Armenian NGOs censure politicians for statements towards Azerbaijan people

The Yerevan Press Club, the Armenian Helsinki Committee, the Civil Society Institute, and the Caucasian Center for Peacemaking Initiatives issued a joint statement on the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian by an Azerbaijan serviceman in Budapest.

"We, like all our compatriots, are deeply shocked at the barbarian murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian by Azerbaijan servicemen Ramil Safarov," reads the statement.

At the same time, the NGOs raise their concern about statements by some Armenian politicians regarding the incident in Budapest. "In particular, the chairman of the standing parliamentary Foreign Relations Commission, Armen Rustamian, and leader of the Armenian Republican Party's parliamentary faction, Galust Saakian, permitted themselves inadmissible generalizations towards the Azerbaijan people as a whole when speaking about the murderer of Gurgen Markarian during an action in memory of victims of the Sumgait pogroms. These statements can create new obstacles to negotiations for the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict and normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Fanning anti-Armenian sentiments in Azerbaijan and consequences of it deserve the strongest condemnation, but they can justify in no way the spread of racist, chauvinistic ideas, alien to our society," reads the statement.

Editors note: See also the article "Azerbaijan officer kills Armenian colleague at NATO courses in Hungary".