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FM CALLS FOR CALM AHEAD OF ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PROTESTS PLANNED IN LITHUANIA
Baltic News Service / - BNS
September 6, 2012 Thursday 6:58 AM EET
VILNIUS, Sep 06, BNS - Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has
called for calm amid plans by representatives of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani communities to hold protests in Lithuania on Thursday.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania is aware of the fact
that representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in
Lithuania are organizing pickets today. We hope that participants
of these pickets will present their positions in a moderate manner
and restrain from harsh rhetoric, will respect national symbols and
not instigate discord between the nations that have been peacefully
cohabitating in Lithuania for centuries," the ministry said in
a statement.
Already tense Armenian-Azerbaijani relations have recently worsened
after Azerbaijan pardoned and promoted its military officer Ramil
Safarov who had killed an Armenian military officer with an axe.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the concern raised by the
EU regarding the situation, which had resulted from actions taken by
the government of Azerbaijan in relation to Ramil Safarov and called
on the countries to find a way to defuse the tension and renew the
dialogue based on the generally recognized norms of international law.
We sincerely hope that Lithuanian citizens of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani background will contribute to these efforts," the
Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
On August 31, Hungary handed over to Baku Safarov who had been
sentenced to life imprisonment in Budapest without the right to
be pardoned. He killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian, 30, at a
Budapest military academy in 2004.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him the same
day after he was extradited.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a bloody war in the 1990s over the region
of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Baltic News Service / - BNS
September 6, 2012 Thursday 6:58 AM EET
VILNIUS, Sep 06, BNS - Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has
called for calm amid plans by representatives of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani communities to hold protests in Lithuania on Thursday.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania is aware of the fact
that representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in
Lithuania are organizing pickets today. We hope that participants
of these pickets will present their positions in a moderate manner
and restrain from harsh rhetoric, will respect national symbols and
not instigate discord between the nations that have been peacefully
cohabitating in Lithuania for centuries," the ministry said in
a statement.
Already tense Armenian-Azerbaijani relations have recently worsened
after Azerbaijan pardoned and promoted its military officer Ramil
Safarov who had killed an Armenian military officer with an axe.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the concern raised by the
EU regarding the situation, which had resulted from actions taken by
the government of Azerbaijan in relation to Ramil Safarov and called
on the countries to find a way to defuse the tension and renew the
dialogue based on the generally recognized norms of international law.
We sincerely hope that Lithuanian citizens of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani background will contribute to these efforts," the
Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
On August 31, Hungary handed over to Baku Safarov who had been
sentenced to life imprisonment in Budapest without the right to
be pardoned. He killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian, 30, at a
Budapest military academy in 2004.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him the same
day after he was extradited.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a bloody war in the 1990s over the region
of Nagorno-Karabakh.