Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Group of Syrian – Armenian children return back to Aleppo

Sunday,
September 09 Politics / WorldSociety / CultureEconomyLawSport / Entertainment

On September 10 Armavia resumes its flights to Aleppo, press secretary
of Armavia Air Company Nana Avetisyan said to Aysor.am. The flights
have resumed because people want to return back to their homes.

`We had stopped the flights for their security, now it is still
dangerous, but people want to return back home,’ she said.

According to her the children that were on vocation here will be
transported on September 9 and on September 10 the regular flights
will be resumed.

On September 3 Armavia had issued a statement that it stops the
flights temporarily because of the threats of the Syrian free army as
well as absence of the connection with the Syrian side.

08.09.2012, 14:10

Aysor.am

Azerbaijani Ex-Prosecutor admitted the financial bargain with Soviet
Army commanders

18:18, 6 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: Former General Prosecutor of
Azerbaijani Murad Babayev who was at the board with country’s
Ex-President Ayaz Mutalibov shed some light on interesting facts. He
approved the decision of Azerbaijani President concerning the
extradition and pardon granting of Ramil Safarov which was highly
condemned by international community. As Armenpress reports citing
presspost.az web site Babayev said that he evaluates positively
Safarov’s extradition to Azerbaijani ,,no matter how it has been done`.

The most curious thing about this is that Azerbaijani Former
Prosecutor admitted that they wanted to solve Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement issue with the help of money ,,I used to say that
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement issue could be solved with the help of
money. There are things which can not be spoken about loudly.

Azerbaijani imagines that Nagorno-Karabakh Republic which was freed
with human’s blood shed would cost the same as Safarov’s extradition
that means 2-3 billion dollars.

Protest action in front of Hungarian and Azerbaijani Consulates in Canada

15:19, 8 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenians organized protest actins
in front of Hungarian and Azerbaijani Embassies in Ottawa expressing
their anger and frustration about the extradition and pardon granting
of Safarov. Armenian national committee of Canada informed Armenpress.

Such organizations as Canadian Armenian Church Youth Organization of
the Armenian Students’ Union, the Armenian General Benevolent Union,
Canadian young professionals and other community representatives
participated in this protest action.

The protestors condemned the actions of Hungarian authorities and
their extradition of Safarov to Azerbaijan. Canadian Armenians blamed
Azerbaijani authorities for not only pardoning ethnic motivated
murderer but also for proclaiming him a hero.

The Armenian National Committee in Canada is the largest and most
influential Armenian-Canadian organization. It cooperates with
different offices and organizations both in Canada and all over the
world and deals with issues of Canadian Armenians.

Cyprus Mail
September 6, 2012 Thursday

Armenians angry at Hungary over convict’s release

Poly Pantelides

MEMBERS of the Armenian community yesterday gathered outside the
Hungarian embassy protesting against the release of a convicted
murderer after he was transferred from Hungary to Azerbaijan.

Bearing banners saying ‘Shame on you’ and ‘Hungary for sale’ around
sixty Armenians shouted slogans outside the embassy in Nicosia at
about 12pm.

Azeri officer Ramil Safarov axed to death Armenian officer Gurgen
Margaryan in Hungary back in 2004. Both men were attending a NATO
event.

Safarov was sentenced to life imprisonment in Hungary but was sent
back to Azerbaijan where he was pardoned last week.

During his trial, Safarov said the reasons behind his actions were the
Azeri-Armenian war in the 1990s, BBC reported.

On return he received a hero’s welcome, was pardoned, promoted to the
rank of major, and paid wages for the eight years he was in jail.
“They welcomed him as a hero, gave him a place to live and back-paid
his wages. Their word is worth nothing,” a protester said.

Hungarian authorities have said they were assured that Safarov’s
sentence would be enforced in Azerbaijan.

International mediators – including representatives from Russia, the
US and France – have expressed concern over prospects for peace
following the pardon.

A war between the Azeris and Armenians broke out in the early 1990s
over the mostly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. A ceasefire was
signed in 1994 but the conflict is not considered resolved.

