Armenian community of Hungary is expecting a reply from Hungarian Defense Ministry on installing a memorial plaque to Gurgen Margaryan, an Armenian army lieutenant who was brutally murdered in Budapest by an Azerbaijani army lieutenant Ramil Safarov, Nikoghos Hakobyan, Deputy chairman of an Armenian organization told Armenian News – NEWS.am.
The Armenian community had earlier announced plans to install a memorial plaque on the building where Margaryan was killed.
Hakobyan said it is impossible to install the memorial plaque directly in the murder site for technical reasons. “We have sent a letter to Hungary’s Ministry of Defense. They promised to provide another place for installing the memorial plaque. Now we’re waiting for a reply from the Ministry,” he said.
Referring to the situation with the memorial plaque project, Hakobyan said the final version will depend on the place provided, its size and surrounding territory.
Lieutenant of the Armenian Armed Forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was axed to death, while asleep, by a fellow Azerbaijani army lieutenant Ramil Safarov, in Budapest during a three-month English language course within the framework of a NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace program. The reason behind the violent crime was the fact that Margaryan was Armenian.
Budapest District Court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment, precluding the possibility of pardon for 30 years.
On August 31, 2012, after secret talks between the authorities of Azerbaijan and Hungary, Safarov was extradited to Azerbaijan and pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
That very day Armenia suspended its diplomatic ties with Hungary.