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NATO IS NOT PLEASED WITH HERO'S HOMECOMING FOR CONVICTED AX MURDERER
International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/381847/20120907/nato-ramil-safarov.htm
Sept 7 2012
By Angelo Young: Subscribe to Angelo's RSS feed
NATO is not happy with Azerbaijan's president for pardoning,
promoting and financially rewarding Ramil Safarov, who was serving
a life sentence in Hungary for hacking a fellow NATO solider,
who was Armenian, to death with an ax eight years ago during a
language-training program.
Budapest authorized Safarov's extradition to his homeland, where last
week he was given a hero's homecoming. Armenia severed diplomatic ties
with Hungary over its decision to release Safarov for the killing of
26-year-old Gurgen Markarian.
"I am deeply concerned by the Azerbaijani decision to pardon Ramil
Safarov. The act he committed in 2004 was a crime which should not
be glorified, as this damages trust and does not contribute to the
peace process," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in
a speech Friday at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, in Baku. "There
must be no return to conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
The killing, extradition and pardon have deep political undertones. In
1994, a ceasefire was declared between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
which had been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked region in
Azerbaijan populated by ethnic Armenians that had been autonomous from
the state under the USSR. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly
vowed to take the region militarily.
Last week, the White House issued a statement condemning Aliyev's
pardon. It added: "The United States is also requesting an explanation
from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov to Azerbaijan."
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The head of Azerbaijan's foreign relations, Novruz Mammadov, issued a
statement accusing Armenia's leadership of "open support for terror"
that emboldens groups like the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation
of Armenia (ASALA), which is seeking to re-establish the historical
boundaries of Armenia, which include a large part of eastern Turkey
as well as Nagorno-Karabakh and the land between the disputed region
and the Armenian border.
Aliyev's decision to treat Safarov as a war hero has enraged the
Armenian public, which staged protests this week in the capital,
Yerevan, where Rasmussen visited on Tuesday.
NATO is urging both countries to resolve their conflict "through
dialogue, compromise and cooperation," Rasmussen said.
The United Nations backed these statements on Thursday, but Azeri
public sentiment appears to be on the side of its president and the
convicted killer he pardoned.
"The extradition and pardoning of national army officer Ramil Safarov
has filled us, young people, and indeed the entire nation with a sense
of pride and joy," said one letter posted on the president's website
that purported to be from a local youth club manager, according to
the AFP.
Approximately 30,000 people were killed in the 1988-1994 war between
the two countries. The countries fought a previous war over the issue
from 1918 until the Sovet Union swallowed up both countries in 1922.
International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/381847/20120907/nato-ramil-safarov.htm
Sept 7 2012
By Angelo Young: Subscribe to Angelo's RSS feed
NATO is not happy with Azerbaijan's president for pardoning,
promoting and financially rewarding Ramil Safarov, who was serving
a life sentence in Hungary for hacking a fellow NATO solider,
who was Armenian, to death with an ax eight years ago during a
language-training program.
Budapest authorized Safarov's extradition to his homeland, where last
week he was given a hero's homecoming. Armenia severed diplomatic ties
with Hungary over its decision to release Safarov for the killing of
26-year-old Gurgen Markarian.
"I am deeply concerned by the Azerbaijani decision to pardon Ramil
Safarov. The act he committed in 2004 was a crime which should not
be glorified, as this damages trust and does not contribute to the
peace process," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in
a speech Friday at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, in Baku. "There
must be no return to conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
The killing, extradition and pardon have deep political undertones. In
1994, a ceasefire was declared between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
which had been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked region in
Azerbaijan populated by ethnic Armenians that had been autonomous from
the state under the USSR. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly
vowed to take the region militarily.
Last week, the White House issued a statement condemning Aliyev's
pardon. It added: "The United States is also requesting an explanation
from Hungary regarding its decision to transfer Safarov to Azerbaijan."
Follow us
The head of Azerbaijan's foreign relations, Novruz Mammadov, issued a
statement accusing Armenia's leadership of "open support for terror"
that emboldens groups like the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation
of Armenia (ASALA), which is seeking to re-establish the historical
boundaries of Armenia, which include a large part of eastern Turkey
as well as Nagorno-Karabakh and the land between the disputed region
and the Armenian border.
Aliyev's decision to treat Safarov as a war hero has enraged the
Armenian public, which staged protests this week in the capital,
Yerevan, where Rasmussen visited on Tuesday.
NATO is urging both countries to resolve their conflict "through
dialogue, compromise and cooperation," Rasmussen said.
The United Nations backed these statements on Thursday, but Azeri
public sentiment appears to be on the side of its president and the
convicted killer he pardoned.
"The extradition and pardoning of national army officer Ramil Safarov
has filled us, young people, and indeed the entire nation with a sense
of pride and joy," said one letter posted on the president's website
that purported to be from a local youth club manager, according to
the AFP.
Approximately 30,000 people were killed in the 1988-1994 war between
the two countries. The countries fought a previous war over the issue
from 1918 until the Sovet Union swallowed up both countries in 1922.