AZERI KILLER RAMIL SAFAROV: NATO CHIEF ‘CONCERNED’
BBC
6 September 2012 Last updated at 12:02
People cheered and welcomed Ramil Safarov
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Nato’s secretary-general has expressed concern over a decision by
Azerbaijan to pardon an army officer convicted of the brutal murder
of an Armenian.
Ramil Safarov hacked a man to death with an axe in Hungary in 2004
and was imprisoned there until last week, when he was extradited
to Azerbaijan.
He was expected to serve out the rest of his life sentence, but was
instead promoted, and given a flat to live in.
The Armenian parliament has now formally suspended ties with Hungary.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (L) and Armenian president
Serzh Sarkisian (R). Armenia’s president Serzh Sarkisian (R) told Mr
Fogh Rasmussen that regional stability was in danger
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a bloody conflict over
the disputed border territory of Nagorno-Karabakh for more than
two decades.
Tens of thousands of people were killed in the early 90s before a
tenuous ceasefire was agreed.
‘Trust damaged’
Speaking during a visit to Armenia, Nato Secretary-General Anders
Fogh Rasmussen said the crime “should not be glorified”.
He said he was “deeply concerned” by Azerbaijan’s decision to release
Safarov.
“The pardon damages trust and doesn’t contribute to the peace process,”
he said.
About 1,000 Armenian protesters demonstrated as Mr Fogh Rasmussen
arrived in the country – they were calling for Nato condemnation of
Azerbaijan’s actions.
Speaking at a joint news conference following talks with the Nato
chief, Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian said that “making a hero
out of a criminal is unacceptable”.
“Azerbaijan’s shameful act seriously endangers the security of the
entire south Caucasus,” he said.
Mr Fogh Rasmussen is due to visit Azerbaijan on Friday.
International criticism and concern has been growing following the
release of Safarov, and there are increasing fears of a return to war.
Suspending ties with Hungary in an extraordinary session of parliament,
the Armenian government urged other countries to “condemn the deal
concluded between Azerbaijan and Hungary”.
A week before Safarov’s release, there were reports that the two
countries were in talks over a loan from Azerbaijan to Hungary of
2-3bn euros ($2.5-3.8bn; £1.6-2.4bn).
Hungary’s prime minister has denied any secret deal and insisted that
his country acted within international law.
BBC map
Armenia’s president has said his country would be ready if war were
to break out between the two.
President Serzh Sarkisian said, in quotes carried by the AFP news
agency: “We don’t want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and
win. We are not afraid of killers, even if they enjoy the protection
of the head of state.”
At the weekend hundreds of Armenians protested outside Hungary’s
consulate in the capital Yerevan, burning Hungarian flags and pelting
the mission with eggs.
The Hungarian authorities said they had returned Safarov to his
homeland only after receiving assurances from the Baku government
that his sentence would be enforced.
Insults
Ramil Safarov was given a hero’s welcome on his return to Azerbaijan
last week.
As well as an official pardon from President Ilham Aliyev, he was
promoted to the rank of major, given a flat and all the pay he had
lost since his arrest eight years ago.
Russia, which has been involved in efforts to defuse the so-called
frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said: “We believe
that these actions of Azerbaijani as well as Hungarian authorities
contradict internationally brokered efforts, of the OSCE’s Minsk
group in particular, to ease tensions in the region.”
The co-chairs of the Minsk group expressed their “deep concern and
regret for the damage the pardon and any attempts to glorify the
crime have done to the peace process and trust between the sides”.
The European Union also called for calm.
Safarov killed Armenian soldier Gurgen Markarian at a military academy
in Budapest in 2004, where both servicemen attended English-language
courses organised by Nato.
During his trial in Hungary, Safarov said that the Nagorno-Karabakh war
and insults from the Armenian officer were at the root of his actions.