Azerbaijan has promoted convicted axe-murderer Ramil Safarov to the military rank of colonel, a man who killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan during a NATO training program in Budapest in 2004 and was later freed, pardoned, and celebrated by Azerbaijan’s leadership after his extradition from Hungary. Azerbaijani media were instructed to avoid publicizing the promotion, which surfaced Monday through Azerbaijani-language social media posts and secondary outlets.
The promotion appeared on social media and was shared by several secondary Azerbaijani-language outlets. Azerbaijani media were instructed not to publicize the development, and Russian-language Azerbaijani outlets did not report on it. Safarov had previously been promoted to lieutenant colonel in 2017.
In February 2004, English-language courses were held in Budapest within the framework of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program. The program began on January 11, 2004, with participants from both Armenia and Azerbaijan, including Armenian officers Gurgen Margaryan and Hayk Makuchyan, and Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. Margaryan had served in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and later in the Ministry of Defense. On the night of February 19, Safarov entered an unlocked room and killed the sleeping Margaryan with an axe. He then attempted to reach Makuchyan, but the attack failed because Makuchyan’s door was locked. Margaryan is buried in the Yerablur military pantheon in Yerevan.
Investigators later documented the extreme brutality of the attack. A postmortem examination determined that Safarov struck Margaryan at least sixteen times in the head with an axe, nearly severing his neck, and stabbed him multiple times in the chest. Margaryan’s Hungarian roommate, who awoke to muffled sounds, recalled seeing Safarov standing over the bed holding the axe, with blood throughout the room. Safarov told him he had “no issue” with him, delivered additional strikes to Margaryan, and walked out with an expression suggesting satisfaction with what he had done. Safarov admitted during interrogation and in court that he carried out the killing because Margaryan was Armenian. The Hungarian judge who sentenced him highlighted the premeditated nature of the crime, its extreme violence, and Safarov’s complete lack of remorse.
On April 13, 2006, a Budapest court sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 30 years, thanks in part to the efforts of Armenian lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan. During the trial, Safarov changed his testimony, retracting earlier statements and claiming he had a poor command of Russian and English.
During a visit to Yerevan in 2008, Hungary’s then foreign minister Kinga Goncz stated that returning Safarov to Azerbaijan was a possible option, although Hungary had no obligation to do so. She noted that Safarov’s act had deeply shocked Hungarian society and emphasized that any decisions regarding his case would be taken with serious consideration, including concerns about whether he would actually serve his life sentence in Azerbaijan.
Hungarian authorities later reached an agreement with Azerbaijani officials, which led to Safarov’s extradition in 2012. Hungary later maintained that the subsequent pardon was the sovereign decision of Azerbaijan, even as the extradition continued to draw criticism. Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary after the transfer. When Safarov arrived in Baku on August 31, 2012, he was immediately pardoned and declared exempt from the remainder of his sentence. Azerbaijani authorities granted him state-funded housing, back pay for the years he had been imprisoned, a government salary, and a series of rank promotions that continued in the years that followed. At the time, Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Elmira Suleymanova said, “Safarov should serve as an example for Azerbaijani youth.”
In 2017, investigative reporting by the Hungarian outlet Átlátszó.hu and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) identified a transfer of more than seven million dollars into a Hungarian bank account linked to an offshore company reportedly associated with Azerbaijani interests. The timing of the transfer coincided with the period surrounding Safarov’s extradition, raising questions in the investigations about the circumstances that preceded his release. The reports did not establish an official or legal conclusion regarding the purpose of the funds.
The pardon prompted concern from NATO and several European governments, which indicated that Azerbaijan’s actions undermined confidence in training programs conducted under the Partnership for Peace framework. Safarov’s elevation within Azerbaijan’s military ranks, combined with official statements praising him as a model for Azerbaijani youth, underscores the systematic anti-Armenian sentiment embedded in Azerbaijan’s political and military institutions. His glorification by state officials remains one of the clearest demonstrations of how ethnically motivated violence against Armenians is rewarded rather than condemned in Baku.
The case has continued to resonate deeply among Armenians, who view the murder and its aftermath as a defining example of the danger facing Armenians in the region and the consequences of international misjudgment. Public expressions of remembrance have consistently emphasized that Hungary’s decision to extradite Safarov enabled a hate-driven murderer to walk free and be celebrated. Armenians have made clear that Gurgen Margaryan’s memory will never be forgotten and that the full reality of the crime must remain visible to the world.
In December 2022, Armenia and Hungary restored diplomatic relations.