The coordinating committee of Cyprus Armenian political parties
yesterday handed a letter to the Hungarian ambassador, Balazs Botos.

The letter condemns the “flagrant violation of international and
European Union law by Azerbaijan” and demands of Hungary “to influence
Azerbaijan to annul the disgraceful pardon and return the criminal
back to the prison cell where he belongs.”

Botos expressed his hopes that his country’s relationship with the
Armenians will improve, citing cultural similarities and Hungary’s
respect for the Armenian people.

Reuters has recently reported that there have been discussions of a
loan from Azerbaijan to Hungary worth at least EUR2.0 billion.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 7 2012

MP: Council of Europe should be concerned about occupied Azerbaijani
lands’ liberation rather than Safarov’s release

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 7 / Trend /

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on the eve of the last
meeting of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) in Paris on Thursday included the issue of
the release of Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov in the agenda along
with discussion of other important issues and reports.

A member of the Azerbaijani delegation Rafael Huseynov spoke during
the discussion of Safarov’s extradition and pardon. The Azerbaijani MP
responded to an unfounded accusation by some committee members,
including Armenian MP Rustamyan.

“I welcome the discussion by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights of the case relating to Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. This
problem is directly related to the aggression of Armenia against
Azerbaijan, occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijan with nearly one
million people who became refugees and internally displaced
immigrants, the loss of thousands of lives, people maimed for life and
to the aggressive policy of Armenia, which has continued for over 20
years. Discussing Safarov’s issue, we also need to discuss the details
of this conflict. Every time opening this discussion, you will allow
us to once again draw attention to this problem,” Huseynov said.

He noted that the case of Ramil Safarov is directly related to the war
of conquest and should be seen as one of the consequences of the
conflict and investigated in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Because Safarov by origin is also from
the Azerbaijani region which is still under Armenian occupation, his
family’s relatives for many years had to live the life of refugees and
a young relative of Ramil Safarov was killed during the occupation. In
light of these events it is necessary to understand the psychological
state of mind of the young officer.

“It should also be noted that the Azerbaijani officer committed this
act not in a civil situation, but during military training in Hungary.
Also this did not happen suddenly, but amid emotional stress after a
series of insults from colleagues from Armenia against Azerbaijan, the
Azerbaijani flag and the family of Ramil Safarov.

“Of course every death is a tragedy and we do not approve of this
murder, but we cannot lose sight of the conditions under which the
crime was committed. Penalty for each crime has its natural limits.
Unfortunately after pressure and a stir raised by the Armenian lobby
in Hungary, the court sentenced Safarov to a very severe punishment –
life imprisonment.

“On July 22, 2011, after a double bombing that killed 77 people
committed by a citizen of Norway, Anders Breivik, the latter was
sentenced to 21 years, while Safarov for acts committed in the heat of
passion – to life imprisonment. This, of course, is an unfair
punishment,” the MP said.

Huseynov said that the extradition of Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan was
conducted in full compliance with the European Convention on Transfer
of Sentences Persons and the presidential decree to pardon Safarov is
in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the country. In other
words, it was done within the law and any objections to these actions
are nothing more than emotion and will not bring any results.

Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, who was convicted in Hungary,
returned to Azerbaijan on Aug. 31. The same day, under an order of the
head of state, he was pardoned.

Ramil Safarov was born on August 25, 1977 in the Jabrail region of
Azerbaijan. Safarov 34, who participated in NATO exercises in 2004 in
Hungary, was charged with the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen
Margaryan, who insulted the Azerbaijani flag. As the result of the
verdict by the Budapest court, Safarov was sentenced to life
imprisonment without the right of pardon during 30 years.

MilAz.info, Azerbaijan
Sept 8 2012

President Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan returned it’s officer to homeland

18:51 08-09-2012

“In response to reactions I want to note that the decision on Ramil
Safarov, was taken in accordance with the European Convention and the
pardon decree of the President with the Constitution of Azerbaijan.
Therefore, from a general point of view, the situation is very clear”,
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at a press conference after
meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, APA reports
with reference to the site of the President of Azerbaijan.

