ARMENIA SUSPENDS DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH HUNGARY – PRESIDENT
RIA Novosti
31/08/2012
Armenia has suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary over the
extradition to Azerbaijan of a man who murdered an Armenian army
officer, the country’s president Serzh Sargsyan said on Friday.
“Today we are suspending diplomatic relations and all official
ties with Hungary,” Sargsyan said at an emergency meeting with
representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Armenia.
Relations between Armenia and Hungary worsened following Budapest’s
decision to extradite to Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, serving a live
sentence for the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.
In February 2004, Azerbaijani army officer Safarov killed Margaryan
with an axe while the latter was sleeping. Both men were attending
an English language course in Budapest as part of NATO’s Partnership
for Peace program.
In April 2006, a Hungarian court sentenced Safarov to live
imprisonment. However, on Friday he was extradited to Azerbaijan,
where he was pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.
“The Hungarian authorities should understand that they made a gross
mistake,” President Sargsyan said. “As a matter of fact, they made
a deal with the Azerbaijani authorities.”
Armenian media reported earlier that Azerbaijan intended to purchase
Hungarian government bonds worth 2-3 billion euros. Armenian analysts
said the deal was Baku’s quid pro quo for extraditing Safarov.
“This was not an ordinary murder. It was an ethnic murder that has
been justified by a EU member,” Sargsyan said, urging the Armenian
legislative assembly to take up the issue.
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh erupted in the late 1980s.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region on Azerbaijani territory with
a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, claims independence from
Azerbaijan. The war is estimated to have left more than 30,000 people
dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994. Since then the region has
remained under de facto Armenian control.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
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