry state secretary Zsolt Nemeth told
Ambassador Vilayat Guliyev, the national news agency MTI reported.
Safarov, an Azerbaijani lieutenant, was sentenced to life in prison by
a Hungarian court in 2004 for hacking Armenian officer Gurgen
Margarian to death at a military academy in Budapest where the two
were attending NATO-organized English-language courses.
The rapid weekend developments have enraged Armenia's President Serzh
Sarksyan who said that Hungarian authorities have made a `grave
mistake,' despite previous assurances that the sentenced soldier would
serve his complete sentence.
In Yerevan, hundreds of Armenians protested in front of the Hungary's
consulate Saturday and burned Hungarian flags.
In a surprise move last week, Hungary agreed to return Safarov to
Azerbaijan, where he arrived Friday, following assurances it received
from Azeri authorities that he would serve out his sentence.
The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama was `deeply
concerned' over Azerbaijan's move.
`President Obama is deeply concerned by today's announcement that the
president of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his
return from Hungary,' said National Security Council spokesman Tommy
Vietor Friday.
State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the United States was
`extremely troubled' by the news.
`We condemn any action that fuels regional tensions,' he added, noting
that Washington was expressing its `deep concern' to Baku and seeking
an explanation from Budapest regarding its decision.
Within hours of the announcement of Safarov's release in Azerbaijan,
Sarksyan called an emergency meeting of his Security Council.
`I officially announce that as of today we cease all diplomatic
relations and all ties with Hungary,' Sarksyan said in a press release
distributed by his administration.
In a meeting with heads of diplomatic missions in Yerevan, Sarksyan
said that the extradition of Safarov and his pardoning provide
impunity to all criminals who murder based on ethnic or religious
hatred.
`With this decision they convey a clear message to the butchers.'
`The slaughterers hereafter are well aware of impunity they can enjoy
for the murder driven by ethnic or religious hatred,' he added.
Safarov's lawyers claimed in court that he was traumatized because
some of his relatives were killed during war with Armenian forces, and
alleged that Margarian had insulted his country.
Armenia's Foreign Affairs Ministry criticized Hungary's extradition of
Safarov over the weekend, saying that the government in Budapest
should have foreseen the implications of its decision to transfer
Safarov that effectively resulted in the termination of serving his
sentence for a murder.
`The government of Hungary, at different levels, including the
highest, has consistently and up until the last moment assured the
government of Armenia that it will not take any steps whatsoever,
which would result in the termination of serving justice by the
perpetrator of a heinous murder and explicitly excluded any option for
the execution of the transfer,' the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the war between ethnic
Azeris and Armenians which erupted in 1991 over the mainly Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
A cease-fire was signed in 1994 but relations remain tense.
Cross-border clashes this year have prompted worries of a resumption
of fighting in a region crisscrossed by energy pipelines to Europe.
Following the pardoning of Safarov in Baku, troops on both sides of
the border have gone on high-alert.
Hungary has been developing economic ties with energy-rich Azerbaijan
and gave backing to the Nabucco pipeline project seen as the main
route for Azeri gas exports to Europe.
Hungarian media reported that Azerbaijan could lend Hungary 2-3
billion euros ($2.5-3.8 billion).
Oil-producing Azerbaijan, which is host to oil majors including BP,
Chevron and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain
enclave back by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
Nagorno-Karabakh has run its own affairs with the heavy military and
financial backing of Armenia since the war, when Armenian-backed
forces seized control of the enclave and seven surrounding Azeri
districts.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the region by force if peace
talks do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed massive
retaliation against any military action.
Russia, France and the United States have led years of mediation
efforts under the auspices of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe.
Baku and Yerevan failed to agree at talks in June last year and the
angry rhetoric between them has worsened since then.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2012/Sep-03/186502-budapest-summons-baku-envoy-over-pardon-of-armenians-killer.ashx#axzz25MPGYoq1
Sept 3 2012
Budapest summons Baku envoy over pardon of Armenian's killer
September 03, 2012 01:18 AM
YEREVAN/WASHINGTON/BUDAPEST: Hungary summoned the ambassador to
Azerbaijan Sunday to protest at Baku's decision to pardon a soldier
found guilty of murdering an Armenian soldier and extradited last week
by Budapest.
