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LITHUANIA'S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY STAGES PROTEST AGAINST SAFAROV'S RELEASE
Baltic News Service / - BNS
September 6, 2012 Thursday 1:20 PM EET
VILNIUS, Sep 06, BNS - Lithuania's Armenian community on Thursday
staged an action in protest of Azerbaijan's decision to pardon and
promote the country's officer Ramil Safarov who has killed an Armenian
soldier with an axe. The Armenians urged Lithuania's administration
and all of the European Union (EU) to strongly condemn the event.
Over 50 Armenians gathered outside the Hungarian Embassy in Vilnius
on Thursday afternoon, holding slogans "Justice for Sale," "Honest
Hungarians are With Us" and "Azeri Oil Bought Europe" in sign of
indignation over Hungary's decision to extradite Safarov.
"There is one objective - all civilized and democratic countries
in Europe should pay attention to the intolerable development,"
director Marat Sargsiyan, one of the organizers of the campaign,
told journalists.
"The European Parliament only said it was calling for restraint and
avoidance of conflicts, however, this is not an answer. It is shameful
that the European Parliament, Europe and the democratic society have
responded to this event this way. I invite the administration of
Lithuania to pay its attention, if this happened to Armenia today,
it can happen to anyone tomorrow," he said.
The protest action involved Armenians from across Lithuania.
Holding the slogans, the participants marched from the Hungarian
Embassy to the Embassy of Azerbaijan.
Campaigns "in support of the relations between Hungary and Azerbaijan"
were Thursday planned by representatives of the Azerbaijani community,
which had even received permits for the gatherings, however, later
decided to peacefully observe the Armenian action.
In a press release circulated earlier on Thursday, the Lithuanian
Society of Azerbaijan and the association Lithuania-Azerbaijan
expressed "concerns over the attempts to cause anti-Hungarian and
anti-Azerbaijani sentiments in Lithuania in connection to Safarov's
extradition and pardon."
"Undoubtedly recognizing the right of every person in Lithuania to have
his opinion on the matter, the Lithuanian Society of Azerbaijan and the
association Lithuania-Azerbaijan would like to remind the need to go
deeper into the essence and whole of every phenomenon before drawing
final conclusions," reads the statement, which, among other things,
speaks about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict on Nagorno Karabakh.
After being tense for a long time, Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes lately
heightened after Azerbaijan pardoned and promoted Azerbaijani officer,
Safarov.
"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 has said.
On Aug. 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 1:20 PM EET
VILNIUS, Sep 06, BNS - Lithuania's Armenian community on Thursday
staged an action in protest of Azerbaijan's decision to pardon and
promote the country's officer Ramil Safarov who has killed an Armenian
soldier with an axe. The Armenians urged Lithuania's administration
and all of the European Union (EU) to strongly condemn the event.
Over 50 Armenians gathered outside the Hungarian Embassy in Vilnius
on Thursday afternoon, holding slogans "Justice for Sale," "Honest
Hungarians are With Us" and "Azeri Oil Bought Europe" in sign of
indignation over Hungary's decision to extradite Safarov.
"There is one objective - all civilized and democratic countries
in Europe should pay attention to the intolerable development,"
director Marat Sargsiyan, one of the organizers of the campaign,
told journalists.
"The European Parliament only said it was calling for restraint and
avoidance of conflicts, however, this is not an answer. It is shameful
that the European Parliament, Europe and the democratic society have
responded to this event this way. I invite the administration of
Lithuania to pay its attention, if this happened to Armenia today,
it can happen to anyone tomorrow," he said.
The protest action involved Armenians from across Lithuania.
Holding the slogans, the participants marched from the Hungarian
Embassy to the Embassy of Azerbaijan.
Campaigns "in support of the relations between Hungary and Azerbaijan"
were Thursday planned by representatives of the Azerbaijani community,
which had even received permits for the gatherings, however, later
decided to peacefully observe the Armenian action.
In a press release circulated earlier on Thursday, the Lithuanian
Society of Azerbaijan and the association Lithuania-Azerbaijan
expressed "concerns over the attempts to cause anti-Hungarian and
anti-Azerbaijani sentiments in Lithuania in connection to Safarov's
extradition and pardon."
"Undoubtedly recognizing the right of every person in Lithuania to have
his opinion on the matter, the Lithuanian Society of Azerbaijan and the
association Lithuania-Azerbaijan would like to remind the need to go
deeper into the essence and whole of every phenomenon before drawing
final conclusions," reads the statement, which, among other things,
speaks about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict on Nagorno Karabakh.
After being tense for a long time, Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes lately
heightened after Azerbaijan pardoned and promoted Azerbaijani officer,
Safarov.
"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 has said.
On Aug. 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.