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AX MURDERER'S PARDON STIRS FEARS OF WAR
CNN News
Sept 5 2012
By Joe Sterling, CNN
September 5, 2012 -- Updated 2216 GMT (0616 HKT)
(CNN) -- An ax murder. Then, jail time. Sounds like a morbid crime
story.
Yet this tale has taken a sudden and unexpected twist: The killer
got a pardon and a hero's welcome.
That has stirred fears of a war.
The parole has exacerbated long-standing tensions over disputed land
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, former Soviet republics that are
nestled in the Caucasus region near Turkey, Iran and Russia.
The nations fought a war two decades ago over the region of
Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azerbaijani territories. Much of
the area is now occupied by Armenia.
A return to warfare could suck in world powers, analysts warned
Wednesday. Thomas de Waal, an expert on the Caucasus with the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, told CNN world energy markets would
be disrupted in a conflict since an oil and a gas pipeline carrying
Caspian oil curves around the conflict zone in Azerbaijan.
The ax killing happened in 2004 at a NATO center in Hungary, where
troops from Armenia and Azerbaijan were getting training. Ramil
Safarov, a soldier from Azerbaijan, killed Armenian officer Gurgen
Margarian. Both men were studying English.
Safarov was sentenced to life in prison in Hungary, but that country
recently extradited him to Azerbaijan with the understanding that he
would serve at least 25 years of the sentence.
Not long after Safarov arrived in Azerbaijan, though, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him.
Armenians recoiled at what happened next: The killer got an apartment
and a promotion.
"Mr. Safarov has been glorified in Azerbaijan as a national hero at
all levels -- including the top level," said Zohrab Mnatsakanian,
Armenia's deputy minister of Foreign Affairs. "This is a blow to the
conscience of Europe, to the civilized world."
Azerbaijan's Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Twitter that the "issue
must be considered in the context of aggression and ethnic cleansing
against Azerbaijan by Armenia."
The United States, meanwhile, was among those nations objecting to
the pardon. It expressed "deep concern" and asked Hungary for more
information on why it extradited Safarov.
"We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment
about the decision to pardon Safarov," a spokesman for the National
Security Council, Tommy Vietor, said in a statement the White House
released. "This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce
regional tensions and promote reconciliation."
Sabine Freizer, director of the International Crisis Group's Europe
program, said world powers have taken note.
"There is an awareness among government officials, both in the United
States, Russia, and among European officials, that this conflict
is getting worse. There should be something done to stop it,"
Freizer said.
"This takes us a whole step downward," said the Carnegie Endowment's
de Waal.
The tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh reflect strong cultural attachments
for both peoples, what Sergey Markedonov, visiting fellow of the Russia
and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, likens to a "Jerusalem for both societies."
Animosities over the disputed territory have simmered since the end
of World War I. The Soviet Union's collapse in the 1990s triggered a
war from 1992 to 1994 that killed 22,000 to 25,000 people and uprooted
more than a million others.
The war ended "with a shaky truce," the International Crisis Group
said.
The disputes between the countries over Nagorno-Karabakh and other
territories remain an "unresolved conflict of the Soviet period,"
Freizer said. Amid the creation of newly independent countries after
the Soviet collapse, she said, "no one was focused on the conflict."
"The kind of support for Yugoslavia," whose breakup led to major wars
in Bosnia and Kosovo, was "never given to this region."
Over the years, violence has flared. Both countries occasionally talk
tough about each other. And Azerbaijan's oil and gas wealth is making
its way into the budget for a military preparing for war, Freizer said.
"Since 2011, we feel the situation has gotten worse," Freizer said.
The killer's pardon prompted a certain outrage factor, she said.
"People were shocked by this."
Hungary defended its extradition and said it received assurances
the killer would carry out his term. But the country criticized the
"sudden and unexpected release" and called it "unacceptable." Armenia
suspended its relations with Hungary.
The disputes are unfolding in a tough neighborhood.
Turkey has been mired down in fighting with Kurdish rebels. Russia
fought a brief war with Georgia four years ago and has battled Islamic
insurgents in its northern Caucasus region in recent years. Iran
supports Syria's government in its civil war.
"Russia is a military ally of Armenia. Azerbaijan has strong military
links with Turkey and they (Armenia and Azerbaijan) are both on the
border with Iran," de Waal said.
Also, he said, the Armenian-American community "will beat the drum"
and push for U.S. action.
Markedonov said a deteriorating conflict could spawn an arms race.
The incident reflects a lack of willingness among many citizens to
compromise and get back to peacemaking, Markedonov said. This could
play into upcoming elections, with both Aliyev and Armenian president
Serzh Sargsyan seeking to look strong for the voters.
De Waal also wrote in a column that the BBC published Tuesday that
Hungary negotiated the extradition "for reasons that have yet to be
fully explained."
He called the events a "black week" for a peaceful resolution to the
conflict and said it's "now a full-blown state-to-state row, with
as yet knowable consequences." He cites worries that "a fanatical
Armenian will try to commit a revenge attack."
"From the political perspective, to call the Azerbaijani government's
actions a mistake is an understatement. It is a worrying indication
of the quality of advice that President Ilham Aliyev is receiving
from his inner circle."
De Waal said diplomats must work harder now. When there is no peace
process, he told CNN, "the vacuum is filled by war talk."
"If there is any silver lining to this dark episode it could be that
the international community pays more attention to the dangers of
a new Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh," de Waal
wrote in his column.
"The reception given Safarov suggests that the situation is moving
closer to war than peace."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/05/world/asia/caucasus-ax-murderer-tension/index.html?eref=edition
CNN News
Sept 5 2012
By Joe Sterling, CNN
September 5, 2012 -- Updated 2216 GMT (0616 HKT)
(CNN) -- An ax murder. Then, jail time. Sounds like a morbid crime
story.
Yet this tale has taken a sudden and unexpected twist: The killer
got a pardon and a hero's welcome.
That has stirred fears of a war.
The parole has exacerbated long-standing tensions over disputed land
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, former Soviet republics that are
nestled in the Caucasus region near Turkey, Iran and Russia.
The nations fought a war two decades ago over the region of
Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azerbaijani territories. Much of
the area is now occupied by Armenia.
A return to warfare could suck in world powers, analysts warned
Wednesday. Thomas de Waal, an expert on the Caucasus with the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, told CNN world energy markets would
be disrupted in a conflict since an oil and a gas pipeline carrying
Caspian oil curves around the conflict zone in Azerbaijan.
The ax killing happened in 2004 at a NATO center in Hungary, where
troops from Armenia and Azerbaijan were getting training. Ramil
Safarov, a soldier from Azerbaijan, killed Armenian officer Gurgen
Margarian. Both men were studying English.
Safarov was sentenced to life in prison in Hungary, but that country
recently extradited him to Azerbaijan with the understanding that he
would serve at least 25 years of the sentence.
Not long after Safarov arrived in Azerbaijan, though, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him.
Armenians recoiled at what happened next: The killer got an apartment
and a promotion.
"Mr. Safarov has been glorified in Azerbaijan as a national hero at
all levels -- including the top level," said Zohrab Mnatsakanian,
Armenia's deputy minister of Foreign Affairs. "This is a blow to the
conscience of Europe, to the civilized world."
Azerbaijan's Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Twitter that the "issue
must be considered in the context of aggression and ethnic cleansing
against Azerbaijan by Armenia."
The United States, meanwhile, was among those nations objecting to
the pardon. It expressed "deep concern" and asked Hungary for more
information on why it extradited Safarov.
"We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment
about the decision to pardon Safarov," a spokesman for the National
Security Council, Tommy Vietor, said in a statement the White House
released. "This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce
regional tensions and promote reconciliation."
Sabine Freizer, director of the International Crisis Group's Europe
program, said world powers have taken note.
"There is an awareness among government officials, both in the United
States, Russia, and among European officials, that this conflict
is getting worse. There should be something done to stop it,"
Freizer said.
"This takes us a whole step downward," said the Carnegie Endowment's
de Waal.
The tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh reflect strong cultural attachments
for both peoples, what Sergey Markedonov, visiting fellow of the Russia
and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, likens to a "Jerusalem for both societies."
Animosities over the disputed territory have simmered since the end
of World War I. The Soviet Union's collapse in the 1990s triggered a
war from 1992 to 1994 that killed 22,000 to 25,000 people and uprooted
more than a million others.
The war ended "with a shaky truce," the International Crisis Group
said.
The disputes between the countries over Nagorno-Karabakh and other
territories remain an "unresolved conflict of the Soviet period,"
Freizer said. Amid the creation of newly independent countries after
the Soviet collapse, she said, "no one was focused on the conflict."
"The kind of support for Yugoslavia," whose breakup led to major wars
in Bosnia and Kosovo, was "never given to this region."
Over the years, violence has flared. Both countries occasionally talk
tough about each other. And Azerbaijan's oil and gas wealth is making
its way into the budget for a military preparing for war, Freizer said.
"Since 2011, we feel the situation has gotten worse," Freizer said.
The killer's pardon prompted a certain outrage factor, she said.
"People were shocked by this."
Hungary defended its extradition and said it received assurances
the killer would carry out his term. But the country criticized the
"sudden and unexpected release" and called it "unacceptable." Armenia
suspended its relations with Hungary.
The disputes are unfolding in a tough neighborhood.
Turkey has been mired down in fighting with Kurdish rebels. Russia
fought a brief war with Georgia four years ago and has battled Islamic
insurgents in its northern Caucasus region in recent years. Iran
supports Syria's government in its civil war.
"Russia is a military ally of Armenia. Azerbaijan has strong military
links with Turkey and they (Armenia and Azerbaijan) are both on the
border with Iran," de Waal said.
Also, he said, the Armenian-American community "will beat the drum"
and push for U.S. action.
Markedonov said a deteriorating conflict could spawn an arms race.
The incident reflects a lack of willingness among many citizens to
compromise and get back to peacemaking, Markedonov said. This could
play into upcoming elections, with both Aliyev and Armenian president
Serzh Sargsyan seeking to look strong for the voters.
De Waal also wrote in a column that the BBC published Tuesday that
Hungary negotiated the extradition "for reasons that have yet to be
fully explained."
He called the events a "black week" for a peaceful resolution to the
conflict and said it's "now a full-blown state-to-state row, with
as yet knowable consequences." He cites worries that "a fanatical
Armenian will try to commit a revenge attack."
"From the political perspective, to call the Azerbaijani government's
actions a mistake is an understatement. It is a worrying indication
of the quality of advice that President Ilham Aliyev is receiving
from his inner circle."
De Waal said diplomats must work harder now. When there is no peace
process, he told CNN, "the vacuum is filled by war talk."
"If there is any silver lining to this dark episode it could be that
the international community pays more attention to the dangers of
a new Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh," de Waal
wrote in his column.
"The reception given Safarov suggests that the situation is moving
closer to war than peace."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/05/world/asia/caucasus-ax-murderer-tension/index.html?eref=edition