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AZERBAIJAN REJECTS US CRITICISM OVER AXE-KILLER PARDON
Agence France Presse
September 4, 2012 Tuesday 11:57 AM GMT
Azerbaijan on Tuesday brushed aside US criticism after it pardoned
a soldier who axed an Armenian officer to death in a decision which
sparked a soaring of tensions between the ex-Soviet enemies.
In a telephone conversation with a senior official from the US State
Department, which had said it was "extremely troubled" by the pardon,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov appeared to blame
Armenia for the murder.
Mammadyarov told US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns that the
case was "directly related" to the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh in the 1990s.
He said that it must be "taken into account" that pardoned killer
Ramil Safarov was a refugee from Karabakh.
"Ramil Safarov and his family, like a million other Azerbaijanis,
are forced refugees and as a result of ethnic cleansing, they were
expelled from their homes. First of all, this must be taken into
account," Mammadyarov said in comments released by his press service.
"Indeed, the efforts must be focused on rapid withdrawal of (Armenian)
occupation forces from Karabakh," he said.
Azerbaijan last week pardoned Safarov after he was extradited from
Hungary, where he had been serving a life sentence for the killing
the Armenian in Budapest in 2004.
Safarov was also promoted to the rank of major, given a house and eight
years' worth of back-pay after returning home to a hero's welcome,
in defiance of assurances from Baku to Budapest that he would serve
out his term in Azerbaijan.
The US, EU and Russia all expressed concerns that the move would
escalate tensions.
"We condemn any action that fuels regional tensions," the US State
Department said last week.
Armenia on Tuesday said that the incident had damaged the peace
process over Karabakh, where no final deal has been signed since the
1994 ceasefire and gunfights still claim lives on the frontline.
"The international community must not allow Azerbaijan to continue
its adventurist policy which threatens not only regional but also
international security and stability," Armenian Foreign Minister
Eduard Nalbandian told a news conference.
However Nalbandian said that Armenia would not break off negotiations.
Agence France Presse
September 4, 2012 Tuesday 11:57 AM GMT
Azerbaijan on Tuesday brushed aside US criticism after it pardoned
a soldier who axed an Armenian officer to death in a decision which
sparked a soaring of tensions between the ex-Soviet enemies.
In a telephone conversation with a senior official from the US State
Department, which had said it was "extremely troubled" by the pardon,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov appeared to blame
Armenia for the murder.
Mammadyarov told US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns that the
case was "directly related" to the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh in the 1990s.
He said that it must be "taken into account" that pardoned killer
Ramil Safarov was a refugee from Karabakh.
"Ramil Safarov and his family, like a million other Azerbaijanis,
are forced refugees and as a result of ethnic cleansing, they were
expelled from their homes. First of all, this must be taken into
account," Mammadyarov said in comments released by his press service.
"Indeed, the efforts must be focused on rapid withdrawal of (Armenian)
occupation forces from Karabakh," he said.
Azerbaijan last week pardoned Safarov after he was extradited from
Hungary, where he had been serving a life sentence for the killing
the Armenian in Budapest in 2004.
Safarov was also promoted to the rank of major, given a house and eight
years' worth of back-pay after returning home to a hero's welcome,
in defiance of assurances from Baku to Budapest that he would serve
out his term in Azerbaijan.
The US, EU and Russia all expressed concerns that the move would
escalate tensions.
"We condemn any action that fuels regional tensions," the US State
Department said last week.
Armenia on Tuesday said that the incident had damaged the peace
process over Karabakh, where no final deal has been signed since the
1994 ceasefire and gunfights still claim lives on the frontline.
"The international community must not allow Azerbaijan to continue
its adventurist policy which threatens not only regional but also
international security and stability," Armenian Foreign Minister
Eduard Nalbandian told a news conference.
However Nalbandian said that Armenia would not break off negotiations.