Stating that details of Safarov’s crime can hardly count heroic, Azerbaijan’s Radio Liberty points that things needs to be viewed from a different angle as well. It states that: … for many people in the South Caucasus nation of Azerbaijan, the picture is not so simple. Not when the assailant is an Azerbaijani whose home town was brutally seized by Armenian forces while he was still a teenager. Not when the victim is an Armenian who allegedly insulted the Azerbaijani flag.”
Employing these words as an excuse for greeting Safarov as a hero Radio Liberty states “We know that (glorifying Safarov) surprised both Armenians and many onlookers on Safarov’s extradition from Hungary. The lieutenant was not only granted an immediate pardon, he was also promoted to the rank of major, presented back pay and an apartment. Many Azerbaijanis think that Margaryan had mocked on the Azerbaijani flag. Others say the Armenian was not even asleep at the moment of attack and that he had provoked that. But there is no evidence from Safarov’s 2006 trial in Budapest that either claim is true.”
The article explains Azerbaijani domestic fanfare for Safarov noting “nearly two decades later, the unresolved dispute remains the focus of international negotiations whose partners, including the United States and Russia, have frowned at Azerbaijan’s zealous embrace of Safarov.”
However, the article quotes Erkin Gaderli, a lawyer and a member of the Republican Alternative opposition group- “no one” in Azerbaijan “seriously” thinks of Safarov as a hero.” Meanwhile public opinion comes to contradict this. In the Vox pop from streets societal admiration continues remaining with Safarov.
