Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIAN CYBER-WARRIORS TARGET AZERI WEBSITES AFTER SAFAROV PARDON

Infosecurity Magazine

Sept 5 2012

A cyber-war of sorts has broken out between Armenian and Azeri
hackers over the August 31 extradition and pardon of Azeri murderer
Ramil Safarov.

Safarov was attending the Hungarian National Defense University
under NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 2004, in Budapest,
when he hacked to death an Armenian classmate with an axe. The act
was to pay back, he later said, the atrocities that Azeris suffered
in the Armenian- Azerbaijan conflict, since he wasn’t able to kill
anyone during the war itself.

He confessed to the crime and was serving a life sentence in Hungary
when the Azeri government put in a request for extradition, requesting
that he serve the remainder of his sentence in his home country and
providing assurances that he would remain in jail. The Hungarians
complied, but Safarov was immediately pardoned once on Azeri soil,
promoted to the rank of major in the Azerbaijani army, and hailed as
a national hero.

Outraged, a group of Armenian hackers has attacked 15 Azeri websites,
prompting return hacking fire from Azeri cyber-warriors.

The skirmish is the latest in an ongoing war: Azeri cyber attackers
have hacked about 40 Armenian websites in the last two years,
while the Armenians have targeted about 20 Azeri websites, mostly
state-government and news sites. The latest targets included the Azeri
Supreme Court, the presidential website and the official websites
of Azerbaijan’s ministries of tourism and culture, and communication
and transport.

Infosecurity expert Samvel Martirosyan told ArmeniaNow that this
“is the biggest cross-fire in the Armenian and Azerbaijan cyber war
of the recent years. Both sides have been attacking for the past two
years: DDoS attacks, when a website simply becomes ‘not accessible’
and when the site is hacked and injected with unrelated content.”

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS SEPARATE FROM LEGAL MATTERS IN AZERI TRANSFER, SAYS SZIJJARTO

Politics.hu

Sept 5 2012
Hungary

Hungary will, if need be, hold talks with Azerbaijan on economic
matters in the future, since these are not in any way connected with
international legal matters such as the repatriation of the Azeri
murderer, the state secretary in charge of foreign affairs at the
prime minister’s office, told public TV on Monday evening.

Peter Szijjarto confirmed to the Az Este programme that the Hungarian
government had indeed held talks with Azerbaijan about “strengthening
economic cooperation and expanding on the financial aspects.”

Hungary last week transferred Azeri murderer, Ramil Sahib Safarov,
back to his home country, whereupon he was pardoned by the president
and released. Armenia severed diplomatic ties with Hungary on Friday.

Azerbaijan’s state oil fund has dismissed reports it will buy Hungarian
government securities.

“Regarding the news about the purchase of Hungarian debt obligations,
the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan publicly reveals
that SOFAZ is not considering any investment into debt obligations
or other financial tools in Hungary,” the fund said.

Hungarian business weekly Figyelo reported on August 23 that Azerbaijan
would buy 2-3 billion euros worth of Hungarian government bonds
through a Turkish mediator.

Some in the Hungarian press have speculated that the purchase of
government debt could be related to the transfer by Hungary of the
Azeri murderer.

Szijjarto said Hungary handled international legal matters regulated
by treaties entirely separately from financial deals.

Asked about the statement the ambassador of Armenia to Vienna made
earlier that Armenia had warned Hungarian officials against extraditing
Ramil Sahib Safarov to Baku, and had protested against such a move
just recently, Szijjarto said he had no knowledge of such a protest.

He said the Hungarian government greatly respected Armenia and its
people, adding Hungary wanted to nurture good relations with the
country.

“But at the same time Hungary can rightfully expect from any other
side, whether it is Armenia or another country or body, that they
acknowledge that where a legal issue is regulated by an international
agreement, Hungary will always follow that,” said Szijjarto.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban told journalists in Budapest on Monday that
Hungary had followed international legal procedures in the case of the
Azeri, formerly imprisoned in Hungary but transferred to his homeland.

Asked about whether there had been any secret deal with Azerbaijan,
Orban said, “this is a democratic European state. The rules of
international law are not formed on the basis of secret agreements,
but on how they are written, obviously.”

One of Armenia’s citizens, Gurgen Margaryan, was brutally murdered
by the Azeri at a NATO language course held in Hungary earlier in
the decade.

The Foreign Ministry said earlier that it had followed the procedure
to transfer Safarov according to international agreements and on the
understanding that the convict would serve out his prison term on
Azerbaijani soil. It has officially protested to the Azeri authorities
against the release of Safarov.

STEPANAKERT DEMANDS BAKU CONDEMNATION

asbarez
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian

STEPNAKERT-Calling Baku’s decision to pardon and glorify axe murderer
Ramil Safarov, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian said
it reflected the “loathsome moral and political atmosphere reigning
in Azerbaijan, which is the continuation of fascist ideology and
genocidal policy.”

Sahakian spoke during a special session Karabakh’s National Security
Agency on Tuesday.

He told the meeting that “this monstrous deed [is] as a hard blow to
the negotiation process and the mediation mission of the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chair countries.”

