As soon as Karabakh events took place, the Soviet thinking was launched. Battalion commanders and “political leaders” were ordered in an urgent way to hold lectures on “indestructibility of friendship of people” propaganda and propagation. At the end of every week the colonel of the political department of the regiment surnamed Martirosov came to a military unit and asked about the work in process. Once he asked one of the battalion commanders: “Mayor Kuznetsov, how do you carry out propaganda among soldiers?” The mayor proudly answered: Comrade Colonel, I have distributed books on the history of Armenia among them and they are reading these books for the time being. Colonel Martirosov made a gesture unusual for a militant. He hit his head with two hands and said: “Kuznetsov, your soldiers will become dashnaks in a couple of hours. Immediately go and take these books from them.” It is necessary to admit that I got very interested and took several similar books from a library. While reading “Great Armenia”, “From sea to sea”, “Ann’s drugstore”, “Tigran the first” and other books, a political map of the world appeared before eyes. This small nation, with under 6 million people, wished to change borders of Asia. I have not met an Armenian who would not like to attach Karabakh to Armenia. This short foreword was necessary for me to start with the basic.
Right now, when they are suing Ramil Safarov who killed an Armenian officer in Hungary, I personally have apprehended extremely negative the started discussion on the Azerbaijani officer in the newspaper “Real Azerbaijan” with the largest circulation. Because Ramil Safarov is not Hajibala Abutalibov to search for the information on his mental condition, he is not Farhad Aliev to count up his financial condition, not Beylar Eyubov to include his name in the list of Mafiosi. Ramil Safarov is the person who has consoled the hearts of Azerbaijanis a little, especially those who lost their close people and relatives during the Karabakh war. I am not a human rights activist and now Ramil Safarov who is in the Budapest prison as a person committed a crime and with his case forwarded to court, requires not a defender of human rights but a good lawyer. To tell the truth, before the discussion in “Real Azerbaijan” I thought, that the whole nation were going to be lawyers for Ramil Safarov. I could not believe that someone would turn this in “an anti-theme”, would discuss and name “the murder of the sleeping Armenian” an act unworthy of a man as though a sleeping Armenian is a sleeping beauty. After Ramil Safarov committed this act, I saw his framed portrait in cabinets of my friends-businessmen, familiar people at posts, heads of many nongovernmental organizations, public associations, I was touched. That was the first time when Azerbaijanis, without any order and administrative rules hung up the officer’s portrait in cabinets. For some reason at the very moment I recollected the Japanese who after the World War II lost courage and I also remembered the producer with a world known name Akira Kurosawa who wished to pull his nation out of this condition. Indeed, his films helped to overcome the pessimism.
Certainly, it is impossible to compare the act of Ramil Safarov with Akira Kurosawa’s creativity.
But… That was the only thing that gave hope … yes, a hope and feelings of a man’s dignity in people since the announcement on termination of military actions on May, 13th, 1994. It is already a psychological factor and it is as senseless to search here for human values, moral rules, and human codes as to search for a black cat in a dark room. And psychology inspires in that a feeling of revenge is as a feeling of love and sometimes the former is above the latter. The feeling of love is divine. Thus, just this matters. In the article published by the newspaper we are speaking about, it seems to me, the author wished to inform the society with his subjective humanism, but he did not manage to study the present motive in advance and psychological moments of the situation we are familiar with. I personally do not consider the situation to be worth analyzing when paying no attention to all the military titles, a graduate of the military lyceum named after Nakhchivansky – known with its rigid psychological and physical rules- and the Highest Military Academy, committed a murder: it is a spontaneous reaction to insults of the officer of the country which has occupied 20 % of his native land.
A person, who did not face a tragedy, cannot understand its essence. I would like to tell you about an incident which shocked me. On 26 February in 1992 during the Khojaly tragedy Armenians took three brothers in captivity to shoot them down. Their parents begged them to shoot down only two trying to save even one when Armenians agreed. The parents chose one of their children and the Armenians, in turn, shot him down the first and then shoot down the others. I do not think those accusing Ramil Safarov of murdering “a sleeping Armenian” know about this incident. As a whole, I support freedom of expression. But believe, the discussion of this incident right now when there is a trial of Ramil Safarov, is impossible to explain. Perhaps, they wish to prevent formation of an image of “a wild Azerbaijani” in “international community”? People condemning Ramil Safarov’s actions as inappropriate with moral and human values, are not familiar with a smell of gunpowder of the Karabakh battles. It is so, for the whole hundred percent. A person, who was in an entrenchment, does not become a cosmopolitan. For he does not study life from books but from life itself. Sure, I agree, to murder a human being is a sin forbidden by God. But are all interdictions only for us? Two officers had squabbled, one killed the other. And then what would have happened if Ramil Safarov had been the one killed? It is obvious; that we could have faced all the mankind with a highly raised head as real men do? How do you think, would Armenians condemn their compatriot for a similar murder? Would Zory Balayan search for human values in this case? Would Silva Kaputikyan condemn the compatriot killed an Azerbaijani? Or maybe, would the Yerevan representations abroad bring this question for discussion and name the act of the Armenian killed “a sleeping Azerbaijani” “unworthy of a man”? In fact Englishman, Frenchman and American would also act the same way against a defilement of their banners: they could not behave differently… Today it is difficult to answer the question “what does courage mean?” Since values and criteria have passed over. But, I consider we have not only individual but also a national answer to this question. It is revenge.
Take revenge!
Never mind, let the army of cosmopolitans, supporters of globalization and total morals name it an act unworthy of a man…

The Azerbaijan Free Speech Foundation expert
Mammad Nazimogli