Azerbaijan and Belarus are developing not only economic but also political cooperation, which does not absolutely meet Armenia’s interests, a political analyst said Wednesday, commenting on a recent bilateral arrangement signed on the sidelines of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Speaking to Tert.am, Armen Badalyan also noted that the deal should not be treated as something very logical in the light of the two countries’ long history of partnership.
“If you remember, the Belarusian president was honored with a medal by [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aiyev. And thereby [Alexander] Lukashenko promised to ‘justify’ his honor,” he told Tert.am.
The expert cited the deep economic ties as a key reason behind the close cooperation. He noted that Belarus repeatedly before aided Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijan mutually providing financial assistance to the country.
“Even within the frameworks of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] – of which Azerbaijan is a member – we have numerously seen the impact and product of this cooperation. Very often, it had an underlying pretext, which was the policy of not defending Russia. Being under Russian influence and pressures, Belarus many times received assistance from Azerbaijan. Therefore, this is not only an economic but also a political cooperation,” he added.
Meantime, Badalyan did not rule out the possibility of anti-Armenian processes and initiatives attracting Belarus as a supporting country.
“Azerbaijan uses and will use any international platform to pass resolutions against Armenia. And there are high chances that Belarus will vote in favor of those measures,” he noted.