Sahakian said that Azerbaijan’s actions cannot go unanswered.

Meanwhile, President Serzh Sarkisian, in a congratulatory message
on the occasion of Karabakh independence, reflected on the recent
situation created by Hungary’s decision to extradite Safarov and the
subsequent actions by Azerbaijan.

“On behalf of the people of Artsakh and the entire Armenian nation,
I would like to pose a question – after what has happened, is there a
living soul on this planet who will advise the people of Artsakh to
become part of Azerbaijan, a country where illicit orders set free
and publicly glorify every bastard which kills people only because
they are Armenians?” Sarkisian said in his message.

“A greater disgrace for the European justice can hardly to be imagined,
particularly for Armenia and Artsakh, since they looked to it for
guidance, but now we have seen another face of it,” added Sarkisian.

FAAE: JUSTICE IN HUNGARY COLLAPSED

03:01 pm | Today | Politics

The Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (FAAE) has issued a
statement saying that the extradition of Azerbaijani officer Ramil
Safarov speaks about the collapse of the Hungarian justice.

Ján Ä~Larnogurský, Slovakia’s former Prime Minister and Minister
of Justice, believes that Hungary could have foreseen the release of
Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov after his extradition, given the
fact that Safarov was considered a hero in Azerbaijan.

The fact that the extradition conicided with the transfer of great
sums of money to Hungary’s budget speaks about the collapse of the
Hungarian justice.

We believe that the EU member countries will give their assessment
on the incident and Hungary will find a way to correct its terrible
mistake and restore the country’s fallen image,” FAAE said in the
statement.

S. Martirosyan: Azerbaijan Needed A Hero Image And Chose Ramil Safarov For It

Azerbaijan needed a hero after the Karabakh war and chose Ramil Safarov
for this purpose. Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan
announced about this during the meeting with the journalists today.

“One should not think that Azerbaijan predicted further steps of this
case. Azerbaijani Government needed to create a hero image especially
for the youth and especially after the defeat of the Karabakh war. But
they have made an incorrect choice”, the speaker said.

According to S. Martirosyan as soon as Safarov appeared in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani hackers started to attack Armenian web-sites and broke
nearly 20 Armenian web-sites.

They have broken mostly “they managed”. For example, they broke a
web-site which supports children with cancer disease. But they did not
manage to break a news web-site or a governmental site. On the next
day the Armenia hackers started the cyber-attack and Azerbaijani news
web-sites became target for them. Armenian hackers managed to break
Azerbaijani President’s web-site and the web-sites of some Ministries,
news agencies. S. Martirosyan underlined that after September 3 the
cyber-attacks stopped.

Another participant of the press conference, psychologist Samvel
Khudoyan underlined that every political phenomenon has its
psychological aspect as well.

“All this stoty has a moral-psychological base and Azerbaijan tries
to make a psychological pressure on us. The whole world condemned
this step by Azerbaijan. ”

ELMAR BROK ON THE PARDONING AND GLORIFICATION OF RAMIL SAFAROV

ARMENPRESS
5 September, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS: Elmar Brok (EPP), chairman of the
Foreign Affairs committee in the European Parliament, criticised the
decision by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to pardon Ramil Safarov,
who has confessed to the murder of an Armenian Soldier in Hungary 2004,
reports Armenpress citing EPP Press Service. “I am deeply concerned
about the decision to pardon Ramil Safarov upon arrival in Baku,
to publicly glorify him, promote him to Major rank, pay him 8 years
of salary and offer him an apartment. Azerbaijan had given a written
promise to the Hungarian authorities that Mr Safarov would continue
to serve the lifetime sentence for at least 25 years when he arrives
in Azerbaijan. Now Azerbaijan has broken this promise.

Safarov is an Azerbaijani soldier who murdered the Armenian officer
Gurgen Margaryan at their NATO training camp in Budapest in 2004. With
the decision to set him free, Azerbaijan is circumventing the valid
conviction of the court of an EU member state and is presenting a
murderer as a role model to cheering children in Baku.”

OSCE SAYS AZERI SOLDIER PARDON SETS BACK PEACE PROCESS

Reuters
Sept 3 2012

* Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia raise fears of conflict

* Released solder given hero’s welcome

* Pardon prompts concern from United States and Russia

By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Reuters) – International mediators from the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said on Monday
that Azerbaijan’s decision to pardon an Azeri soldier who killed an
Armenian officer had damaged the peace process in the region.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the war between ethnic
Azeris and Armenians that erupted in 1991 over the mainly Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but new
cross-border clashes this year have prompted worries of a resumption
of fighting.

Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, last week pardoned Ramil Safarov,
who had been sentenced to life in prison in Hungary for the 2004
killing of Armenian officer Gurgen Markaryan during NATO training
but was sent back to Azerbaijan.

Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary, calling Hungary’s
decision to send back Safarov “a grave mistake”.

Safarov was given a hero’s welcome in Azerbaijan, where thousands of
people took to the streets to greet him in his native city of Sumgait.

The government promoted Safarov to the rank of major and paid his
salary for eight years.