`Hungary finds it unacceptable and condemns the pardoning of Ramil
Safarov,' Foreign Ministry state secretary Zsolt Nemeth told
Ambassador Vilayat Guliyev, the national news agency MTI reported.
Safarov, an Azerbaijani lieutenant, was sentenced to life in prison by
a Hungarian court in 2004 for hacking Armenian officer Gurgen
Margarian to death at a military academy in Budapest where the two
were attending NATO-organized English-language courses.
The rapid weekend developments have enraged Armenia's President Serzh
Sarksyan who said that Hungarian authorities have made a `grave
mistake,' despite previous assurances that the sentenced soldier would
serve his complete sentence.
In Yerevan, hundreds of Armenians protested in front of the Hungary's
consulate Saturday and burned Hungarian flags.
In a surprise move last week, Hungary agreed to return Safarov to
Azerbaijan, where he arrived Friday, following assurances it received
from Azeri authorities that he would serve out his sentence.
The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama was `deeply
concerned' over Azerbaijan's move.
`President Obama is deeply concerned by today's announcement that the
president of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his
return from Hungary,' said National Security Council spokesman Tommy
Vietor Friday.
State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the United States was
`extremely troubled' by the news.
`We condemn any action that fuels regional tensions,' he added, noting
that Washington was expressing its `deep concern' to Baku and seeking
an explanation from Budapest regarding its decision.
Within hours of the announcement of Safarov's release in Azerbaijan,
Sarksyan called an emergency meeting of his Security Council.
`I officially announce that as of today we cease all diplomatic
relations and all ties with Hungary,' Sarksyan said in a press release
distributed by his administration.
In a meeting with heads of diplomatic missions in Yerevan, Sarksyan
said that the extradition of Safarov and his pardoning provide
impunity to all criminals who murder based on ethnic or religious
hatred.
`With this decision they convey a clear message to the butchers.'
`The slaughterers hereafter are well aware of impunity they can enjoy
for the murder driven by ethnic or religious hatred,' he added.
Safarov's lawyers claimed in court that he was traumatized because
some of his relatives were killed during war with Armenian forces, and
alleged that Margarian had insulted his country.
Armenia's Foreign Affairs Ministry criticized Hungary's extradition of
Safarov over the weekend, saying that the government in Budapest
should have foreseen the implications of its decision to transfer
Safarov that effectively resulted in the termination of serving his
sentence for a murder.
`The government of Hungary, at different levels, including the
highest, has consistently and up until the last moment assured the
government of Armenia that it will not take any steps whatsoever,
which would result in the termination of serving justice by the
perpetrator of a heinous murder and explicitly excluded any option for
the execution of the transfer,' the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the war between ethnic
Azeris and Armenians which erupted in 1991 over the mainly Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
A cease-fire was signed in 1994 but relations remain tense.
Cross-border clashes this year have prompted worries of a resumption
of fighting in a region crisscrossed by energy pipelines to Europe.
Following the pardoning of Safarov in Baku, troops on both sides of
the border have gone on high-alert.
Hungary has been developing economic ties with energy-rich Azerbaijan
and gave backing to the Nabucco pipeline project seen as the main
route for Azeri gas exports to Europe.
Hungarian media reported that Azerbaijan could lend Hungary 2-3
billion euros ($2.5-3.8 billion).
Oil-producing Azerbaijan, which is host to oil majors including BP,
Chevron and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take the mountain
enclave back by force, and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
Nagorno-Karabakh has run its own affairs with the heavy military and
financial backing of Armenia since the war, when Armenian-backed
forces seized control of the enclave and seven surrounding Azeri
districts.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the region by force if peace
talks do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed massive
retaliation against any military action.
Russia, France and the United States have led years of mediation
efforts under the auspices of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe.
Baku and Yerevan failed to agree at talks in June last year and the
angry rhetoric between them has worsened since then.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2012/Sep-03/186502-budapest-summons-baku-envoy-over-pardon-of-armenians-killer.ashx#axzz25MPGYoq1