The President said that those who try to accuse Azerbaijan of
violating convention, or do not know the reality, or else seek to
enter public opinion is misleading: “I also want to note that Armenia
should not use this as an excuse to damage the peace process with
Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is committed to the peaceful settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of
international law. Statement by the Presidents of the co-chairs of the
Minsk Group, we are very encouraged. The statement said that the
status quo is unacceptable. This status quo must be changed. Armenia
is trying to maintain the status quo”.

The President recalled that took place in July last year in Kazan
meeting was the latest attempt to find a peaceful solution. Currently,
the peace process is at a standstill:”I think that the international
community and, above all, the Minsk Group should not allow Armenia to
use it as an excuse and completely” freeze “negotiations.”

The President reiterated that the decision on Ramil Safarov was taken
in accordance with the norms and rules of international law, “I just
want to remind the Armenians. The man, who in 2001 at Orly airport in
France, an act of terrorism, which led to the death of citizens of the
European countries and America, was extradited from France to Armenia.
Although he was not a citizen of Armenia, the President pardoned him.
I would not want to draw a parallel between the terrorist and our
officer. But our officer had served nine years of arrest. He was
punished, and the decision for a pardon is right from a legal point of
view. The decision taken by the President, and it is the right
decision. Azerbaijan has returned to his homeland of its officer. ”

***

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva – APA. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
expressed his attitude to the extradition to Azerbaijan and Pardons
Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov.

APA reports that at a press conference after meeting with NATO
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, President of Azerbaijan said
that Ramil Safarov was made in accordance with the European
Convention: “His pardon by the President with the Constitution of
Azerbaijan. From a political point of view is clear. Those who say the
abuse Azerbaijan convention, or do not see reality, or want to mislead
public opinion. Armenia should not use it to attack the settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan supports peaceful settlement of the
conflict. ”

KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS DAMAGED BY HUNGARY’S EXTRADITION OF KILLER SOLDIER – MINISTRY

Interfax
Sept 6 2012

The extradition by Hungary of Ramil Safarov who killed an Armenian
officer and his subsequent pardoning by the Azeri authorities have
caused serious damage to the Karabakh peace process, Armenian Foreign
Minister Eduard Nalbandian said.

“The Azeri-Hungarian deal has caused serious damage to the process
of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the efforts aimed
at strengthening regional stability and security,” Nalbandian said
on Tuesday at an emergency session of the Armenian parliament, which
focused on the suspension of diplomatic relations with Hungary.

The international community must not allow Azerbaijan “to continue
its reckless policy under the guise of a negotiating process,” he said.

“Armenia will continue its intense efforts in this area jointly with
international partners,” the minister said.

In the course of formal correspondence and communication between
Yerevan and Budapest Hungary had dismissed the possibility of Safarov’s
extradition to Azerbaijan, Nalbandian also said.

The relations between Yerevan and Budapest soured after the extradition
by Hungary on August 31 of Azeri soldier, Ramil Safarov, who was
sentenced in Budapest to life in prison without the right of pardon for
at least 30 years for the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian
in 2004.

Safarov was pardoned by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on the same
day that he was extradited.

Both Safarov and Margarian were in Budapest doing an English language
course under NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program.

On August 31, Armenia announced termination of its diplomatic relations
with Budapest over Safarov’s extradition to Azerbaijan.

AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENT DEFENDS KILLER’S PARDON

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Sept 7 2012
FL

The Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan’s president on Friday vehemently defended
his pardon of a military officer who murdered an Armenian officer
with an ax, a decision that has drawn strong international criticism.

Last week’s pardon of Ramil Safarov has aggravated tensions between
the two countries and raised concerns about resumption of fighting
over a separatist region of Azerbaijan that has been under Armenian
control since 1994.

Safarov killed the Armenian in 2004 while both were in Hungary on
a NATO language course. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but
Hungary repatriated him, saying Azerbaijan promised that he would
serve out his sentence at home.

