Comments on: So I Pardoned an Axe Murderer

So I Pardoned an Axe Murderer

orrnyereg — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:12:47 -0800

In 2004, Gurgen Margaryan (from Armenia) and Ramil Safarov (from Azerbaijan) were in Budapest attending a NATO-sponsored language training. While Margaryan was sleeping, Safarov hacked him to death with an axe. Safarov, who never denied his culpability and stated he only committed the crime because Margaryan was Armenian, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006.

Late last month, the Hungarian government led by Viktor Orban extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan with the understanding that he would continue his sentence there. When Safarov arrived in Baku he was promptly pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev and given a hero's welcome. The Armenian government is understandably furious and has broken off diplomatic relations with Hungary. Overwhelmed by bad press, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's internal research department suggested this response: "Let's Dare to Be Stupid!". To wit, that no one in the Foreign Ministry had any expertise in the Caucasus region and didn't bother to get any assurances from the Azeris. The decision to extradite Safarov was being considered in tandem with negotiations for the Azeris to purchase 2-3 billion Euros'-worth of Hungarian government bonds. The purchase did not go through, however, because the relevant Azeri government agency could not purchase such a large amount of junk bonds. Armenia and Azerbaijan have a long-standing conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh, which began in 1988 and ended in a ceasefire in 1994. During the conflict approximately 800,000 Azeris from Armenia and Karabakh and 230,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan were displaced. Safarov's pardon and the possibility it raises for future conflict in the region has been criticized by NATO, the United States, and others. Hungarian Spectrum has been all over this, as you'll see from the links. The Contrarian Hungarian has more on the blowback against Hungary here and here. On Viktor Orban and Hungary--previously and previouslier.

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:30:19 -0800

Holy crap, that's insane. Why is Metafilter the first place I've heard this?

By: figurant

figurant — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:33:32 -0800

Love the post title. So this is what the start of a minor war might look like, yeah?

By: Sleeper

Sleeper — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:36:03 -0800

Something is rotten in the states of Azerbaijan and Hungary. (Denmark, you're clean.)

By: jaduncan

jaduncan — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:40:31 -0800

An actual comment made to me by an Armenian while I was escaping the 2008 Georgia/Russia war: "It's a shame that Georgia and Russia fight, they are both Orthodox countries. We should all join together and invade Azerbaijan, they are not even Christian."

By: Copronymus

Copronymus — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:42:51 -0800

By: Nomyte

Nomyte — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:48:32 -0800

Remind me who won Eurovision this year.

By: Joakim Ziegler

Joakim Ziegler — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:56:31 -0800

Sleeper: "(Denmark, you're clean.)" I know some Danish people, and I can categorically deny this.

By: jaduncan

jaduncan — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:59:04 -0800

Making him a major for no reason beyond that he murdered a guy in his sleep is really just flipping the bird at one and all. The Azeri leadership are getting cheap domestic popularity. The NDP (Azeri nationalist party) made him their 2005 man of the year way before he was sent back. It's clear that the right wing loved him and it makes it somewhat difficult for Orban to say that this wasn't a predictable outcome. I see Orban is bringing the same competence and subtlety to international affairs that has been his mark domestically[1] though; even the most stupid corrupt official normally waits for the money to actually clear before handing over the goods. [1] See the 2011 constitutional changes, for example.

By: vac2003

vac2003 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:58:08 -0800

Thank you for posting this so well, orrnyereg. The state of Hungary these days would be funny if it wasn't so sad. The more the rest of the world knows about it the better.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:58:16 -0800

Humans are bloodthirsty apes with investment portfolios.

By: BlueHorse

BlueHorse — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:08:43 -0800

Stavros, so true. We are human, but we are not humane.

By: 1adam12

1adam12 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:28:43 -0800

The Caucasus are like the Balkans except the world didn't bother paying attention. Armies fight and countries have disagreements, but I don't understand this at all. I meet my country's "enemies" all the time at international conferences, and mostly we go for beers and talk about how dumb our respective governments are. This kind of fanatical nationalism is dangerous, and it's going to bite the Azeris sooner or later.

By: k8t

k8t — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:32:13 -0800

One of the articles linked is my own, so I'm glad someone else posted it. I do want to point out, as someone quite involved with this, that there is the beginning of a movement amongst Azerbaijanis to argue AGAINST the Safarov hero worship. This story isn't as simple as this (pretty well done) FPP makes it out to be. I'm reading this stuff non-stop in the local languages blowing up my Facebook and Twitter and things are changing by the hour.

