This was Friday,pretty much out of the blue for everyone, causing massive headdesks for everyone knowing a bit about Armenia and Azerbaijan. This caused riots in Yerevan, where the Hungarian flag has been ripped off from it's post and trampled on Saturday and burned on Sunday (a new national record IIRC). The general reaction of the world at large was some 'dude WTF?', even from the White House, within 12 hours (another new record). Armenian hackers cracked a few Azeri webpages and there were reports of clashes in Karabakh. The Hungarian Government started the usual frantic damage control attempts, right out of some bad comedy by claiming various interesting things, like it was legal according to international law(it wasn't), legal according to Hungarian law (it wasn't), it considers the case closed (and everybody consider it open). The possible reason behind the deal:BBC wrote:31 August 2012 Last updated at 18:47 GMT
Armenia cuts ties with Hungary over Azerbaijan killer pardon
Armenia says it is severing diplomatic ties with Hungary after the release of an Azeri army officer convicted of murdering an Armenian soldier.
The Azeri serviceman, Ramil Safarov, was given a life sentence for hacking Armenian Gurgen Markarian to death with an axe in 2004 in Budapest.
On Friday, Safarov was flown to Baku and pardoned, despite Baku's assurances that his sentence would be enforced.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bitter war over an enclave in the early 1990s.
Armenia said on Friday that Hungary had made a "grave mistake" in sending Safarov back to Azerbaijan.
"With their joint actions, Azerbaijan and Hungary opened the door to the recurrence of such crimes," President Serzh Sarkisian said in comments release by his press office.
"I cannot put up with this. The republic of Armenia cannot put up with this," the president added.
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.
Safarov killed Gurgen Markarian at a military academy in Budapest, where both servicemen attended English-language courses organised by Nato.
During his trial in Hungary, Safarov said that the Azeri-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabakh and insults from the Armenian officer were at the root of his actions.
Hungary and Azerbaijan have so far made no public comment on the case.
Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former Soviet republics, fought a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the early 1990s, which left some 30,000 people dead, and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Armenia-backed authorities are currently controlling Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan.
Despite a 1994 ceasefire, skirmishes continue on the borders of the disputed territory.
Bolding mine. Although both parties deny the existence of the loan proposal, it's a seems rather logical, because the Hungarian government screwed the economy big time and the only usual client who'd lend us money on for reasonably low rates are the IMF, who'll force Orbán to make policy changes, which make him look like the idiot. That's the best explanation, because even if it's true looks like Orbán was fooled by Alianov, making him the biggest loser of the year.BBC wrote:3 September 2012 Last updated at 16:41 GMT
Azeri killer Ramil Safarov: Concern over Armenian anger
International criticism and concern has been growing following the release of a convicted murderer after his transfer from Hungary to Azerbaijan.
Russia condemned Azerbaijan's decision to pardon Ramil Safarov, who hacked an Armenian to death in Hungary in 2004.
Other groups called for calm and said the incident should not derail peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
However, Armenia's president 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 pelted the mission with eggs.
Promoted
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 Azeri-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s, and insults from the Armenian officer were at the root of his actions.
'No deal'
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.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday said his country acted within international law, and denied there was any secret deal with Baku.
Reuters had reported a week earlier that talks had been held over a loan from Azerbaijan to Hungary of 2-3 billion euros.
Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former Soviet republics, fought over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s. The conflict left some 30,000 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Armenia-backed authorities currently control the region, which lies within Azerbaijan.
Despite a 1994 ceasefire, skirmishes continue on the borders of the disputed territory.
Notes:
- Yes, the professional foreign affairs people knew that if Safarov has been extradited to Azerbaijan, this will happen. That's why every extradition request by Azerbaijan has been shot down since 2006. They were either ignored, sidelined or replaced by Orbán and his closest bootlickers.
- as for Monday afternoon Russia sided with Armenia on the affair, which is about as surprising that water is wet. This won't be good for Hungary, because they managed to annoy Russia this summer when they pandered to the extreme right, by starting to favour nazi or nazi sympathizer writers in the education and getting behind a re-internment of one in Romania. This going to get interesting the next gas import deal from Russia ...
- Orbán practically isolated himself from the rest of the western world. The time they agreed on it with Alianov, he was on a diplomatic tour, visiting the only countries still willing to talk to him. Post soviet bastions of democracy in the Caucasus and Central Asia...