But Safarov was pardoned immediately by Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliev upon his arrival in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku. He was even
promoted from lieutenant to major and given back wages for the years
he spent in Hungarian custody.

Aliev told a news conference Friday the pardon was allowed by the
constitution and that “the decision to pardon him is correct from
the legal viewpoint and is well-founded.”

The U.N.’s top human rights official, meanwhile, strongly criticized
the pardon for Safarov.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s spokesman, Rupert
Colville, told reporters Friday in Geneva that “ethnically motivated
hate crimes of this gravity should be deplored and properly punished.”

He added the U.N. hopes this won’t harm efforts to end the dispute
between ex-Soviet neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia over the
Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

Aliev’s pardon of Safarov has angered Armenia and raised concerns
about a possible resumption of hostilities.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and some adjacent territory
has been under the control of Armenian troops and local ethnic Armenian
forces since a 1994 cease-fire. That agreement ended a six-year war
that killed an estimated 30,000 people and drove about 1 million from
their homes.

NATO CHIEF CONSIDERING WAR OVER RELEASE OF COMMON CRIMINAL BY HUNGARY

Scrape TV
Sept 7 2012
Canada

Emil Uliya, International Correspondent

Baku, Azerbaijan – Sometimes small things start with the smallest of
events. Sometimes that’s pretty cool, the way a thing can evolve from a
small kernel of an idea or an event and eventually unfurl itself into
something dynamic. When that thing it unfurls into is war, however,
it’s not quite as cool.

That is exactly what might be happening right now between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The small kernel in that particular case is the release
of Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov who was convicted in 2004 of killing
an Armenian police officer. Last week, Hungary released Safarov to
Azerbaijan which had said it would keep him in prison but did not.

That forced Armenia to suspend political ties with Hungary and create
a real political mess.

That mess is apparently just start to get worse and worse, so much so
that the NATO secretary-general. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has started
to openly express concerns about stability in the region that really
hasn’t been particularly stable at any time. Hungary meanwhile has
been kind of indifferent to the whole thing owing in part to the fact
that they had actually forgotten that Armenia was even a country
until relations were suspended and because they just don’t really
need to care.

“The pardon damages trust and doesn’t contribute to the peace process.

Azerbaijan’s shameful act seriously endangers the security of the
entire south Caucasus,” said Fogh Rasmussen said during a visit to
Armenia which is indeed an actual country.

Fogh Rasmussen is due to visit Azerbaijan on Friday provided he is
allowed in the country after those comments and that war has not
broken out between the two countries.

It’s expected that Fogh Rasmussen will say basically the exact opposite
of what he just said while on the other side of the border.

Hungary has not commented because they really don’t care.

“It would be a real shame if war were to break out between these two
countries, I guess, yeah let’s go with that. A real shame, a tragedy
even on a scale few people can even imagine. That sounds about right
and totally what we would say if these were two countries that actually
mattered,” said Scrape TV International analyst Gustav Hander. “I mean
it’s not like these countries are going to spark a wider conflict,
some kind of dramatic war that could engulf multiple nations, at
least not ones that matter, unless of course NATO gets involved and
they really shouldn’t get involved. The Secretary -General should
probably just keep his mouth shut.”

To be fair Safarov did hack the police officer to bits, which is pretty
brutal, but hardly worth going to war over in a civilized country.

“I suppose if this guy was some kind of mad killing machine, some
kind of Armenian assassin that could eventually kill everyone in
the country it would be valid, the war, but he isn’t that I don’t
think. I would bet that no one like that exists anywhere in the world
but I could be wrong, but probably not,” continued Hander. “Of course
these two countries are getting worked up and are risking the deaths
of so many more and that could lead to war whether or not this guy
is a killing machine. That makes sense and shows how little regard
for life they really have, though to be fair Armenians lives clearly
aren’t worth as much as other people’s otherwise this guy never would
have been released.”

When reached for comment Hungarian officials just shrugged which is
really hard to understand over the phone.

