Photo-collage from the '88—'94 Following 's release and of convicted axe-murderer , , who subsequently pardoned, announced it is "ready for war". The declaration is in-response to Safarov's pardon and promotion, despite the Azeri officer having been given a life sentence — with a minimum jail term of 30 years, by authorities in 2006. Safarov was found guilty of the 2004 murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest , when both Safarov and Margaryan were attending a Partnership for Peace programme. Safarov killed Margaryan in his sleep with an axe; the attack allegedly stemming from a desire to avenge Azeris killed during the and being mocked by Margaryan and another Armenian. With the USSR's collapse, Armenia and Azerbaijan re-emerged as independent states — as-did old rivalries over territory. Between 1988 and 1994 over thirty thousand people died, and a million were displaced in bitter ethnic fighting between Armenians and Azeris over the enclave of ; despite an brokered ceasefire, no final armistice has been signed and intermittent violence between them the two states continues. Nagorno-Karabakh remains legally part of Azerbaijan, but under effective Armenian control. On multiple occasions president Ilham Aliyev has stated his willingness to resort to force in order to assert Azeri rule, with oil wealth tipping any local arms race in favour of Azerbaijan.
Photo-collage from the '88—'94 Following 's release and of convicted axe-murderer , who subsequently pardoned, announced it is "ready for war". The declaration is in-response to Safarov's pardon and promotion, despite the Azeri officer having been given a life sentence — with a minimum jail term of 30 years, by authorities in 2006. Safarov was found guilty of the 2004 murder of Armenian officer in , when both Safarov and Margaryan were attending a Partnership for Peace programme. Safarov killed Margaryan in his sleep with an axe; the attack allegedly stemming from a desire to avenge Azeris killed during the and being mocked by Margaryan and another Armenian. With the USSR's collapse, Armenia and Azerbaijan re-emerged as independent states — as-did old rivalries over territory. Between 1988 and 1994 over thirty thousand people died, and a million were in bitter ethnic fighting between Armenians and Azeris over the enclave of ; despite an brokered ceasefire, no final armistice has been signed and intermittent violence between them the two states continues. Nagorno-Karabakh remains legally part of Azerbaijan, but under effective Armenian control. On multiple occasions president Ilham Aliyev has stated his willingness to resort to force in order to assert Azeri rule, with oil wealth tipping any local arms race in favour of Azerbaijan.
D
,
R
Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest
in
D
displaced