{"id":3552,"date":"2023-10-01T19:57:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T16:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=longreads&p=3552"},"modified":"2023-10-01T20:07:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T17:07:55","slug":"in-conflict-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan-belarus-sympathies-are-with-baku","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/3552\/","title":{"rendered":"In conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Belarus sympathies are with Baku"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Minsk has not openly supported Azerbaijan\u2019s \u201ccounterterrorist operation\u201d in Nagorno-Karabakh, and so far Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka prefers not to comment on what is going on in the region. Although Armenia is Belarus\u2019 partner in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Minsk has always had closer ties with Azerbaijan. Baku\u2019s move to restore full control over Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 has been perceived rather positively in Minsk.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaked conversation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In December 2020, \u0141uka\u0161enka suggested transferring seven regions around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan for five billion dollars, according to a leaked audio recording of his conversation with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on the sidelines of the October 2016 CSTO summit in Yerevan. Representatives of Sargsyan confirmed the authenticity of the recording, while Minsk and Baku refrained from making comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s proposal did not come as a surprise since Armenia anyway had long considered his regime an ally of Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formal partnership with Armenia, friendship with Azerbaijan<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Belarus and Armenia are members of key post-Soviet integration organizations and have signed more than 70 agreements on cooperation in various fields. Trade between the two countries has increased significantly in recent years, exceeding $100 million in 2022. \u0141uka\u0161enka has repeatedly visited Armenia, and Armenian leaders have often come to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while declaring Yerevan an \u201cimportant partner,\u201d Minsk has always had closer ties with Azerbaijan, which is rich in oil and other resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annual trade between Belarus and Azerbaijan is nearing a billion dollars, and in early 2010s, Azerbaijan helped out \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime with loans. As a return favor, Minsk supplied Baku with arms, such as Polonez multiple launch rocket systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politically, the Azerbaijani autocracy is close to \u0141uka\u0161enka; and the two leaders have good ties. In June 2010, the Belarusian ruler boasted that Aliyev lent him $200 million in a matter of hours for an urgent settlement with Gazprom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2016, \u0141uka\u0161enka was awarded a Heydar Aliyev Order, the highest state award of Azerbaijan. Later the same year, Minsk arrested a Russian-Israeli blogger and pro-Armenian activist Alexander Lapshin and extradited him to Azerbaijan in February 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lapshin\u2019s arrest seen as gratitude to Aliyev<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The blogger, known for his sharp criticism of Azerbaijan and support for Armenians in the Karabakh conflict, was arrested at the request of Baku and accused of illegally visiting Nagorno-Karabakh in 2011 and 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lapshin\u2019s fate was most likely decided personally by \u0141uka\u0161enka. The blogger later suggested that his arrest and extradition, despite protests from Russian authorities, signaled \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s gratitude for the award and for the financial and economic support from Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Azerbaijan, Lapshin was sentenced to three years in prison and eventually pardoned by Aliyev, following an Israeli intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lapshin\u2019s arrest turned into an international row for Minsk. In September 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee condemned the actions of Belarus and Azerbaijan, and protests took place outside the Belarusian Embassy in Armenia. Yerevan sharply criticized Minsk, but did not escalate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk\u2019s duplicity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Both Sargsyan, and his successor Nikol Pashinyan were well aware of Minsk\u2019s connections with Azerbaijan and most likely had no illusions about \u0141uka\u0161enka. Armenian media noted that although the Belarusian ruler said he supported the \u201cbrotherly people\u201d of Armenia and described Armenia as his \u201chome country,\u201d he in fact played along with Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, Yerevan sought to avoid tension with Kremlin\u2019s closest ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pashinyan, who strongly emphasized Armenia\u2019s democratic achievements, turned a blind eye to human rights violations in Belarus, and in 2020 congratulated \u0141uka\u0161enka on his \u201cvictory\u201d in the presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Belarus has always officially advocated peaceful settlement and took part in the work of the OSCE Minsk Group, but at the same time recognized it as the territory of Azerbaijan and pursued closer military ties with Baku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conversation, leaked in the Internet in 2016, clearly shows the Belarusian ruler lobbying for the interests of Baku under the guise of peacekeeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka has not made a statement on Azerbaijan\u2019s successful military operation in Karabakh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian foreign ministry has expressed concern about the \u201cescalation,\u201d while Foreign Minister Siarhiej Alejnik met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Minsk has had no high-level contacts with the Armenians, preferring not to notice the exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian state propaganda has taken a pro-Azerbaijani position and, similar to Russian propaganda, sharply criticizes Armenia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, \u0141uka\u0161enka has tried sit on two chairs for many years. However, when faced with a choice, he always sided with Aliyev\u2019s authoritarian regime. After Baku\u2019s victory in the recent conflict, the ties between Belarus and Azerbaijan will likely strengthen, but the already difficult relations between Minsk and Yerevan can only worsen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minsk has not openly supported Azerbaijan\u2019s \u201ccounterterrorist operation\u201d in Nagorno-Karabakh, and so far Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka prefers not to comment on what is going on in the region. Although Armenia is Belarus\u2019 partner in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Minsk has always had closer ties with Azerbaijan. Baku\u2019s move to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3118,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-3552","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Belarus sympathies are with Baku | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Minsk has not openly supported Azerbaijan\u2019s \u201ccounterterrorist operation\u201d in Nagorno-Karabakh, and so far Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka prefers not to comment on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/3552\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Belarus sympathies are with Baku | 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