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SAFAROV PARDON REVIVES CALL FOR RECOGNITION: HERITAGE RESTATES THAT NKR SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED BY ARMENIA; KOCHARYAN SAYS RECOGNITION WOULD BE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE FROM HUNGARY
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
04.09.12
Former president Robert Kocharyan calls Safarov case a good chance
for Hungary to recognize NKR.
Armenian politicians believe that the recent extradition and pardon
of Azeri soldier Ramil Safarov, who had brutally murdered an Armenian
soldier in Budapest, has offered a good reason to once again raise
the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's international recognition.
Enlarge Photo
The press service of Heritage party's parliamentary faction reports
that on Tuesday faction secretary Zaruhi Postanjyan submitted to the
parliament a draft law on Nagorno Karabakh's recognition, which, if
adopted, would officially recognize the NKR's factual status, basing
it on the fact that it meets all the international law requirements
for a sovereign state.
The same day (September 4), Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan
made a statement on Safarov's extradition, saying that "if Hungary's
official response makes it clear that Azerbaijan, indeed, reneged its
vow and deceived Budapest, and that there was no criminal alliance,
then the most appropriate countermeasure on Hungary's part might be
the NKR's recognition".
According to Kocharyan, there is so much hatred against Armenians
in Azerbaijan that they have forgotten all about moral limits, so
the order pardoning a murderer is the best proof of the validity of
Karabakh people's arguments demanding independence.
Armenia's foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, too, has made a
statement that despite the drawback Safarov's extradition and pardon
have had on the negotiation process of the Karabakh issue, official
Yerevan has no intention of suspending the talks, and, in general,
it is Azerbaijan that often takes steps or makes statements aimed at
hampering the negotiations.
"The international community cannot tolerate Azerbaijan's continuing
its adventurous policy under the guise of negotiations, which would
be a serious threat to regional peace and security and is fraught
with serious dangers to international security and stability,"
said Nalbandyan.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers in Armenia blame diplomats themselves for
allowing the situation.
At a press conference on Tuesday secretary of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) parliamentary faction Aghvan
Vardanyan praised the actions of President Serzh Sargsyan in the wake
of Safarov's extradition and subsequent pardoning as determined and
based on principle, but he also said they were "clearly belated".
"Now our foreign policy department is trying to justify itself,
saying that they had raised the alarm and got assurances that there
was no such problem, but in fact they did not work particularly
well or were not strong enough to be reckoned with. After all, those
concerns could have been raised publicly, and at that time, I think,
the government of Hungary would have acted with caution," he said.
Stepan Safaryan, of the Heritage party, described the situation with
Safarov's extradition and his pardon by President Ilham Aliyev as
a serious omission of Armenian diplomacy and accused the Foreign
Ministry of inaction.
"While Hungary's Armenian community was raising the concern, our
entire political elite were on a vacation," he charged.
As the brewing controversy attracts international attention, the
Associated Press reports that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov spoke by telephone with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
William Burns on Monday, during which the Azeri minister said that
the pardoning of Safarov was justified on the bases of Armenia's
conflict with Karabakh.
Citing Mammadyarov's press secretary, the report said the minister:
"underlined that the question of Ramil Safarov must not be looked at
outside the context of the fact of the occupation, because it is a
consequence of this Armenian aggression."
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
04.09.12
Former president Robert Kocharyan calls Safarov case a good chance
for Hungary to recognize NKR.
Armenian politicians believe that the recent extradition and pardon
of Azeri soldier Ramil Safarov, who had brutally murdered an Armenian
soldier in Budapest, has offered a good reason to once again raise
the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's international recognition.
Enlarge Photo
The press service of Heritage party's parliamentary faction reports
that on Tuesday faction secretary Zaruhi Postanjyan submitted to the
parliament a draft law on Nagorno Karabakh's recognition, which, if
adopted, would officially recognize the NKR's factual status, basing
it on the fact that it meets all the international law requirements
for a sovereign state.
The same day (September 4), Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan
made a statement on Safarov's extradition, saying that "if Hungary's
official response makes it clear that Azerbaijan, indeed, reneged its
vow and deceived Budapest, and that there was no criminal alliance,
then the most appropriate countermeasure on Hungary's part might be
the NKR's recognition".
According to Kocharyan, there is so much hatred against Armenians
in Azerbaijan that they have forgotten all about moral limits, so
the order pardoning a murderer is the best proof of the validity of
Karabakh people's arguments demanding independence.
Armenia's foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, too, has made a
statement that despite the drawback Safarov's extradition and pardon
have had on the negotiation process of the Karabakh issue, official
Yerevan has no intention of suspending the talks, and, in general,
it is Azerbaijan that often takes steps or makes statements aimed at
hampering the negotiations.
"The international community cannot tolerate Azerbaijan's continuing
its adventurous policy under the guise of negotiations, which would
be a serious threat to regional peace and security and is fraught
with serious dangers to international security and stability,"
said Nalbandyan.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers in Armenia blame diplomats themselves for
allowing the situation.
At a press conference on Tuesday secretary of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) parliamentary faction Aghvan
Vardanyan praised the actions of President Serzh Sargsyan in the wake
of Safarov's extradition and subsequent pardoning as determined and
based on principle, but he also said they were "clearly belated".
"Now our foreign policy department is trying to justify itself,
saying that they had raised the alarm and got assurances that there
was no such problem, but in fact they did not work particularly
well or were not strong enough to be reckoned with. After all, those
concerns could have been raised publicly, and at that time, I think,
the government of Hungary would have acted with caution," he said.
Stepan Safaryan, of the Heritage party, described the situation with
Safarov's extradition and his pardon by President Ilham Aliyev as
a serious omission of Armenian diplomacy and accused the Foreign
Ministry of inaction.
"While Hungary's Armenian community was raising the concern, our
entire political elite were on a vacation," he charged.
As the brewing controversy attracts international attention, the
Associated Press reports that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov spoke by telephone with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
William Burns on Monday, during which the Azeri minister said that
the pardoning of Safarov was justified on the bases of Armenia's
conflict with Karabakh.
Citing Mammadyarov's press secretary, the report said the minister:
"underlined that the question of Ramil Safarov must not be looked at
outside the context of the fact of the occupation, because it is a
consequence of this Armenian aggression."