PolicyMic: New crisis has erupted in Caucasus region
Armenians are furious after Hungary released Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov, PolicyMic writes.
A new crisis has erupted in the Caucasus region. Hungary extradited Ramil Safarov, a 35-year-old Azerbaijani officer who had killed a sleeping Armenian serviceman named Gourgen Margaryan in February of 2004, to Azerbaijan. At the time, the two officers were participating in English language courses organized by NATO in Budapest. In 2006, Hungary’s court sentenced Safarov to life in prison for the murder, the source says.
According to Hungarian authorities, they agreed to return Safarov only after receiving assurances that his sentence would be enforced. If that was the agreement, then obviously Azerbaijan cheated its Hungarian partners, because Safarov was pardoned right after his arrival to Baku.
Armenians protested against the Hungarian diplomatic missions in Yerevan, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, Paris, London, Warsaw, Bucharest, Nicosia, and New Dehli. There were two protests in Washington.
The White House responded immediately: NSC Spokesman Tommy Vietor stated that President Obama is deeply concerned by the announcement that the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned Ramil Safarov following his return from Hungary. “We are communicating to Azerbaijani authorities our disappointment about the decision to pardon Safarov. This action is contrary to ongoing efforts to reduce regional tensions and promote reconciliation,” Tommy Vietor stated.
According to the website, thousands of Hungarians protested the government's decision as well. The rumors that Azerbaijan will invest two billion dollars in the Hungarian economy are often indicated as a factor which facilitated Budapest’s decision to extradite Safarov.
"Hungary is in crisis and they are not capable of getting enough money from Europe. They could have agreed to take the petrodollars of Azerbaijan," an anonymous Hungarian journalist was quoted as saying by PolicyMic.