Szeván Sarkisian
The national council of ethnic Armenians in Hungary plans to file a legal claim against the Hungarian government’s controversial decision to transfer convicted Azeri murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan, Blikk reportedon Tuesday. The tabloid quoted council head Szeván Sarkisian (left) as saying the charges include abuse of power and bribery.
Meanwhile, Armenian portal news.am quoted another ethnic Armenian in Hungary saying that the only way Yerevan would agree to re-establish diplomatic ties with Budapest – which Hungarian foreign minister János Martonyi recently said was a high priority for the government – would be an official recognition by Hungary that the World War I-era mass killing of Armenians constituted genocide.
Germany, Poland and Slovakia are currently the only Central European nations Among the 21 state worldwide that have officially recognized the killings as genocide. Such recognition has been strenuously opposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan.
There are an estimated 3,500 to 30,000 ethnic Armenians living in Hungary, half of whom speak Armenian as their native language, and there are currently 31 Armenian “self-governments” operating in the country.