By: k8t

k8t — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:33:54 -0800

And FWIW, in the 15 years I've been involved in this region, this year is the most worried I've been about war resuming.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:52:01 -0800

I just can't comprehend hating somebody for being from a place.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 03:14:56 -0800

The decision to extradite Safarov was being considered in tandem with negotiations for the Azeris to purchase 2-3 billion Euros'-worth of Hungarian government bonds. The purchase did not go through, however, because the relevant Azeri government agency could not purchase such a large amount of junk bonds. [Facepalm] It seems that the Azeris knew the Rules of the Con. Viktor Orban, not so much. "Dare to be Stupid!", indeed...

By: corb

corb — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:57:16 -0800

Giving Safarov a promotion is terrifyingly brazen. Up until that point, there's a tiny sliver of plausible deniability that Azerbaijan can just claim they're taking care of a mentally ill soldier who did a terrible thing. Making him a major for no reason beyond that he murdered a guy in his sleep is really just flipping the bird at one and all. I'm not justifying this, but there is a trend towards militaries promoting people who are prisoners-of-war, etc. Apparently, the guy in his confession said that he did his duty as a soldier whose job was to kill Armenians. By pardoning him, the president was essentially accepting that, saying that he did this as part of a war with Armenia. Thus, paying him his back pay and promoting him for the promotions he missed would be normal. Still really messed up, but the promotions/back pay is not the crazy part.

By: corb

corb — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:01:40 -0800

To quote from his confession, (admittedly translated from Hungarian to Russian and then to English, so it explains the issues)

I'm being a soldier since 14 years now, but I cannot give an answer whether I would kill if I would be a civil person. I didn't wondering on the question whether I would kill Armenians if I would be a civil. My job is to kill all, because until they live we will suffer. This conflict is not a new one, goes back to 100-200 years.

By: jaduncan

jaduncan — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:07:23 -0800

the guy in his confession said that he did his duty as a soldier whose job was to kill Armenians. By pardoning him, the president was essentially accepting that, saying that he did this as part of a war with Armenia. Thus, paying him his back pay and promoting him for the promotions he missed would be normal. "He gives 110%, even outside of the conventional workplace."

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:10:34 -0800

I've long thought that there was a non-negligible chance that Viktor Orban would trigger a vicious war. I just never expected that it would be in the Caucasus.

By: Bulgaroktonos

Bulgaroktonos — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:39:47 -0800

Remind me who won Eurovision this year. Sweden. Azerbaijan won last year.

By: ocschwar

ocschwar — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:48:25 -0800

Dare to be Stupid seems to be the Hungarian national policy in a lot of realms nowadays.,

By: ocschwar

ocschwar — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:55:26 -0800

I'm not justifying this, but there is a trend towards militaries promoting people who are prisoners-of-war, etc. Apparently, the guy in his confession said that he did his duty as a soldier whose job was to kill Armenians. By pardoning him, the president was essentially accepting that, saying that he did this as part of a war with Armenia. Which is a brazen slap in the face to NATO, that alliance that forced the Greeks and Turks to play nice.

By: jaduncan

jaduncan — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:07:49 -0800

Which is a brazen slap in the face to NATO, that alliance that forced the Greeks and Turks to play nice. Being nice to NATO is more a Georgian obsession as an attempt to counterbalance Russia. I am constantly surprised by the Georgian willingness to believe that the Germans and French won't veto an obligation that risks a NATO-Russia conflict to stand up for 5 million non-Europeans, but none the less Misha keeps trying to get in. The Azeris are in a we-both-hate-the-Armenians formal defence alliance with the Turks, and the Armenians are hooked up with the Russians. Nobody to the south of Georgia gives a shit about NATO, and it's not entirely clear why they should.

By: k8t

k8t — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:29:53 -0800

That confession was translated by Armenians and is hosted on a Nagorno Karabakh site. I'm not confident that it is authentic.

By: incandissonance

incandissonance — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 08:42:06 -0800

If we gave Armenia one nuclear bomb where would they use it?

By: zaelic

zaelic — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:59:29 -0800

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:21:10 -0800

These countries are essentially run by a mafia, are they not? Thugs of little subtlety.

By: k8t

k8t — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:36:22 -0800

Yeah, these countries are run by a few wealthy people who benefit greatly from the frozen conflict as to distract the populations from noticing that their leaders are stealing from them.

By: k8t

k8t — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:38:10 -0800

If you gave the Armenian government a nuclear bomb, they'd probably sell it so that they could buy more expensive cars, gaudy statues, and McMansions.

By: jacalata

jacalata — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:55:29 -0800

Holy crap I think I got whiplash when I reached the 'more inside'.