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SAFAROV'S RELEASE IS A DANGEROUS SIGNAL TO THE WHOLE WORLD. THE NEW YORK TIMES
ARMENPRESS
10 September, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: The latest incidents have increased
the tension in Caucasian region. Armenpress reports citing the
New York Times, noting that the first thing was the extradition of
Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan by Hungarian authorities. The Hungarian
government transferred the prisoner to Azerbaijan on the understanding
that he would serve out the rest of his life sentence in his home
country. But immediately upon his arrival in Baku, Lieutenant Safarov
was pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev, restored to military duties,
promoted to major, given an apartment and awarded back pay for his time
in prison. These actions drew universal condemnation from Washington,
Moscow and European governments. Apart from the fact that such a
step is an affront to basic notions of justice and the rule of law,
even more troubling is the message that it sends to the rest of the
world: that the Azerbaijani government thinks it is acceptable to kill
Armenians. Apparently, the grievances they suffered in their defeat
by Armenian forces in 1992-94 are so profound that even murder is
excusable. It is hard, then, to ask the Armenians living in Karabakh to
quietly accept the idea that the solution to their disputed territory
is for them to return to living under Azerbaijani rule.
In the conclusion of authoritative American newspaper compounding the
problem was a less significant but still noteworthy gesture. On Sept.
3, Richard Morningstar, the new U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan,
paid his respects to Heidar Aliyev, the deceased former president
(and father of the incumbent), by laying a wreath at his statue in
central Baku. Apparently it is standard protocol for U.S. ambassadors
to include this stop in their round of duties when arriving in Baku.
Photographs also clearly showed the ambassador bowing his head before
the monument, though a State Department spokesman later denied this.
Mr. Morningstar's far from empty gesture sent two wrong signals.
First, it is disheartening to democratic activists to see the United
States so cravenly supporting dictatorship as a suitable form of
rule, a pattern all too familiar from U.S. policy toward the entire
Middle East.
Second, it signals to Armenia - and its principal ally, Russia -
that the United States is an unqualified backer of the Azerbaijani
government, warts and all. Strategic interests - Caspian oil, access
to Central Asia, containment of Iran - count for more than the niceties
of human rights and democratic procedure.
ARMENPRESS
10 September, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS: The latest incidents have increased
the tension in Caucasian region. Armenpress reports citing the
New York Times, noting that the first thing was the extradition of
Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan by Hungarian authorities. The Hungarian
government transferred the prisoner to Azerbaijan on the understanding
that he would serve out the rest of his life sentence in his home
country. But immediately upon his arrival in Baku, Lieutenant Safarov
was pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev, restored to military duties,
promoted to major, given an apartment and awarded back pay for his time
in prison. These actions drew universal condemnation from Washington,
Moscow and European governments. Apart from the fact that such a
step is an affront to basic notions of justice and the rule of law,
even more troubling is the message that it sends to the rest of the
world: that the Azerbaijani government thinks it is acceptable to kill
Armenians. Apparently, the grievances they suffered in their defeat
by Armenian forces in 1992-94 are so profound that even murder is
excusable. It is hard, then, to ask the Armenians living in Karabakh to
quietly accept the idea that the solution to their disputed territory
is for them to return to living under Azerbaijani rule.
In the conclusion of authoritative American newspaper compounding the
problem was a less significant but still noteworthy gesture. On Sept.
3, Richard Morningstar, the new U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan,
paid his respects to Heidar Aliyev, the deceased former president
(and father of the incumbent), by laying a wreath at his statue in
central Baku. Apparently it is standard protocol for U.S. ambassadors
to include this stop in their round of duties when arriving in Baku.
Photographs also clearly showed the ambassador bowing his head before
the monument, though a State Department spokesman later denied this.
Mr. Morningstar's far from empty gesture sent two wrong signals.
First, it is disheartening to democratic activists to see the United
States so cravenly supporting dictatorship as a suitable form of
rule, a pattern all too familiar from U.S. policy toward the entire
Middle East.
Second, it signals to Armenia - and its principal ally, Russia -
that the United States is an unqualified backer of the Azerbaijani
government, warts and all. Strategic interests - Caspian oil, access
to Central Asia, containment of Iran - count for more than the niceties
of human rights and democratic procedure.