"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania is aware of the fact that representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Lithuania are organizing rallies today. We hope that participants of these rallies will present their positions in a moderate manner and restrain from harsh rhetoric, will respect national symbols and not instigate discord between the nations that have been peacefully cohabitating in Lithuania for centuries," the ministry said in a statement.
Already tense Armenian-Azerbaijani relations have recently worsened after Azerbaijan pardoned and promoted its military officer Ramil Safarov who had killed an Armenian military officer with an axe.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the concern raised by the EU regarding the situation, which had resulted from actions taken by the government of Azerbaijan in relation to Ramil Safarov and called on the countries to find a way to defuse the tension and renew the dialogue based on the generally recognized norms of international law. We sincerely hope that Lithuanian citizens of the Armenian and Azerbaijani background will contribute to these efforts," the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
On 31 August, Hungary handed over to Baku Safarov who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Budapest without the right to be pardoned. He killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian, 30, at a Budapest military academy in 2004.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pardoned him the same day after he was extradited.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a bloody war in the 1990s over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