ILL WINDS BLOW FOR VIKTOR THE TROUBLEMAKER
By Dariusz Kalan

EU Observer
Sept 7 2012

Related
Axe murder complicates EU-Azerbaijan love affair
Hungarian PM to EU: ‘We won’t be a colony’
Azerbaijan tests EU credibility

BRUSSELS – Viktor Orban has been behaving like a classic
realpolitiker: instead of cooperating closely with the EU in its time
of crisis, he has chosen to develop contacts with rich and generous
regional powers from the East which do not impose any political
commitments on his country let alone show interest in its
constitutional transformation.

Shaken by its poor economic and angry at the EU’s criticism his
reforms, Orban’s Hungary has been chatting up non-democratic states
that demonstrate an openness for investment and financial aid. This
eastern focus already enjoys a firm conceptual footing–the so-called
Eastern Wind doctrine.

Over the last two years, Budapest’s reinforced diplomatic efforts have
run from the Northeast through Central Asia and Transcaucasia to the
Persian Gulf. Missions of high officials made visits to Brunei, China,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.

Azerbaijan too has featured prominently. It is not hard to see why. In
2011 the value of Hungary’s trade exchange with Azerbaijan (â~B¬52.8mn)
was twice as big as with Georgia and almost five times higher than
with Armenia.

Orban himself was twice in Baku, and his collaborators more often. One
of his closest confidants, Peter Szijjarto, was promoted to the
position of vice-chairman of the Hungarian-Azerbaijani
Intergovernmental Economic Commission.

The intensification of Hungarian-Azerbaijani relations has been
especially noticeable in the last few months. In May, the Hungarian
Economic Center was established in Baku with the aim of supporting
small- and medium-sized businesses. A month later, Orban went to
Azerbaijan to meet president Ilham Aliyev, a move reciprocated by
Szijjarto in July. At the end of August, the weekly Figyelo revealed
that Baku had agreed to buy Hungary’s public bonds worth â~B¬2-3 billion.

And it is not just narrow economic interests that drive the
government. Security issues play a role too. In September 2010, Orban
brought Hungary into the Azerbaijani-Georgian-Romanian project of AGRI
pipeline. In the same breath he maintains his support for the Nabucco
pipeline, which is the second possible route for Azerbaijani gas to
Europe.

The decision of his government to release Ramil Safarov, a former
lieutenant in the Azerbaijani army, who was sentenced to life
imprisonment on charges of premeditated murder with extreme cruelty of
an Armenian colleague, seemed to be the natural further step in
deepening friendly relations with Baku.

However, no one in Budapest predicted that this would result in an
immediate and firm reaction by Armenia, which severed diplomatic ties
with Hungary and put the army on a state of alert toward its neighbour
Azerbaijan, with whom it is locked in a frozen conflict.

The first declarations from Budapest suggest that Hungarian
authorities were not quite aware of the geopolitical consequences of
this prisoner transfer. They acted in accordance with the relevant
Convention of the Council of Europe. But so did Aliyev, who not only
pardoned Safarov–the new national hero in Azerbaijan–but also promoted
him to the rank of major and gave him a flat.

No matter, Hungary is already the greatest loser in the affair. If it
is true that Budapest has been cheated by Aliyev, who promised that
Safarov’s sentence would be continued in Baku, Orban’s naivety will be
brought to light. It will call into question the government’s
competence to carry out the policy of such a broad opening to the
East.

Orban might, of course, receive an apology from Azerbaijan in the form
of further economic concessions, but this in turn will have a very
negative impact on the country’s image in the West, making it
extremely hard for Hungary to throw off its reputation as a country
that subordinates its foreign policy to economic interests.

Moreover, if blame does shift to Baku, a worse scenario may come to
pass. Its machinations could be cited by Armenia in order to awaken
the frozen Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. For
Orban–it would be an image and political catastrophe.

The best hope is for Budapest to maintain the ambiguity about who is
responsible – hardly the behaviour of a reliable European partner.

The writer is an analyst at the Polish Institute of International
Affairs in Warsaw