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Armenia suspends diplomatic relations, official contacts with Hungary

The officers were studying at English language courses of the Hungarian National Defense University under the NATO Partnership for Peace Program
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

YEREVAN, August 31 (Itar-Tass) —— Armenia suspends diplomatic relations and official contacts with Hungary, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at an urgent meeting with the ambassadors of UN member countries and heads of Armenian offices of international organizations on Friday.

The reason is the Hungarian decision to extradite Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov, “who brutally killed Armenian Senior Lieutenant Gurgen Markarian in Budapest for xenophobia motives in 2004,” he said.

The officers were studying at English language courses of the Hungarian National Defense University under the NATO Partnership for Peace Program. Safarov killed sleeping Markarian with an axe. He was extradited to Azerbaijan and pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Friday.

“The authorities of Hungary, a member country of the European Union and NATO, made a deal with the Azerbaijani authorities. As a result, the killer returned to Baku and was freed. The Hungarian authorities must understand that they made a big mistake,” the Armenian president said.

He said at a meeting of the Armenian National Security Council he had ordered the defense minister and the General Staff chief to put the armed forces on the alert.

It was also announced that Armenian Parliament Speaker Ovik Abramian had delayed an official visit to Hungary scheduled for September. He was supposed to make the visit by the invitation of the Hungarian parliament head, the Armenian National Assembly reported.