The OSCE Minsk group, which includes representatives of the United
States, Russia and France and is mediating between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, met the two countries’ foreign ministers after the pardon
threatened to inflame tensions.

“They (Minsk Group representatives) 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 group said in a statement.

Azerbaijan said its president acted in line with the law and dismissed
criticism from the Europe, Russia and United States – as well as
Armenia’s reaction.

“The hysterical approach of the Armenian leadership was targeted at
the local population and was meant to be a populist political show,”
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said.

The White House said on Friday President Barack Omama was “deeply
concerned” by the pardon, saying in a statement: “This action is
contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote
reconciliation.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a visit to Armenia
in June that violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan could lead to
a broader regional conflict.

Armenia’s regional ally Russia expressed concern on Monday over
“possible negative consequences” of the decisions made by Azeri and
Hungarian authorities, as well as impact they may have on stability
in the region.

“When it comes to the U.S. position, we still do not understand the
third countries’ interference … I do not think that the U.S.

position is understandable,” Abdullayev said, reiterating that the
handover and pardon were within the law.

Hungary, as well as other Western countries, has been developing
economic ties with energy-rich Azerbaijan, which is host to oil majors
including BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil.

HUNGARIAN ENVOY DESCRIBES AZERBAIJAN’S ACTIONS AS ‘CHEATING’

PanARMENIAN.Net
September 4, 2012 – 10:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Norway’s Armenians, who gathered on Monday,
Sept 3 in front of the Hungarian embassy in Oslo, demanded apology
for extradition of Azerbaijani murderer Ramil Safarov and handed a
letter to ambassador Geza Jeszenszky, who assured that it will reach
his government.

According to Armenian Cultural Association of Norway, ambassador
Jeszenszky agreed to receive two representatives of the protesters
to discuss their concerns. He expressed sympathy with the Armenian
people and said that his government is disappointed with Azerbaijan’s
actions, describing them as ‘cheating’.

The ambassador showed a copy of the letter of the Deputy Minister
of Justice of Azerbaijan with assurances that Safarov will continue
serving his sentence upon extradition.

He also informed that Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Hungary was summoned
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to produce explanations on the issue
and was handed a note regarding his country’s dishonorable actions.

Safarov, who was sentenced to life by a Hungarian court for the murder
of Armenian office Gurgen Margaryan in February 2004, was extradited
to Azerbaijan on Aug 31 and immediately pardoned by the country’s
President Ilham Aliyev.

In response, Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary.

CATHOLICOS OF GREAT HOUSE OF CILICIA SENDS PROTEST LETTER TO HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT

news.am
September 04, 2012 | 15:28

BEIRUT. – Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia of
the Armenian Apostolic Church addressed a letter of protest to
the President of Hungary, and in connection with Ramil Safarov’s
extradition by Hungary to Azerbaijan and his being granted pardon
there.

In his letter, the Catholicos assessed this arrangement between the
Hungarian and Azerbaijani governments as “a violation of the principles
of international law and justice,” and noted that this unlawful move
“has raised a terrible wave of outbursts and protests in Armenia
and the [Armenian] Diaspora,” the Great House of Cilicia’s official
website informs.

“Political interests shall not trample justice and human dignity,”
Aram I noted, and added that he fully shares the Armenian people’s
just outburst.

Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier that Ramil Safarov, a lieutenant
in the Azerbaijani military, was extradited on August 31 from Hungary,
where he was serving a life sentence-and with no expression of
either regret or remorse-for the premeditated axe murder of Armenian
lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, in his sleep, during a NATO Partnership
for Peace program in Budapest back in 2004.

As expected, Ramil Safarov’s return to Baku was welcomed, as was
his act of murder, by the officials of president Ilham Aliyev’s
government and much of Azerbaijani society, and the Azerbaijani
president immediately granted him a pardon.

And Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan announced on August 31 that
Armenia is suspending its diplomatic ties with Hungary.

SYRIAN ARMENIANS COMPLAIN TO SYRIAN MINISTER OF INFORMATION ON DISINFORMATION ABOUT ARMENIAN FAMILY KILLING

ARMENPRESS
4 September, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenain Apostolic Church Damascus
Diocese head, Bishop Armash Nalbandyan submitted written complaint
to Syria News Channel- Al Ikhbaria drector. As Patriarchate press
service told Armenpress, simulataneously Bishop Nalbandyan had had
a meeting with Syrian Minister of Information Umran al Zuupy and
personally conveyed Syrian Armenians concern stating the information
about Syrian Armenian 6 member- family assassination was released
based on non official sources and without checking its accuracy.

The Minister in his turn told the mistake has already been suspended
and the employee was subjected to the responsibility. In the course of
the launched meeting Bishop and Syrian high ranking official envisaged
future cooperation projects.Syrian TV informed about assassination
of Armenian 6-member- family residing in Zamalka district on August 28.

Days long Damascus Armenian National Diocese and Damascus Armenians
Emergency body was trying to verify the identity of the family and as
a result it was found out no Armenian family was habiting in Damascus
Zamalka district. Damascus National Diocese learnt from Syrian TV
management that the disinformation was spread by The Truth Paris News
Agency website.