Turkey says it has nothing to do with Safarov extradition

September 6, 2012 - 12:11 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies any connection with the extradition and release of Azeri assassin Ramil Safarov.

“We are perplexed that the reactions by the Armenian Diaspora in the United States, following the extradition by the Hungarian authorities and subsequent pardoning by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev of Ramil Safarov, who had been serving a life sentence in a Hungarian jail for killing Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan during a NATO training event in Budapest are also being directed at Turkey,” the Ministry said in a statement.

“These efforts and baseless claims targeting Turkey, which has not been involved at any stage of the process, are nothing more than another attempt at defamation by ill-intentioned circles that habitually confront Turkey in every platform,” it said.

Gurgen Margaryan

On February 19, 2004, Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani participant, lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course in the framework of Partnership for Peace NATO-sponsored program. In accordance with Budapest District Court sentence dated April 13, 2006, Ramil Safarov was life imprisoned for murdering the Armenian officer.

On February 22, 2007, Budapest Court rejected the Azerbaijani military officer's appeal against a life sentence. The appeal court ruled that the decision brought by Budapest District Court against 30-year-old Lieutenant Ramil Safarov, should stand.

On August 31, 2012, Hungary extradited Safarov back to Azerbaijan, where he was promptly pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.