Murder and Release
Murder and Release
Chapter 4 discusses the series of insults connected with the murder of an Armenian soldier by Ramil Safarov, an Azeri army lieutenant, during a NATO Partnership for Peace course at a military school in Budapest. According to the murderer, he reacted to the insulting behavior of Armenian officers who laughed at him behind his back and the general assault on Azeri people in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh. He was sentenced to life in prison in Hungary, but was extradited to Azerbaijan after assurances were given by the Azerbaijani government that his sentence would be enforced. Upon his return to Baku, Safarov was given a hero’s welcome, received an official pardon from President Ilham Aliyev, was promoted to the rank of major, and was given a flat and all the pay he had lost since his arrest. These actions were perceived as power and identity insults by the Armenian government and people. Hundreds of Armenians protested outside Hungary’s consulates in Yerevan and outside Hungarian embassies in other world capitals, burning Hungarian flags.
Keywords: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Nagorno-Karabakh, terrorism, war, conflict, murder, insult
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