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SAFAROV TRANSFER WAS "GOV'T DECISION", SAYS FOREIGN MINISTER
Politics.hu
Sept 13 2012
Hungary
The decision to transfer Ramil Safarov back to his home country,
Azerbaijan, was a collective government one and all involved bear
responsibility for it, Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi told lawmakers
on Wednesday.
Martonyi, briefing the foreign affairs committee about repatriation
of Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing an
Armenian in Budapest in 2004, said Hungary "willingly or unwillingly"
had got entangled in the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict on that date.
Safarov, a soldier, had served eight years of a life sentence for
killing the Armenian officer during a NATO language course. He was
transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on August 31. On arrival in
Baku, he was pardoned by Azeri President Ilham Aliyevand and released.
Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary later that day.
Martonyi firmly rejected allegations that there had been any backdoor
agreement concluded between Hungary and Azerbaijan. He said this
would become apparent in the course of time.
He said the Azeri authorities had made a clear commitment to continuing
the murderer's prison sentence and the Hungarian government had
taken its assurances at face value. "Complete proof is impossible,"
he said. Rather, cooperation works on the basis of good faith, he said,
adding that the Azeri side had reneged on the agreement.
The Hungarian government's decision to repatriate Safarov had been
"painful" and "not easy", he said, referring to long-standing good
relations with Armenia and its minority community living in Hungary.
The minister said the task now was to try to diffuse the strong
emotions which have arisen since Safarov's release. All means must
be used to ensure that tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia do
not escalate, he said.
On Saturday, Martonyi briefed his counterparts in detail about the
affair at an informal EU meeting, and Hungary had not received any
censure either from the EU or from NATO.
http://www.politics.hu/20120913/safarov-transfer-was-govt-decision-says-foreign-minister/
From: Baghdasarian
Politics.hu
Sept 13 2012
Hungary
The decision to transfer Ramil Safarov back to his home country,
Azerbaijan, was a collective government one and all involved bear
responsibility for it, Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi told lawmakers
on Wednesday.
Martonyi, briefing the foreign affairs committee about repatriation
of Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing an
Armenian in Budapest in 2004, said Hungary "willingly or unwillingly"
had got entangled in the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict on that date.
Safarov, a soldier, had served eight years of a life sentence for
killing the Armenian officer during a NATO language course. He was
transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan on August 31. On arrival in
Baku, he was pardoned by Azeri President Ilham Aliyevand and released.
Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary later that day.
Martonyi firmly rejected allegations that there had been any backdoor
agreement concluded between Hungary and Azerbaijan. He said this
would become apparent in the course of time.
He said the Azeri authorities had made a clear commitment to continuing
the murderer's prison sentence and the Hungarian government had
taken its assurances at face value. "Complete proof is impossible,"
he said. Rather, cooperation works on the basis of good faith, he said,
adding that the Azeri side had reneged on the agreement.
The Hungarian government's decision to repatriate Safarov had been
"painful" and "not easy", he said, referring to long-standing good
relations with Armenia and its minority community living in Hungary.
The minister said the task now was to try to diffuse the strong
emotions which have arisen since Safarov's release. All means must
be used to ensure that tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia do
not escalate, he said.
On Saturday, Martonyi briefed his counterparts in detail about the
affair at an informal EU meeting, and Hungary had not received any
censure either from the EU or from NATO.
http://www.politics.hu/20120913/safarov-transfer-was-govt-decision-says-foreign-minister/
From: Baghdasarian