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ENVOY SEES AXE-KILLER'S PARDON AS SEVERE BLOW TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS
FARS News Agency
September 3, 2012 Monday
Iran
TEHRAN (FNA)- Armenian's Ambassador to Iran Grigor Arakelian condemned
Baku for pardoning an Azeri officer who axed an Armenian officer to
death years ago, and warned that the move undermines the process of
talks between the two neighboring countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev last week immediately pardoned
Ramil Safarov after he was extradited from Hungary, where he had been
serving a life sentence for the 2004 killing.
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.
Speaking to FNA on Monday, the Armenian envoy to Tehran pointed to
the ongoing talks between Yerevan and Baku over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region, and said, "This move by the government of Azerbaijan shows
that they are not interested in the continuation of the negotiations
and are demonstrating their intolerance towards a nation and its
rights to exist."
"The Azeri government's action to pardon the killer and make him
a hero is a step towards undermining the negotiation process," the
Armenian envoy underscored.
In similar remarks on Sunday, Armenia warned Baku that it was ready
for war.
"We don't want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and win. We
are not afraid of killers, even if they enjoy the protection of the
head of state," Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said in a statement
late on Sunday.
FARS News Agency
September 3, 2012 Monday
Iran
TEHRAN (FNA)- Armenian's Ambassador to Iran Grigor Arakelian condemned
Baku for pardoning an Azeri officer who axed an Armenian officer to
death years ago, and warned that the move undermines the process of
talks between the two neighboring countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev last week immediately pardoned
Ramil Safarov after he was extradited from Hungary, where he had been
serving a life sentence for the 2004 killing.
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.
Speaking to FNA on Monday, the Armenian envoy to Tehran pointed to
the ongoing talks between Yerevan and Baku over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region, and said, "This move by the government of Azerbaijan shows
that they are not interested in the continuation of the negotiations
and are demonstrating their intolerance towards a nation and its
rights to exist."
"The Azeri government's action to pardon the killer and make him
a hero is a step towards undermining the negotiation process," the
Armenian envoy underscored.
In similar remarks on Sunday, Armenia warned Baku that it was ready
for war.
"We don't want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and win. We
are not afraid of killers, even if they enjoy the protection of the
head of state," Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said in a statement
late on Sunday.