STATEMENT
BY THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

At 5:30 am on February 19, Lieutenant Gurgen Margarian of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, posted to Budapest to participate in the NATO Partnership for Peace Programme's English language training course, was brutally murdered in his sleep -- axed by an Azerbaijani military officer attending the same course. His attempt on the life of a second officer of the Armenian Armed Forces was blocked.

The murderer has been arrested by the Hungarian Police. Representatives of the Armenian Embassy in Vienna are in Budapest, working with the police and monitoring the situation.

This crime is the logical consequence of the anti-Armenian hysteria that has been left unreined by the Azeri authorities over the years and of the warmongering militarist propaganda of recent months, which consistently infects all of Azeri society.

It is evident that such state policy has crossed the bounds and officials representing Azerbaijan abroad, can commit cold-blooded murder.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia expresses its outrage and most vehemently condemns this crime. The Ministry expects that the international organizations will appropriately assess this crime and react. At the same time, we demand that the Hungarian authorities punish the perpetrator to the maximum extent of the law.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry expresses its condolences to the family, relatives and colleagues of Lieutenant Gurgen Margarian.