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ARMENIA CUTS DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH HUNGARY
RTTnews.com
http://www.rttnews.com/1957652/armenia-cuts-diplomatic-ties-with-hungary.aspx?type=msgn&utm_source=google&utm_campa ign=sitemap
Aug 31 2012
(RTTNews) - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said Friday that
his country has severed all diplomatic relations with Hungary in
retaliation to the release of an Azerbaijani military officer convicted
of hacking an Armenian officer to death in Budapest eight years ago.
The Azeri serviceman, Ramil Safarov, was sentenced to life in prison
by the Budapest City Court in 2006 after he confessed to killing
Armenian officer, Lt. Gurgen Markarian, with an axe while the two
men were in Hungary for attending a NATO language course in 2004.
Safarov was sent back to Azerbaijan on Friday after Budapest received
assurances from the Azerbaijani Justice Ministry that Safarov's
sentence, which included the possibility of parole after 25 years,
would be enforced in his home nation.
Despite the assurances provided by Azerbaijan's Justice Ministry ahead
of Safarov's deportation, the convicted Azeri serviceman was pardoned
by President Ilham Aliyev soon after he arrived at the airport in
capital Baku on Friday.
In a statement issued later on Friday, Armenian President Sarkisian
described Hungary's move to deport Safarov as unforgivable, and
announced his government's decision to immediately suspend all
diplomatic relations with Budapest.
"With their joint actions the authorities of Hungary and Azerbaijan
have opened the door for the recurrence of such crimes. With this
decision they convey a clear message to the butchers. The slaughterers
hereafter are well aware of impunity they can enjoy for the murder
driven by ethnic or religious hatred," Sarkisian said in the statement.
"I officially announce that as of today we suspend diplomatic
relations and all official contacts with Hungary. We expect a
precise and unambiguous response by all our partners with regard
to this incident. Anyone who tolerates this, will tomorrow be held
responsible to history," the Armenian President added.
Incidentally, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics,
had fought a war over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the
1990s. Armenian troops are currently occupying the enclave after they
helped Armenian separatists to seize control from Azerbaijan in the
early 1990s. The war for the enclave resulted in the death of nearly
30,000 people and forced two million others to flee their homes.
Although the two countries signed a cease-fire agreement in May 1994,
the dispute remains unresolved despite continued international efforts
spearheaded by Russia, France and the U.S. While Azerbaijan demands
an immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces from the enclave, Armenia
insists on the territory's independence.
Despite the standing cease-fire, brief but fierce border clashes
between Armenia and Azerbaijan in early June had led to the deaths
of eight soldiers, including five Azerbaijanis and three Armenians.
Further, many more soldiers from both sides were injured in the
clashes.
by RTT Staff Writer
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
RTTnews.com
http://www.rttnews.com/1957652/armenia-cuts-diplomatic-ties-with-hungary.aspx?type=msgn&utm_source=google&utm_campa ign=sitemap
Aug 31 2012
(RTTNews) - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said Friday that
his country has severed all diplomatic relations with Hungary in
retaliation to the release of an Azerbaijani military officer convicted
of hacking an Armenian officer to death in Budapest eight years ago.
The Azeri serviceman, Ramil Safarov, was sentenced to life in prison
by the Budapest City Court in 2006 after he confessed to killing
Armenian officer, Lt. Gurgen Markarian, with an axe while the two
men were in Hungary for attending a NATO language course in 2004.
Safarov was sent back to Azerbaijan on Friday after Budapest received
assurances from the Azerbaijani Justice Ministry that Safarov's
sentence, which included the possibility of parole after 25 years,
would be enforced in his home nation.
Despite the assurances provided by Azerbaijan's Justice Ministry ahead
of Safarov's deportation, the convicted Azeri serviceman was pardoned
by President Ilham Aliyev soon after he arrived at the airport in
capital Baku on Friday.
In a statement issued later on Friday, Armenian President Sarkisian
described Hungary's move to deport Safarov as unforgivable, and
announced his government's decision to immediately suspend all
diplomatic relations with Budapest.
"With their joint actions the authorities of Hungary and Azerbaijan
have opened the door for the recurrence of such crimes. With this
decision they convey a clear message to the butchers. The slaughterers
hereafter are well aware of impunity they can enjoy for the murder
driven by ethnic or religious hatred," Sarkisian said in the statement.
"I officially announce that as of today we suspend diplomatic
relations and all official contacts with Hungary. We expect a
precise and unambiguous response by all our partners with regard
to this incident. Anyone who tolerates this, will tomorrow be held
responsible to history," the Armenian President added.
Incidentally, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics,
had fought a war over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the
1990s. Armenian troops are currently occupying the enclave after they
helped Armenian separatists to seize control from Azerbaijan in the
early 1990s. The war for the enclave resulted in the death of nearly
30,000 people and forced two million others to flee their homes.
Although the two countries signed a cease-fire agreement in May 1994,
the dispute remains unresolved despite continued international efforts
spearheaded by Russia, France and the U.S. While Azerbaijan demands
an immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces from the enclave, Armenia
insists on the territory's independence.
Despite the standing cease-fire, brief but fierce border clashes
between Armenia and Azerbaijan in early June had led to the deaths
of eight soldiers, including five Azerbaijanis and three Armenians.
Further, many more soldiers from both sides were injured in the
clashes.
by RTT Staff Writer
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress