Gurgen Margaryan
| Gurgen Margaryan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
26 September 1978 Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 19 February 2004 (aged 25) Budapest, Hungary |
| Allegiance | Armenia |
| Service/branch | Armenian Army |
| Years of service | 1999—2004 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Awards | Medal for Courage of Armenia (awarded posthumously, 2005) |
Gurgen Margaryan (Armenian: Գուրգեն Մարգարյան; 26 September 1978 – 19 February 2004) was a lieutenant in the Armenian army who was murdered in Budapest, Hungary, on 19 February 2004 by Ramil Safarov, a lieutenant in the Azerbaijani army.
In September 2013, a monument dedicated to Margaryan was unveiled in Yerevan.
Margaryan was born in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. He received his secondary education at School No. 122 in Yerevan and subsequently graduated from the State Engineering University of Armenia with a bachelor's degree in engineering. After completing his mandatory military service term from 1999 to 2001, he became an officer in the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia with the rank of lieutenant.
On 11 January 2004, he left for Budapest, Hungary, to participate in a three-month English language course which was part of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. On 19 February he was axed, while asleep, by his fellow Azerbaijani participant, Lieutenant Ramil Safarov. The murder took place at 5 am, while the victim was asleep. Margaryan's Hungarian roommate, Balázs Kuti, remembers that on the evening of February 18 he had tea and went to bed, as he had a fever, while Margaryan busied himself with his studies. Around 9:30 pm, Margaryan went to visit another program participant from Armenia, Hayk Makuchyan, who was staying in another room.
Kuti does not remember when Margaryan returned, but early in the morning he felt that someone had turned on the light. He thought it was Gurgen returning to the room, but after hearing some muffled sounds, he turned his head away from the wall and saw Safarov standing by Margaryan's bed with a long axe in his hands:
By that time, I understood that something terrible had happened for there was blood all around. I started to shout at the Azerbaijani, urging him to stop it. He said that he had no problems with me and would not touch me, stabbed Gurgen a couple of more times, and left. The expression of his face was as if he was glad he had finished something important.
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Wikipedia